In a political first for Jerusalem, merchants from the Mahaneh Yehuda market plan to run in this fall's municipal elections.
By ETGAR LEFKOVITSmahaneh yehuda 224 88(photo credit: Ben Jacobson)
In a political first for Jerusalem, merchants from the city's open-air Mahaneh Yehuda market are planning to run in this fall's municipal elections on a city merchants list.
The unusual decision to form such a party list for the Jerusalem city council in the November 11 elections follows a groundswell of fury among downtown city merchants over the planned two-year infrastructure work on Jaffa Road for the repeatedly-delayed light rail system.
The construction work, which got underway last month, has made sections of the road virtually impassable.
Last month, scores of angry city merchants disrupted a city council meeting and repeatedly booed and heckled Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski over the ongoing construction, which the merchants say is destroying their businesses - they claim their income has already been more than halved.
The merchants say that their repeated meetings with both Lupolianski and Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz and their staff have been fruitless, and that despite the mayor's backing, they have not even received any property tax reductions to date.
Among the city merchants' central demands are dramatically cutting down the time allocated for the construction work, and offering the area's merchants an array of tax breaks.
The merchants are also planning to embark on a public campaign urging city residents to vote in the mayoral elections.
"The truth is we have only ourselves to blame since we did not go vote in the last elections, and the same thing will happen this year unless we go and vote," Jaffa Road shopkeeper Boaz Rahiampur said.
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