Some say it is not possible - there is just too much of a culture clash - haredim need to live only among their own, secular on their own (DL seem to be able to live with secular and vice versa, and maybe even with haredim but only in small numbers), Arabs on their own, etc. Even within Haredi communities, different types of Haredim often have trouble living too close to each other. It prevents the inevitable culture clash. Just look at Bet Shemesh where the culture clashes have become like a national pastime. Some cities have even had campaigns where they use slogans like "we are not Bet Shemesh", "we don't want to become the next Bet Shemesh".....
The thing is, nowadays putting people together does not work - people fight when Haredim move into an existing city or neighborhood and get upset that they are "taking over", and people get upset when an isolated city or neighborhood is being built for haredim. As long as planning of such cities and neighborhoods is done properly, or at least in a way that will not harm nearby communities, and it is not done in a discriminatory way - communities are also planned/built to alleviate the shortages in other communities as well - there should not be any opposition to a standalone Haredi community.
The way it works now is that people oppose letting Haredim move (en masse) into existing cities and neighborhoods, and people oppose Haredim having cities or towns built just for them. So where are Haredim supposed to live?
I write this because this morning the Cabinet held its weekly session in Sde Boker to mark the yahrtzeit of David Ben Gurion, Israel's first prime minister and a founding father of the State. During the session the Cabinet voted in favor of building a number of new cities n the southern pat of Israel. One of those cities is Kasif - a city designated for Haredim. The vote passed with 8 in favor and 5 against.
Kasif is being planned to bear some 50,000 Haredi residents - 10,000 homes, in the first stages of the town.
In addition to Kasif, 2 other towns were also approved - Shizaf and Chiran (Chiran for the dati community and Shizaf for the secular).
The approval comes automatically with opposition. A group of mayors and regional heads from the area filed opposition to having such massive absorption of Haredim in the area - their demand for a certain lifestyle will become a burden on the existing society and will deter others from coming to the area. Environmentalist groups oppose it sayign thaat there is no need to establish a new town - instead existing towns, such as Arad, Yerucham, Ofakim, Dimona and Netivot, should be grown, especially as they have not reached their expansion limits.
(source: Globes)
Any valid claims should definitely be dealt with. Proper infrastructure in these new towns should be planned and built. Plans should include adequate schools, shuls, mikvas, matnas and sports facilities, along with parks, business and commercial centers, plans for bringing places of employment, etc. It should be planned properly and they should not be left to become a burden on other nearby towns. If the planning will be done properly, there should be no reason for opposition to such a community.
The truth is also that these towns have already been approved already, each of them years ago at different times. I am not sure what was done today different than previous decisions - maybe now they will actually get started on them?
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A) Tolerance
ReplyDeleteB) It's great to live in a homogeneous area
C) Natural market trends are more powerful than government urban planning
Tolerance??? Tolerance is a two-way street -- you can't call people 'amalek' and then preach 'achdut' and 'tolerance' (and yes, the Amalakr Rebbe was just promoted to the Admor ofShas). How can we tolerate a community that features rallies outside of children's schools?? In America we would NEVER tolerate a group of grown men who had a rally in front of Jewish CHILDREN outside of their schools. Why should we tolerate it here? [and it happened in Beitar several decades ago to drive out the dati leumi from Beitar - there is nothing special about Beit SHemesh).
ReplyDeleteI note that the hafganot outside of Orot (with 'spitting havganot') were not the only time the haredim had havganot outside of children's schools -- in 2006-2007 they had rallies outside of a girl's high school in Ramat Beit SHemesh (they seem to be attracted to girls). MOST IMPORTANT COMMENT --> I note that NONE of the harei "gedolim" (nor the haredi mayor) came in 2011 to walk the 8-year old girl to school !!!! that is 100% OUTRAGEOUS. When they start tolerating others, then they will deserve tolerance. I am sorry to write this way -- I always respected haredim but after the 2011 spitting incident where the mainstream community did NOTHING instead of quietly saying "tisk tisk" something snapped -- where was the mayor ?? Gedolim???
PS Earlier this year, I saw the hypocritical Beit SHemesh energetically recruit the SAME toldot aharon/neturei karta "extremists" that they always publicly disassociate themselves from. I even read an article in the hardedi press right after the elections about the 'miracle' of the kanaaim coming out to vote Abutboul - they talk out of both sides of their mouth to "brand" Beit SHemesh haredi.