This Blog, Explained

 Here is an illustration of the philosophy of this blog—and an explanation of its title:

He Gave The Kids Bikes. His Reward: His Shop Was Torched

 Even if I’ve grown more cynical about the human race—which is an occupational hazard of being in, ahem, midlife—I have continued to believe that bicycles and bicycling can bring people together.  After all, I have seen people from almost every set of circumstances imaginable on bikes.

And, although I have neither had nor wanted children, I believe that people and societies are no better than how they treat children (and old people)—and those who try to help them.

So, one bit of news out of Taibe, an Arab Israeli town, shocked and saddened me.

A week ago, Alaa Amara was asleep, with his phone silenced. One could understand if he wondered whether the news he received after walking was a bad dream.  Of course it wasn’t—but he wasn’t surprised.

A few days earlier, Amara, an Arab Israeli who owns a bicycle shop, decided to help evacuees from Gaza-adjacent communities. He told the Times of Israel that his friends “gave them items, food, they had what they needed.” The children, however, “didn’t have anything to do, no school,” he noticed.

So he brought a donation of 50 children’s bicycles. “I did it to benefit the children. They don’t know about war,” he explained.

Images of him delivering the bikes appeared on social media. They won Amara a champion in Yosef Haddad, an Arab Israel commentator who is pro-Israel and therefore controversial, to say the least.

Oh, and the children are Jewish.  That, and Haddad’s endorsement, put a target on Amara and his business.

Which is why the news he got last Saturday didn’t surprise him:  While he slept, his shop was torched.

A friend has set up a Pay Pal account and a crowdfunding effort has raised, so far, 550,000 Israeli New Shekels (about USD 137,000). Amara estimates damage at NIS 800,000 and he had no fire insurance. So, while donations could increase, he doesn’t know what he’s going to do next. If he opens another bike shop, it will be elsewhere, he said. “I am afraid to be in Taibe now,” he said.

(N.B. Please do not take anything I’ve written as an endorsement of one “side” or another in the conflict.  As Alaa Amara and his situation show, the background of the conflict is too complicated to be reduced to “sides” and has as much to do with colonialism, from outside as well as within the region, as any current grievances.)

A Problem That Grates On Us

The Villages is, as the name suggests, a complex of communities in north-central Florida, about an hours' drive from Orlando.

It's been described, both affectionately and derisively, as "Disney World for Boomers."  In reality, it's a planned community for retirees that seems, like others in the Sunshine State, to be built around golf courses.

According to a story that circulated in the media about a decade ago, The Villages had the highest rate of STDs in the USA.  While public health policy experts and health care professionals who have worked there and in other places have debunked that narrative, another stereotype about The Villages seems to hold true: In both the 2016 and 2020 Presidential elections,  Probably no other place voted as overwhelmingly for Donald Trump.

And, from a couple of accounts that have crossed my desk, I would infer that The Villages are like too many other jurisdictions, especially in so car-friendly Florida:  the safety of cyclists  doesn't seem to be a priority.

The area's auto-centricity has something to do with that.  So, I suspect do The Villages Operating Company and Sumter Landing Community Development District which, respectively, operate the complex and Collier, one of the Villages.

They are challenging a suit filed by James Heizer.  Two years ago, he says, he flipped over his handlebars when his bicycle tire was lodged in a sewer grate.

It's exactly the sort of accident I fear whenever I see sewer grates with slats that run parallel to the curb--or ones that have large gaps between them and the pavement.  I don't know whether the Villages uses either sort of grate, but they are the only ones in which I can imagine a bicycle tire becoming "lodged."

If that is the case, one can only hope that, in addition to reimbursing Heizer for his medical bills and other losses, that the sewer grates are replaced.