#0202_A_View_From_West_Jerusalem
News Digest: First Station Plaza to Remain Open on the Sabbath [1]:
[Comments from Jerusalemites FB Group:]
– "Pluralism won: The First Station plaza in Jerusalem will still open on the Sabbath [2]. Thank you to the district committee."
– “Sanity won!”
– “Justice won, but we need to stay on our toes because the supporters of coercion and division don’t want to give up.”
– “The question is what’ll happen after the elections for mayor. I don’t believe anyone.”
– "To whoever doesn’t understand how politics work: They knew, at the municipality, that the matter of the First Station won’t pass the district committee, but the Haredis wanted to make a show of preserving the Sabbath, and the seculars want to show how they take care of the interests of the seculars: win-win. Everyone gets a few more votes at the elections, and we’re suckers for bullshit and political spins."
– "Those that made the suggestion – Mr. Weizmann [3] and his entourage – care only for stealing and domineering; they don’t care about the Sabbath one bit."
**
"The district committee’s decision – the First Station plaza will remain open for everyone!
The district committee’s decision today to reverse the city council’s decision, and to approve the continued function of the Station as a commercial center is is the right decision for Jerusalem.
It’s important to remember, there will not always be a committee to save the day – this should be a wake-up call to the Jerusalemite public!
We will work to keep Jerusalem a city for everyone, a city in which each sector can live according to it’s beliefs and wishes.
-Jerusalem comes first – "
– Hit'orerut Jerusalemite Party [4]
**
"The First Station compound will remain open on the Sabbath!
In the end, we won this struggle, not because of the Jerusalem municipality, but rather in spite of it. All of us, all the moderates and pluralists, should be worried that the extremists are the ones that set the tone at the municipal council. We had to fight with everything we had so that the district council would bypass the decision of the city council and decide that in spite of it all, the First Station compound will remain open on the Sabbath.
The pluralistic public doesn’t have enough power in the Jerusalem municipality, in spite of the fact that we are the majority in the city. That’s because people don’t vote at the municipal elections, and leave the municipality for extremists that try to determine everyone’s way of life.
Yerushalmim party will continue the struggle, and we are glad that other pluralistic parties are joining us. Once again, it has been proven that when we work together, we have considerable political might. It is important that we create a strong pluralist bloc in the run-up to the elections, and that the public will vote, so that we’ll be able to preserve normality in Jerusalem.
Join us, and together we’ll make this city more tolerant."
– Yerushalmim Jerusalemite Party [4]
—-
0202 Editor's Notes:
[1] The First Station plaza is a historic train station near the Germany Colony neighborhood that was restored and transformed into a culture and entertainment center. Many of the restaurants and shops are open on the Sabbath, angering Haredi politicians and residents but catering to the secular public. A few weeks ago, Jerusalem's municipal council voted to close the First Station on the Sabbath. For more on this topic, see:
https://tinyurl.com/yccqhce6
https://tinyurl.com/y77esz8h
https://tinyurl.com/y9ezjg8f
[2] Shabbat, or Sabbath, (Saturday) is the Jewish holy day of the week. It’s practice in the public sphere in Israel is continuously debated within Israeli Jewish society.
[3] Yohanan Weizmann is a Haredi Jerusalem councilman.
[4] Hit'orerut and Yerushalmim are Jerusalem's pluralistic parties. They naturally compete over the same bank of constituents.
#Sabbath #Religion #Municipality #Society
https://tinyurl.com/ydbljumf
https://tinyurl.com/y7rhptag
https://tinyurl.com/y8rufte8
https://tinyurl.com/yakp558q
https://www.facebook.com/1675349376080655/posts/2117819305166991
