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17 Adar I 5760 - February 23, 2000 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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News
Hundreds Demonstrate in Beit Shemesh Against the Mayor

by Betzalel Kahn

A large rally was held in the Ramat Beit Shemesh neighborhood of Beit Shemesh on Friday, 5 Adar I in protest at Mayor Dani Vaknin's antagonistic behavior towards the chareidi sector.

The Municipality reacted to the demonstration by presenting a trumped-up list of buildings which it claimed had been allotted to chareidi institutions.

Chareidi activists stress that this list only shows that the Municipality considers it preferable for students from the Ramat Beit Shemesh chareidi neighborhoods to study outside of the neighborhood. The Municipality feels no obligation to provide chareidi Ramat Beit Shemesh residents with its most basic needs.

At the rally it was decided that this demonstration would be the first step in a series of confrontations with the mayor and the municipal coalition, who seem united in their attempts the hamper religion in Ramat Beit Shemesh Alef.

The rally closed with the words, which reflect the community's desire only for the minimal services it deserves: "We won't move from here. We will raise our children and grandchildren in this neighborhood according to the chareidi lifestyle. Torah and educational institutions will burgeon here. Despite the onslaught, we won't surrender. We will do everything in our power to foster the growth of Torah and yirah in this neighborhood, which sheds its spiritual light upon the entire city of Beit Shemesh."

The religious community at large joined the chareidi sector in the rally to identify with its struggle, noting that chareidim are leading the battle that is really everyone's and have set the stage. "We identify with the struggle of the chareidim against the mayor's dangerous aims," these residents stressed. "Despite the fact that the general religious community has received land for educational institutions and synagogues, we protest the mayor's behavior towards the chareidim because it causes contention between Jews. We call upon the mayor to give the chareidim the structures and lands they rightly deserve," they said.


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