Hundreds protest Shabbat closure of J'lem parking lot

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat decided Friday morning that the Safra parking garage would not open yesterday or next Saturday, to allow for more negotiations with the ultra-Orthodox on an alternative solution.

Barkat said his decision was in response to a police request. This reversed pledges he had made throughout the week, following the previous Saturday's violent ultra-Orthodox protests against the opening of the garage.

Barkat said police Maj. Gen. Ilan Franco, who is mediating talks between Barkat and the ultra-Orthodox, had asked him to keep the garage closed.

However, it is likely that the Eda Haredit, the ultra-Orthodox group spearheading the protests, will persist in its opposition to opening any parking garages on Saturday. It has been joined by other ultra-Orthodox factions.

Meanwhile, secular Jerusalemites are saying Barkat has surrendered to ultra-Orthodox violence. Secular city council members said they would strongly oppose the closure of the parking lot for more than the two Saturdays and intimated that they would bolt from the coalition if it remained closed.

Hundreds of secular people gathered in Safra Square, in front of City Hall, to protest Barkat's decision yesterday. One sign read, "In Jerusalem and Tehran they are celebrating today."

MK Nitzan Horowitz (Meretz) said: "Barkat bowed to pressure, but we will not. I came from Tel Aviv, where they say Jerusalem is a lost cause. But if there is no freedom in Jerusalem, then the secular in Tel Aviv will have no freedom. Jerusalem is a symbol of the ultra-Orthodox, but it is our symbol, too."

Horowitz also reminded protesters that in two weeks he would be marching in the capital's Gay Pride parade.

Deputy mayor Pepe Alalo, one of Barkat's senior coalition partners, stressed the promises Barkat had made, adding, "We will not let them turn Jerusalem into Bnei Brak."

"They've opened movie theaters, they've opened coffee shops, if we fight, they'll open the parking garage, too," Alalo said.

Among the protesters were dozens of residents of the Kiryat Hayovel neighborhood, where clashes have been brewing between veteran secular residents and newer ultra-Orthodox residents.

The current round of unrest between secular and ultra-Orthodox Jerusalemites began after Barkat decided to open the parking garage on Saturdays to solve a parking problem due to weekend visitors

One possible alternative is to open a private parking garage near Jaffa Gate that belongs to Alfred Akirov. However, Akirov is expected to ask the city for assurances that the ultra-Orthodox will not damage his business if he agrees to open his garage.

At Thursday night's city council meeting, some ultra-Orthodox seemed to favor opening a parking garage as long as it no money exchanged hands; others said if people had to pay a parking fee, more would stay home, resulting in less desecrating the Sabbath.

The status quo in Jerusalem has been in place following severe clashes in the 1980s and 1990s. Since that time, secular Jerusalemites reportedly feel that even if some movie theaters and coffee shops are open on Saturday, they are being hemmed in.

The ultra-Orthodox, for their part, feel that the opening of a parking garage would be the beginning of the end of the status quo.