It all began because of garbage. By the late 1980’s South Central LA had too much trash. In response to this plethora of rubbish, the City planned to build an incineration plant, but they needed land. Enter the law of eminent domain. In one large swoop, the City “acquired” the property of nine local landowners. Since they were paid a fair market price and the land was not exactly desirable, there were not many complaints.
Maybe it was being overrun with trash, maybe it was not having enough land, and maybe it was much, much, more, but a few years later, in 1992, LA suffered ravaging riots, affecting mainly (but not exclusively) the citizens of South Central LA.
When the smoke cleared Los Angeles had lost 547 buildings and incurred over $3 billion dollars of damage. Of the 547 damaged buildings, 428 (78 percent) were located in South Los Angeles, and 106 (19 percent) were located in Central Los Angeles.[1]
By this time, the City had abandoned their plans of building the trash incinerator and decided, in the wake of the recent riots, to make a gesture symbolic of rebirth, and create a garden on the site originally reserved for the incinerator.
Corpsmembers from a local nonprofit joined community farmers in creating what was to become the largest urban garden in the nation.
Greek Chorus: Watch Out! The Seeds of Change have been Planted!
As we all know, treat the symptoms and not the cause and it is only a matter of time before the problem will recur.
Ten years passed and an uneasy partnership developed as inner city latinos and blacks forged 360 garden plots on the 14 acres of City property. It is hard to say when it all began to go wrong, but over the years, some of the farmers collecting funds to pay the water bills, started to dip their hands in that same water… Farmers were charged a monthly fee for their gardens of $100-$200. Then a water fee of $50. Then other little surcharges, essentially paying on their way in and on their way out with the fruit and vegetables. A cloud grew over the garden. It appeared that those charging the fees were now men living nowhere near the city limits and that their pockets were lined with the labor of the gardeners in the ghetto.
Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.[2]
Then…it happened--the ten years that the City had to use the land for the incinerator, ran out! The law required that the City return the land (again for a fair price). And eventually the land was returned to the original owners, who paid approximately $5 million for the pleasure.
Can you feel the pressure rising? The farmers did, the money changers in the suburbs did, the City did, and…the land developers did. The garden had to go. The land was now just WAY too valuable. Imagine how quickly the now powerful garden organizers mobilized. Just as quickly, 1) actress Darryl Hannah scurried up a tree; 2) gardeners chained themselves to fences; 3) websites popped up, etc. etc.
"How could they throw “us” off “OUR” land?", the farmers cried. Proving that Angelinos never lose their sense of humor, a local blogger writing under the pseudonym “Che”, sums it up well:
What part of "it's NOT your land" didn't they understand?Aqui estamos? No, baby. You WERE there. Don't let the door hit you in the ass.[3]
Did things have to get ugly? Of course they did. But that, gentle reader, was just the beginning. In April, 2006, Ernesto Cienfuegos, writing for La Voz de Atzlan, published an article[4] alleging (get this): a giant Jewish conspiracy! Here are some of my favorite selections from said article:
"Los Angeles has a powerful "Jewish Mafia" that is in cahoots with the Los Angeles Police Department and many local elected politicians."
"... attempting to defend their ... farm...from Jewish land developer Ralph Horowitz."
"Through "back room deals" and collusion with certain Jewish LA City Council members, Ralph Horowitz was given ownership of the land..."
"Jewish LA Council member Dennis Zine is now terrorizing the farmers. "
Council member Dennis Zine is a former member of the corrupt LAPD and still has deep connections to the controversial police department.
"(Zine) has the full support of Police Chief Bill Bratton who came to LA from Jewish New York." "Chief Bratton is married to a prominent Jewish attorney"
Bratton has visited "...Israel is to receive "training" by Israeli military and police authorities on how to deal with "the Mexicans and the Blacks in case they riot".
"Zionist Israel has a lot of practice in this department as exemplified by its clamp-down of the Palestinian people."
In the meantime, vast (apparently non-jewish) organizers scurried to raise millions of green dollar bills to “Save” the garden. Miraculous…they did, coming up with the $5 million dollar price tag of the land. Having done so, they presented their offer to the developer, Mr. Horowitz. And what did Ralph say? You guessed it, take your anti-semitic dollars and shove it (or words to that effect).
And so it was that on June 13th, the police stormed in, heads were bashed, Darryl Hannah went back to Hollywood, and the gardeners were shown the curb.
Not with a whimper, but with a bang.
Technorati Tags: Garden, South Central LA, Urban Garden, Zionist, Israeli, Antisemitism
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[1] DANIEL FLAMING AND MARK DRAYSE, ECONOMIC ROUNDTABLE, 2002
[2] The Bard
[3] http://www.lavoice.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1903
[4] http://www.aztlan.net/jewish_mafia_terrorize_campesinos.htm
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