Subscribe to Print Edition | Mon., June 22, 2009 Sivan 30, 5769 | | Israel Time: 01:28 (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 |
Secular vs. Haredi tensions in J'lem parked at Barkat's door
By Nir Hasson

Secular activists in Jerusalem are planning a rally next weekend to support the Saturday opening of a parking garage, which the ultra-Orthodox call a violation of the Sabbath, and midweek could see tensions between the two groups, exacerbated in recent weeks, grow worse with the annual Gay Pride parade on Thursday.

Yesterday, as on the previous Saturday, the Safra Square city hall parking garage, which provides parking for visitors to the Old City, was closed although the municipality said earlier the garage would be opened on Saturdays at no charge and would be staffed by non-Jews. The plan aroused the ire of the ultra-Orthodox in the city, as a purported violation of the Sabbath, prompting Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat to keep the garage closed for two weeks during which an effort would be made to find an alternative.
Advertisement

The city is looking at the possible opening of other privately-owned parking garages.

City officials are exploring the possibility of opening the Mamilla garage owned by Alfred Akirov near Jaffa Gate or the nearby garage owned by the Carta municipal corporation. Carta is currently in receivership.

Jerusalem municipal officials are also attempting to resolve the dispute through contacts with the ultra-Orthodox community. Although the community apparently remains opposed to the opening of the city hall garage at Safra Square, which is near an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood, Jerusalem officials hope the community would not object to the opening of a private garage at a greater distance from the neighborhood.

If the parking dispute didn't leave the city with a full plate, on Thursday, the annual Gay Pride parade will be held in the capital. In previous years, the parade was met with angry protest and violence on the part of the ultra-Orthodox community. Last year, however, the ultra-Orthodox leadership decided to drop the protests following bitter internal criticism in the community that the protests had resulted in ultra-Orthodox residents being exposed to problematic, sexually-related content. So last year's pride parade, which was relatively modest, came off quietly.

This year, the gay and lesbian community intends to expand the scope of the event. "We were a little concerned," said Yonatan Gher, director of the non-profit Open House, which supports the capital's gay, lesbian and transgender community, "because of the issue of the garage, but all indications point to the fact that this year will be peaceful, too."

Organizers expect about 5,000 marchers for this year's rally. Although no formal protests are planned in opposition to the march, some extreme right-wing activists said they would attempt to disrupt the event.

In another source of potential religious-secular tension, residents of the largely secular Kiryat Hayovel neighborhood, who foresee a growing ultra-Orthodox presence in the neighborhood, demonstrated last Friday against the putting up of an eruv, a line of wire whose delineation, according to Jewish religious law, enables observant Jews to perform certain tasks on the Sabbath such as carrying objects beyond the confines of their homes.
PROMOTION: Mamilla Hotel
Bookmark to del.icio.us  
 
Bombing Iran
How do recent protests change Israel's military option against Iran's nukes?
Deadly Tehran protests
Mousavi urges Iranians to continue rallies after 17 protestors die
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
22:55 Mousavi defends 'right' to protest, after 17 die in Iran
21:28 Netanyahu: World wants free Iran, too soon to predict change
23:24 West demands Iran recount; Ahmadinejad: Don't meddle
19:24 Two dozen Iran journalists, bloggers arrested since elections
14:12 Iran interactive - images, videos and Tweets from the streets
18:44 Yemeni Jews arrive in Israel on covert Jewish Agency mission
00:01 U.S. road cleaned by neo-Nazis could be renamed for rabbi
21:19 Palestinian sets Guinness record for world largest knafeh
20:58 WATCH: Daily news round-up from Israel
20:14 Mossad chief kept on for another year to monitor Iran
22:11 Israelis and Palestinians 'hug' Jerusalem for peace
09:40 ANALYSIS / Mousavi testing how far he can take Iran protests
20:17 Quarry dating to time of Jesus discovered near Jericho
14:37 Barak: Regional talks better than bilateral negotiations with PA
17:46 Druze rally against 'state discrimination' near Netanyahu office
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