The Jerusalem Municipality wants to erect a bust of Winston Churchill and place it somewhere in the city.
Churchill was a great leader, but I don't know why he deserves a statue in his honor before many other people, including various founders of the State, Roosevelt, the presidents or prime ministers of Madagascar and Micronesia, Alf, Michael Jordan and many others. I am just joking - Churchill is far more deserving of such an honor than Alf and NBA stars. Point is, he didn't found the State, even if he supported it. He led the fight against the Nazis courageously, but I am not so sure that makes him first in line for this type of honor.
Regardless, as if this was not expected, the haredim are upset about such a statue being erected in Jerusalem. City Hall is trying to select a location that will upset them the least, by being as far away from their neighborhoods as possible, so as to avoid any conflict. I would have expected that anyway - I dont think anybody was planning to erect such a statue on Kikar Shabbos - it seems like common sense to me..
I think it's pretty obvious why Churchill. One of the first things Obama did when he took office was to return to England a bust of Churchill which had sat inthe Oval OFfice since after the 9/11 attacks. The loan of the bust was a token of friendship from the British government. A lot was read into the returning of the bust at the time.
ReplyDeleteWith all the pressure being put by on Israel the US to divide Jerusalem, especially now, this is probably their way of not only saying no, but that we don't even see the world in the same way, so hands off.