Trying to recycle
Filed under: design, Environment, General, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life
A newspaper recycling bin
A plastic recycling bin
The hursha is also the home for one of the local community gardens, where I bring my composting, when I’m feeling organized. So we waited and waited, for the bins to arrive. Finally, a friend called the City Hall information number listed, asking why there are no bins, and how it’s all meant to be divided and collected.
She was told by the clerk who answered the phone that “it’s not the city’s responsibility.” When my friend asked Molly, the 106 person, why the sign says to call 106 for comments, Molly replied, “Not this comment.”
It seems there is an agency handling this recycling — as is for the bottles and newspapers — and we’re meant to call them, even though we have no contact information for them. Frustrating. And oh, so typical. But I will remain hopeful and optimistic that the mere presence of a recycling area means that one day, the bins will arrive and eventually, we’ll be able to recycle curbside, just like our friends in the U.S. of A.
A protest is born
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Israeliness, Life, Music, Politics, Pop Culture, Religion
A Star is Born finalist Ohad Shraga'i gets ready for the Jerusalem showdown.
It’s going to happen when the final telecast of the popular singing competition A Star is Born (based on the American Idol format) takes place on September 4th on a Saturday night from Sultan’s Pool outside the Old City walls in Jerusalem.
The decision to hold the finale in Jerusalem only and hour and a half after Shabbat ends has raised the ire of the religious establishment in the country’s capital who insist that the preparations for the show will require Shabbat violations.
They also are upset that the heavy traffic expected will block the road for those planning to get to the Western Wall for the first night of selichot (penitential prayers said before the High Holy Days).
According to the Jewish Chronicle in London, the coup of staging the show in Jerusalem for the first time was due to the efforts of Mayor Nir Barkat, over the stauch opposition of some of his coalition partners.
“Quiet talks with the mayor did not result in anything,” said United Torah Judaism city councillor Shlomo Rozenshtein. “We are moving from quiet activity to open demonstrations of pain and protest at the desecration of Shabbat.”
Yossef Rosenfeld, the chairman of the Committee for the Holiness of Shabbat, promised that there would be big demonstrations backed by all the main leaders of the Charedi community. “Seeing such a serious desecration of Shabbat we will not remain quiet, but take to the streets.”
Both the producers of the show – Keshet – and representatives from City Hall are reassuring the protesters that all the preparations for the show will be completed on Friday, before Shabbat begins. And since the show won’t begin until 90 minutes after Shabbat ends, there’s nothing to worry about, right?
It seems like, though, with all the hoopla surrounding it, it’s unclear what the real show will be – the crowning of the new singing champion of Israel, or the protests leading up to it.
Barkat where he belongs
Filed under: A New Reality, Israeliness, Life, Politics
Municipal elections were held across Israel yesterday, with leadership positions up for grabs in 159 regional councils and cities. In Tel Aviv the race was extremely close, making for high drama into the night, as ballots were counted. However, the mayoral race in Jerusalem was arguably the most dramatic of all, with the very soul of the city up for grabs.
Outgoing Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski was elected five years ago by the city’s ultra-Orthodox sector, who knew that as mayor, he would fight hard for their agendas. Disillusioned by the then-outgoing Olmert administration, Jerusalem’s non-Orthodox populace largely sat out the election, paving the way for the city’s first ultra-Orthodox mayor. The biggest loser in that election – aside from all hopes for a pluralist, commerce-friendly, tourist-welcoming and culturally vibrant Jerusalem – was candidate Nir Barkat.
A high-tech entrepreneur and a champion of culture, Barkat went on to serve as an effective opposition leader in the city council, but when the ultra-Orthodox parties banded together and named Knesset member Meir Porush their 2008 candidate for mayor of Jerusalem, many feared a repeat of 2003′s results. And even if one believed that Barkat’s popularity exceeded Porush’s, one had to wonder about wildcards like the candidacy of oligarch-playboy Arcadi Gaydamak and Green Leaf leader Dan Birron, who had the potential to at least split the secular vote.
As a result of this situation, Barkat’s 2008 campaign featured some right-wing posturing moves that made some wonder if perhaps they’d be better off with Porush after all. But in the end, these efforts paid off, with many of the city’s National Religious elements supporting Barkat as someone who had their back. Ultimately, Barkat received over half of the votes, no small feat on a crowded ballot.
Democracy and change have been so thick in the air lately that perhaps a global reconnecting with the voting process also helped turn the tides. If apathy is what put Lupolianski in City Hall, a hearty can-do spirit is what has given us Barkat. And like that other high-profile candidate billed as the agent of progress, he certainly has his work cut out for him.
All politics are local…
Today, there are municipality elections throughout the country, including in my town of Modi’in. The news is certainly focusing on all the sexy elections such as the former head of the air force vs. the communist in Tel Aviv and the high tech mogul vs the Rabbi in Jerusalem but hey, there are important issues we are dealing with here in the suburbs as well.
My wife and I have been following our local election very closely. It’s only the second time I’ll be voting where the “situation” isn’t an issue. It’s quite refreshing actually weighing candidates on issues such schools, city expansion, economic growth, dog poop etc.
Now there are two parties we support, Shachar – a party of secular and religious residents whose main emphasis is on improving education – and the Greens – who are all about the environment, improving the quality of life and care deeply about the preservation of Modiin’s local archeological sites.
Mayor is a different story. The candidate I support has been polling fairly low. Even though the two leading candidates will probably have a run off and force another election I am still voting for the lower polling candidate who I believe not only would do a superior job, but has always been responsive to my concerns as a resident of Modiin. Someone mentioned today that one should never vote on strategy but rather who you believe will do the best job. I subcribe to that philosophy as evidence in my disastrous vote for Tafnit in the last national elections. Honestly, I’ll vote for whoever promises to establish quality dog runs in Modiin. I’ve been living here almost six years and my dog has gotten pretty anti-social due to the strict leash laws and the lack of open space for our pooches to run around. That’s my issue. Bring on the dog runs!
This Year I’m a Voter…The Next Mayor Election Vote for Me, Your Deputy Mayor
Filed under: A New Reality, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Politics
Did you know that Jerusalem has six deputy mayors? And each one gets paid NIS 35,000 a month. So now you are thinking, how do I become a deputy mayor? Me too. But it’s too late for us because the election for mayor and city council are just two days away and we’re not on any of the party lists so chances are that we’re not making a career change any time soon. But for those of us voting it is important to understand that we actually get two votes, one for mayor and the other for city council. It is on the city council that these deputy mayors will sit as part of the 30-something coalition and make the crucial decisions affecting me and you.
It is also important to know that while the deputy mayors are making the big bucks, the rest of the city council is doing volunteer work–that is, they are not making a penny, or shekel, if you will. As Shira at The Big Felafel informs us:
“While the two highest elected municipality positions, mayor and deputy mayor, are paid positions, the other 29 seats on the council are volunteer positions. The mayor’s salary comes from your taxes, has his/her hand most tightly around the budget and has the best chance of passing his/her policy decisions. But the council members are either a part of the mayor’s coalition, thus helping the mayor pass policy and allocate money, or they are a part of the opposition, with a unique opportunity of exposing the improprieties of the coalition to the public and leading a strong opposing stance to the ruling force. So both votes are extremely important.”
Like Shira points out, both of your votes are crucial and with just a few days before the elections these “volunteers” are campaigning down to the wire trying to get you to vote for them. This past Thursday Hitorerut-Yerushalmim (Wake up Jerusalem) and Jerusalem Will Succeed made one of their last hits on the campaign trail in an English forum hoping to inform Anglo voters and make them vote for their team.
The head of Wake up Jerusalem’s list, Rachel Azaria, stressed the fact that their party does not answer to anyone. They are the people and they answer to the people and no one else. This list is dedicated only to the residents of Jerusalem and therefore does not have an adjacent party in the Knesset that they must take their cues from. They are young and most of them come from careers in social change.
And while youth can mean a fresh start for the city, Naomi Tsur of Jerusalem Will Succeed holds that against them, for the usual reason of inexperience. Tsur, former head of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Jerusalem decided to make the switch to government after her long battle with creating a sustainable Jerusalem. She explained that their party comes with mayoral candidate Nir Barkat. And if he is elected he will need the support of his coalition to help him implement his policies, thus he will need people from his own party to be a part of the coalition since they already agree with everything he stands for. As far as the young and fresh thing goes, Tsur said they have a young person on their list, as well as other representatives, like a native Russian speaker, French speaker, two pensioners and an Ethiopian.
So as you head to the startup capital of the world’s technologically advanced polling system – placing a paper in an envelope inside a cardboard box – remember to vote for mayor and city council. You can find a list of all the city council choices on The Big Felafel.
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