Israel – Lawyers: Planned Charedi-Only City is Unconstitutional

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    Israel – Human rights lawyers are attempting to challenge a government decision designating the planned city of Harish as a haredi-only town.

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    In a letter sent Tuesday to the directors-general committee established by the government to promote the city’s establishment, attorneys Michael Sfard and Ishai Shneydor, representing residents of the region, wrote that the plan to populate Harish with only haredi residents was unconstitutional.

    In March 2010, the cabinet decided to promote the planning and construction of the new city “in an effort to find a long-term solution for the future growth of the city as a substantial solution to the housing crisis from which the religious community suffers.”

    The planned city, located near Pardes Hanna, is set to eventually provide homes for an estimated tens of thousands of families. Residents of the region, however, claim that the new city will harm the population makeup of the surrounding area.

    “The decision to designate an urban settlement for one population, while closing it off to others, is unconstitutional, violating the principle of equality,” wrote the lawyers.

    “The planned city of Harish rests in the heart of Wadi Ara, a region characterized by its complex and delicate makeup of different populations: urban and rural, Jewish and Arab, Israeli and Palestinian,” the letter continued. “The decision to construct a haredi city in this place will likely unbalance the situation and is a severe intervention by the government in the social makeup that exists in the region, clearly benefiting a certain population.”

    The lawyers added that the land in question was desperately needed by the local Arab population for its future expansion and that “importing” a large population from other parts of the country would negatively affect the existing population.

    Continue reading at The Jerusalem Post


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    10 Comments
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    cowfy
    cowfy
    13 years ago

    the last i heard israel does not have a constitiution.so how on earth can it be unconstitutional?

    13 years ago

    I’m my opinion its just a shame that we have created a separatist way of life. Its disheartening that we choose to remove ourselves from society instead remaining a part of it and making a contribution thereto.

    ComeOn
    ComeOn
    13 years ago

    Why dont these lawyers first try to buy a house in Saudi Arabia and when they finish fighting for their rights there, I’m sure Israel will follow suit.

    13 years ago

    To #2 : You may want to contribute to society, but I have no desire for my children to learn from their ways. Why can’t we live in a separate neighborhood and commute for work and other things into multicultural areas. If I wanted to live in a secular neighborhood, I surely could have stayed in the U.S.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    If it wasn’t for the political issues associated with location, most of us would be very happly to “wall off” the chareidim in the Negev where they can live however they want and not have to deal with normal yidden. Unfortunately, this is the wrong place. Perhaps somewhere in the Australian outback.

    FinVeeNemtMenSeichel
    FinVeeNemtMenSeichel
    13 years ago

    Gezinterhiet. I hope all the normal chareidim stay in my neighborhood. Anyone need help packing?

    13 years ago

    People can pretend the outside world doesn’t exist, that doesn’t make it true. Unless one can be self-subsistent, good luck with that. What poster #6 says is right on point.