Subscribe to Print Edition | Fri., June 19, 2009 Sivan 27, 5769 | | Israel Time: 01:29 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Focus U.S.A. Travel Week's End Anglo File
Share |
Barkat, don't give in
By Haaretz Editorial
Tags: israel news

Even if the compromise discussed yesterday goes through, in which a privately owned parking lot will be open in Jerusalem on Saturdays, the commotion generated by extremists in the capital over the Safra parking garage is a warning sign. Secular protests in Jerusalem this week against Mayor Nir Barkat's surrender to the ultra-Orthodox demand to close the garage on Saturdays certainly did not rebalance the wildly swinging pendulum of the city's status quo. However, this is an important test for Barkat. He must remember that he was not elected due to support from ultra-Orthodox extremists who do not even vote, and they should not dictate the capital's way of life.

Barkat knows full well that the violent disturbances initiated by the Eda Haredit have nothing to do with operating a parking lot on Saturday. Even the United Torah Judaism faction on the city council was surprised, not only by the timing and the magnitude of the protests, but also by their very existence. A small group of ultra-Orthodox extremists, who are against the existence of the state, some of whom are foreign citizens, responded to a call from Rabbi Tuvia Weiss and renewed the infamous Sabbath protests.

There are many reasons for the renaissance of these protests, particularly struggles for power and influence between the Eda Haredit and the larger and relatively more moderate Orthodox community. The impact spreads to the wider public in Jerusalem. Once again, an ostensibly negligible matter such as a piece of equipment transported by the Israel Electric Corporation on a Friday night, a segment of road or little girls singing generates a crisis that would be ridiculous were it not so infuriating.
Advertisement
One can be understanding about Barkat's desire to tread the fine line between maintaining the status quo and fostering social and cultural life in Jerusalem on Saturday like any other day of the week - which has been happening anyway in recent years and has been accepted, sometimes even with indifference, by the ultra-Orthodox. However, the surrender to the ultra-Orthodox this time goes beyond that.

Yielding over the opening of the Safra parking garage, a single facility that Barkat and United Torah Judaism's representatives agree would be operated by a non-Jew free of charge, came under threat of violence. It is inconceivable for the municipality to accept the dictates of a violent group that does not recognize the rules of the democratic game and for them to determine the city's way of life. Capitulation to violence invites the belligerent minority to additional rounds of fear and coercion.
PROMOTION: Mamilla Hotel
Bookmark to del.icio.us  
 
Iran soccer protest
Protest by members of Iranian national team is particularly embarrassing for Ahmadinejad
Bruno premiere
Sacha Baron Cohen holds 'royal' premiere in London for gay Austrian fashionista
Special Offers
Advertisement
hotel Jerusalem
David Citadel Hotel, come stay at the finest of Jerusalem hotels.
ISRAEL ARMY SURPLUS STORE
IDF insignia,Uniforms, Paladium Boots Watches, Israel Army T-shirts & Collectibles
Dead Sea Skin Care
Quality cosmetics from the Dead Sea. Coupon code HAARETZ for 12% off!
Eldan Rent a Car
Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
Junkyard
Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
More Headlines
23:11 Hundreds of thousands on Iran's streets for candlelight protest
21:58 I never thought I'd be rooting for Iran
20:55 Iran: We thwarted election day bomb plot linked to Israel
19:57 Iran interactive - images, videos, and Tweets from the streets
22:18 ANALYSIS / Iran soccer protest particularly shaming for Ahmadinejad
01:18 VIDEO: Border Police upload footage of their abuse of Palestinians to YouTube
00:48 Lieberman: Israel's only dispute with U.S. is over settlements
20:58 WATCH: Daily news round-up from Israel
01:13 Yossi Sarid / Netanyahu's acceptance of my ideas only made me angrier
23:52 U.K.: We`ve frozen $1.6b in Iranian assets under nuclear sanctions
00:51 Red Cross urges Hamas: Let us visit Gilad Shalit
19:21 Deputy PM: Netanyahu will offer Abbas less than Olmert
23:37 Police object to Israel poker tourney slated for end of month
00:49 Israel envoys clash with UN watchdog chief over Syria probe 'bias'
Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Site rules |
| Israel 2009 election results | Makom: Engaging on Israel
| Search engine marketing
Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved