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Jerusalem - Mayor Agrees To Keep Lot Closed On Shabbos Until Future Notice |
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Jerusalem - In an effort to quell haredi violence and reduce tensions, Jerusalem police chief Aharon Franco has asked Mayor Nir Barkat to close the newly opened municipal parking lot on Saturdays until an alternative site could be found in the next two weeks, police and the city said late Thursday.
Haredim protest opening of...
The Mayor was expected to agree to the police chief's request.
The rapid developments came a week after thousands of haredim rioted in central Jerusalem over the opening of a municipal parking lot on Saturdays, and less than 24 hours before a second weekend of planned protests.
The clash over the parking lot, which is being operated on Saturdays by a non-Jew in keeping with Jewish religious law, has emerged as the first major problem for Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat in weaving through the delicate fabric of Jerusalem's diverse sectors and mixed populations since his election seven months ago.
"If they want war, there will be war," said Yoelish Kraus, the "operations officer" of the extremist anti-Zionist Eda Haredit sect which organized last week's massive protest. "We are ready to keep this up for at least half a year."
Kraus said that this weekends protests will begin on Friday evening, and will spread out to various city intersections on Saturday in haredi neighborhoods of the city.
A counter-protest is also planned on Friday afternoon outside city hall.
An early Thursday morning meeting between Barkat and several haredi Rabbis who are not affiliated with the Eda Haredit did not resolve the dispute, Barkat spokesman Evyatar Elad said earlier Thursday.
The midnight meeting with five members of the Committee for the Sanctity of the Shabbat discussed principles and not specifics, he said.
Barkat said this week that he is determined to keep the lot open since it does not desecrate the Sabbath and solves an urgent need.
The Mayor would be willing to look into opening an alternate parking lot instead of the municipal garage, his spokesman said.
The offer, which could be a potential compromise, has been rejected by the Eda Haredit until now as unacceptable, calling into question how an alternate site could be found to resolve the dispute within two weeks.
The city lot, which was opened in agreement with Barkat's coalition partners, in order to accommodate visitors to the capital over the weekend who were illegally parking on main city throughfares near the Old City due to a dearth of parking spaces.
The Eda Haredit official said that the haredi approval of the opening of the parking lot had actually vastly exacerbated the issue.
The haredi city councilors had opposed earlier municipal plans to open a private lot opposite the Old City which pollice had prefered.
"It doesn't matter where the desecration of the Sabbath is --two meters from Mea Shearim or two meters from the Western Wall," Kraus said.
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Read Comments (20) — Post Yours »
1
Jun 11, 2009 at 02:56 PM Anonymous Says:
Didan nutzach
2
Jun 11, 2009 at 02:51 PM Anonymous Says:
So bad behavior gets rewarded again.
3
Jun 11, 2009 at 03:21 PM mayer Says:
“ So bad behavior gets rewarded again. ”
You mean the ones that are voilating (mechalel) the shabos ?
4
Jun 11, 2009 at 03:04 PM UBET Says:
I'm Shocked that the Israeli government LISTENED!
5
Jun 11, 2009 at 03:40 PM izzy Says:
Great giving into the trouble makers. Now they will cause more trouble to get there way.
6
Jun 11, 2009 at 04:18 PM Common sense please Says:
"The clash over the parking lot, which is being operated on Saturdays by a non-Jew in keeping with Jewish religious law"
Then can somebody please explain what the fuss is all about???
7
Jun 11, 2009 at 04:02 PM mayer Says:
“ Great giving into the trouble makers. Now they will cause more trouble to get there way. ”
My reply on number 3 goes to you too.
8
Jun 11, 2009 at 03:46 PM kivi Says:
That's what I'm talking about right there who says throughing stones don't help?????
9
Jun 11, 2009 at 03:32 PM Anonymous Says:
so wil there be a riot or not.
10
Jun 11, 2009 at 03:32 PM Anonymous Says:
So, the good and proper work of those who understand "Smiras Shabbos" worked.
Remember, it is a Torah obligation to try to encourage others to observe Shabbos, and not to stand by silently.
With individuals, we do not approach them if we are convinced they will not listen. If we are not so convinced, we ARE OBLIGATED to try to stop others from chillul shabbos. In this case, the proof of the pudding is in the tasting. The result proved the actions were correct.
Who knows, maybe even the behaviors I condemned were proper.
11
Jun 11, 2009 at 03:32 PM nonsense Says:
"The Eda Haredit official said that the haredi approval of the opening of the parking lot had actually vastly exacerbated the issue". ---We all thought it was the Edah Haredit that has exacerbated sinas chinom in Yerushalayim.
12
Jun 11, 2009 at 04:36 PM Anonymous Says:
“ So, the good and proper work of those who understand "Smiras Shabbos" worked.
Remember, it is a Torah obligation to try to encourage others to observe Shabbos, and not to stand by silently.
With individuals, we do not approach them if we are convinced they will not listen. If we are not so convinced, we ARE OBLIGATED to try to stop others from chillul shabbos. In this case, the proof of the pudding is in the tasting. The result proved the actions were correct.
Who knows, maybe even the behaviors I condemned were proper.
”
If results prove the correctness of actions, then that must mean that the fact that women in most of Afghanistan don't dare go to school or learn to read or go out of the house without a full burka must mean the Taliban are correct. I'm not comparing the protesters to the Taliban, all I am saying is that violence often gets results. It has nothing to do with whether or not the position of those resorting to violence is correct. Your logic simply does not work.
13
Jun 11, 2009 at 05:09 PM lmaan kidushas shabos Says:
Its amazing how stupid and ignorant u people could be. If I had to put down money i bet most of u idiots have orange flags and ribbons on your cars and sit there crying over the gaza disengagement. Dont get me wrong i think that gush katif is very important too but how about kedushas shabbos? U people probably let ur kids play ball and shabbos and when u come home from shul u probably change into jeans and flip flops and thats why u dont under stand what it means to fight for kedushas shabbos. Another issue: People r to attached to the physical they cant understand the spiritual. Yes u can understand when people get dragged out of their homes but u cant understand when hashem gets dragged out of the holiest place in the world on his holiest day. Bzchus the work of the Eida and their supporters may all yidden be mekabel shabbos khilchasa.
14
Jun 11, 2009 at 05:56 PM Milhouse Says:
“ If results prove the correctness of actions, then that must mean that the fact that women in most of Afghanistan don't dare go to school or learn to read or go out of the house without a full burka must mean the Taliban are correct. I'm not comparing the protesters to the Taliban, all I am saying is that violence often gets results. It has nothing to do with whether or not the position of those resorting to violence is correct. Your logic simply does not work. ”
You fail logic 101. If we agreed with those goals, then the Taliban's success at implementing them would validate its means. Even though we don't agree with the goals, we can still acknowledge that the Taliban's success proves that its means are effective.
In this case, we all agree that chillul shabbos is wrong and must be prevented, don't we? We differ only on the appropriate means to achieve this goal, and whether such protests serve to reduce chilul shabbos or to increase it. If experience shows that they are successful, then who can argue with them?
Of course there is the question of whether opening the parking lot will increase chilul shabbos, and thus whether closing it again will decrease it. If chilul shabbos is just displaced to another location, what has been gained? If making parking unavailable will encourage people to stay home and read a book, or walk somewhere, then it's worth doing; but if it will just induce them to drive somewhere else on a tiyul then there is no gain; and if it causes people who come into the city to circle around for 15 minutes looking for parking, and then park unsafely, then the protesters have only made things worse. But that's a policy question, which is for the rabbonim to consider.
15
Jun 11, 2009 at 07:29 PM Anonymous Says:
thugs get away with it again
16
Jun 11, 2009 at 07:13 PM Anonymous Says:
Listen guys that's the only way they understand
17
Jun 11, 2009 at 06:35 PM Anonymous Says:
“ Great giving into the trouble makers. Now they will cause more trouble to get there way. ”
You obviously don't know the Yerushalmim.
The ONLY protest when the gov't does negative against Jews.
E.G. Kvish 6 digging of graves
18
Jun 11, 2009 at 10:30 PM a yid Says:
“ You fail logic 101. If we agreed with those goals, then the Taliban's success at implementing them would validate its means. Even though we don't agree with the goals, we can still acknowledge that the Taliban's success proves that its means are effective.
In this case, we all agree that chillul shabbos is wrong and must be prevented, don't we? We differ only on the appropriate means to achieve this goal, and whether such protests serve to reduce chilul shabbos or to increase it. If experience shows that they are successful, then who can argue with them?
Of course there is the question of whether opening the parking lot will increase chilul shabbos, and thus whether closing it again will decrease it. If chilul shabbos is just displaced to another location, what has been gained? If making parking unavailable will encourage people to stay home and read a book, or walk somewhere, then it's worth doing; but if it will just induce them to drive somewhere else on a tiyul then there is no gain; and if it causes people who come into the city to circle around for 15 minutes looking for parking, and then park unsafely, then the protesters have only made things worse. But that's a policy question, which is for the rabbonim to consider. ”
1)even if u know that the will do the aveira anyway your not allowed to help him
2)it might help someone think twice b/4 coming to yurshlayim on shobbos and the less places to go, the less likely people will go,at least less often.
3) it's much more chillel hashem in yurshalim,if its official by the city etc.
19
Jun 11, 2009 at 10:18 PM Anonymous Says:
“ So bad behavior gets rewarded again. ”
if good behavior would of been rewarded, then the lot would of never been open! some "people" only understand one language!
20
Jun 12, 2009 at 01:01 AM Milhouse Says:
“ 1)even if u know that the will do the aveira anyway your not allowed to help him
2)it might help someone think twice b/4 coming to yurshlayim on shobbos and the less places to go, the less likely people will go,at least less often.
3) it's much more chillel hashem in yurshalim,if its official by the city etc. ”
1) Providing parking is not helping him drive; all it does is stop him from driving an extra 15 minutes circling around the center of the city, and from parking dangerously. He's driving anyway.
2) That's hardly likely; if they were going to drive to the city, they'll probably drive somewhere else instead. Shabbos is no holier in Kikar Saffra than in Emek Refaim or Ramat Rachel.
3) I agree it's worse if the city is officially breaking shabbos. But it's NOT doing so! The car park is run by goyim and doesn't charge money. All the drivers who park there are already in their cars by the time they get there. So where's the chilul hashem?