Rioting in Jerusalem? All is normal

July 5, 2009 - 9:57 AM by David

Jerusalem police take away a protestor near the Old City on Saturday. (AP)

Jerusalem police take away a protestor near the Old City on Saturday. (AP)

Summer’s here and the time is right for fighting in the streets. Apologies to Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, but the streets of Jerusalem on these last few weekends have not seen much joyous dancing.

The fight between the haredim of Jerusalem and its secular residents (and secular mayor Nir Barkat) is over whether a parking lot near the Old City can be opened on Shabbat to accomodate the throngs of visiting tourists, both local and international.

A compromise involving using a private parking lot instead of a municipal lot was offered, and supposedly accepted, but someone forgot to tell the haredim. There have been clashes the last few Saturdays between haredi protestors and the police, with the protestors demanding that the private parking lot be closed on Shabbat, stating it’s a violation of the status quo in the city – the delicate fine line in the power struggle between the secular and observant Jews of Jerusalem.

However, according to Matt Rees, one of my favorite authors and a good friend, the action on the street is actually a good thing.
Writing in the Global Post, Rees states that if the big item on Israelis’ agenda is an open parking lot on Shabbat, then maybe things aren’t so bad here.

Ultra-orthodox Jews have been rioting the last few weeks against a parking lot the municipality wants to leave open during the Jewish Sabbath, leading to dozens of arrests and quite a few moderate to serious injuries. Secular activists have held protests in favor of free garaging for those who defy God by driving on Saturday.

All of which is a sign of good times in Israel.

Here’s why: It shows that Israelis think there’s nothing worse to worry about.
When I first came to Jerusalem in 1996, the ultra-Orthodox, or “Haredim” as they’re known here (it means “those who quake,” as in quaking before the wrathful God of the Jewish Bible) used to riot over a major thoroughfare that ran through one of their neighborhoods. They wanted Bar-Ilan Street closed between sundown Friday and the onset of Saturday night.

And then, Rees continued, the Intifada started. Since then it’s been one Intifada after the other, with terror, suicide bombings and security fences to be built. Who had time to protest?

But in comparison to the intifada, these are easy times for Israel. Long may the Sabbath be a time for rioting.

One of the proverbs I learned when first coming to Israel was one that said – it’s a good thing there’s an Israeli-Arab conflict. Otherwise, we Jews would be at each other’s throat. These days, it seems like we have the worst of both worlds.

Tags: , , , , , • Category: A New Reality, General, History and Culture, Life, Religion, coexistence 

Comments

One Comment on Rioting in Jerusalem? All is normal

  1. Nicky on Sun, Jul 5th 2009 11:25 AM

    2. Interesting.

    In the central region the biggest worry on most people’s minds right now appears to be jellyfish.

    Since the newspapers reported that 20 billion of the invertebrates were heading our way a couple of weeks ago, the jellyfish problem is the hottest topic of conversation. Rioting over a car park?
    No way.
    Tel Avivians just want to know if it’s safe to go in the water!

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