Kollek in the headlines of the 'Post'

A selection of choice Teddy milestones, cares and comments, as recorded in our pages

By COMPILEDTHE JERUSALEM POST STAFF
kollek post feat 88 298 (photo credit: )
kollek post feat 88 298
(photo credit: )
Palestine Jews Claim to Share in War Effort, March 17, 1944 Mr. Theodore Kollek, a member of the delegation of leaders of Palestine Jewry at present in this country [the UK] to report on Palestine's part in the Empire war effort and the recent developments in the Jewish national home, addressed a meeting of members of the Manchester and Salford pro-Palestine Committee yesterday. At the beginning of the war, he said, 130,000 young Jews and Jewesses immediately volunteered to join the British armed forces out of a total Jewish population of under half a million. But the policy of appeasement of the Empire's enemies survived longer in regard to Palestine than it did elsewhere and their services were not accepted; only under the pressure of circumstances had about ten thousand young men been allowed to enlist, a thousand seasoned motor-drivers to help in Libya and Abyssinia, 1,700 skilled tradesmen to swell the R.A.F. ground staff, and so on. "There is still time to arm our people by permitting them to join the British armies in the Near East," said Mr. Kollek. "It is said that this might be politically unwise and might be distorted by enemy propaganda, but everything Britain does and has done in the Arab world is distorted in this way." (This is one of the first references to Kollek in the pages of the Post) Kollek Explains What New Tourism Body Plans to Do, September 5, 1955 The need to educate the average citizen to be more helpful and courteous to tourists was emphasized by Mr. T. Kollek, Director-General of the Prime Minister's office... Mr. Kollek, who was speaking for the first time in his new capacity... suggested some ways to increase the average visitor's interest in the country. Not only should archeological sites be preserved, but scenes of battles of the War of Independence could be of considerable interest, such as the Kastel and Sha'ar Hagai. He reemphasized the need to create contact between Israelis and tourists, by tourists being invited to private homes, in the way Allied soldiers were received early in World War II. More emphasis should be put on "Israel, the Country of Sunshine," rather than on "Israel, Land of the Bible," which Mr. Kollek thought was a little overdone. One of the problems of the tourist industry in Israel was the lack of night life, he continued. After sunset, the tourist was at a loss to find somewhere to go in Jerusalem, and it was only a little better in other places in Israel. The Affluent Society, July 17, 1961 Among the doubtful glories of modern civilization due to arrive any year in Israel is television. Somewhat surprisingly, Teddy Kollek has his doubts about it, and says that he would not be altogether unhappy if he believed that it was possible to keep it out forever. But he knows that it is certain to come and that there are already people in Israel who tune in to Beirut and Cairo. Running for Jerusalem, October 15, 1965 Theodore Teddy Kollek (this is the way his name appears in "Who's Who in Israel"), born in Vienna in 1911 and in this country since 1934, is running proudly for Mayor of the Capital on his reputation as a man who gets things done, a technocrat; an appellation which he shares with several other of Ben Gurion's "Young Men" and which was not assigned to them by their friends or intended as a compliment. He believes that Mayor Ish-Shalom and the members of his administration are well-intentioned and mostly even hard-working men and women. Their main trouble, he believes, is that they lack wings, vision, imagination, and dynamism. And the members of the Municipal bureaucracy, too, are not basically corrupt or lazy; it is simply that the lethargic manner of the administration has undermined their morale and espirit de corps; they have no interest in their jobs. "People have to be inspired," he declares. Is Jerusalem Mayor entitled to a private life?, May 22, 1967 The Jerusalem Municipal Council chamber was last night the arena for a short but sharp debate on whether the Mayor "belongs" completely to the public or whether he is also entitled to a "private conscience.' Mr. S.Z. Druck, Agudat Yisrael Opposition Councillor, wanted to know whether it was true that Mayor Teddy Kollek "publicly desecrated the Sabbath by driving on that day... something no previous Mayor of Jerusalem has done, in deference to the feelings of a large part of the city's population." Mr. Kollek: I consider this to be a purely personal matter and I will not reply to your question." Mr. Druck: "A Mayor has no private life. Everything he does reflects on his city, and he is responsible to his city." Mr Kollek (furiously): "I repeat: this is a matter of my private conscience. Only I will decide what I shall do or not do on the Sabbath!" Earlier Mr. Druck, who loses no opportunity to needle Mr. Kollek, especially in matters that are likely to embarrass the Mayor's National Religious Party and Agudat Yisrael Coalition partners, also asked whether it was true that Mr. Kollek, during a recent Friday night Vocal Newspaper, had written notes. Mr. Kollek replied calmly that it was true that he had taken out his pen. However, someone had reminded him that it was Sabbath Eve, and he had apologized and put the pen back in his pocket. Mayor Tours Jerusalem as Clash Goes On, June 6, 1967 Mayor Teddy Kollek, who had given the Capital a new motto in his declaration, "We shall not be conquered," was concerned about how his citizens were faring in the border areas, and he left his office for an inspection tour. On the way we called at the Israel Museum, and as we approached we could see several of its big windows shattered, and the stench of cordite still hung in the air. But within the big strong doors, the men and women working there told the Mayor that the glass had been shattered by mortars. The Dead Sea Scrolls were safe, deep in the repository built for them. "This morning I felt something might happen, so I told them to lower them into their shelter," the Mayor said. A Parade in East Jerusalem, March 15, 1968 Hussein could have been King of Jerusalem had he wanted it. King of Jerusalem. The Mayor of the city smiled for a moment. "But he preferred to be King of Amman. Now it is our problem. To make Jerusalem into a fitting capital city for Israel - reunited Jerusalem, with a population of 65,000 Arabs, or about a quarter of the total. But still we must build it as our capital, the capital of Israel, although it is a bi-ethnic, bi-lingual and bi-cultural city. Jerusalem: Kollek on the Year, May 24, 1968 The only thing which might have been done, [said Kollek,] that I feel we may possibly have missed out on - I'm not certain - is on the very first day or two to have invited the Arab councillors to join the Council. Under the shock they might have done so. Probably afterwards under political pressure they might have resigned and it wouldn't have made a great difference. But there was an off chance they might have stayed. Kollek reaffirms call for Arab self-rule, March 12, 1973 Mayor Teddy Kollek called again last week for Arab self-government in Jerusalem. The Mayor suggested that Israel has offended Arab sensitivities unnecessarily. "We sometimes rub our victory in too much. The city is going to stay united. We don't have to say it six times a day and we do." Kollek: No Savyons around Jerusalem, October 13, 1975 Concerned that planning of new Jerusalem suburbs might lead to "more Savyons and Kfar Shmaryahus," Mayor Teddy Kollek last night pledged all-out opposition to construction of villas for affluent citizens on the city's periphery... "Luxurious villas tend to attract the richer element away from the city center, and the result is disintegration of our community. Our real aim is social integration, not disintegration." Kollek scores Arabs for not acknowledging help, September 1, 1975 In the bluntest public criticism he has ever levelled at Arab residents of Jerusalem, Mayor Teddy Kollek yesterday upbraided them for refusing to acknowledge in public the help they seek and receive from the Israeli authorities. Invited to a ceremony marking a new Arab cooperative housing project in Beit Hanina, Kollek was angered when one of the hosts thanked the authorities for their help but refused to have his remarks recorded. Kollek said that Israel has been accused abroad of oppressing the residents of East Jerusalem and of ignoring their needs. In the area of housing alone, he said the authorities have in fact aided 4,000 East Jerusalem families to build new houses or improve existing ones through mortgage loans. Yet this assistance is never mentioned in an Arabic newspaper, he said, or acknowledged publicly by an East Jerusalem leader. Kollek calls for tolerance in Jerusalem, August 1, 1982 Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek yesterday said the capital urgently needs "a new mandate for tolerance." In an Israel Radio interview, he said that small splinter groups which do not have much following are beginning to think and act as if they were the majority. "It's not a matter of whether you love Arabs, but if there are a hundred thousand Arabs in the city you have to face up to it and you can't leave matters to crazies like Rabbi Kahane and others like him," Kollek said. He added that the issue of the Temple Mount should be "left to the Messiah; not every shmendrik has to take the problem into his own hands." A Piece of His Mind, December 6, 1985 "Personally, if you ask me, I believe I am a better Jew than any hassid," Teddy Kollek told The Jerusalem Post staff this week. "I bring more Jews to Jerusalem, I live a full Jewish life, I carry out mitzvot that mean something, that are good deeds."... One of Jerusalem's major problems is how to deal not only with haredi violence, but with ever-increasing ultra-Orthodox demands. At the beginning of the week, the mayor, in desperation over the estimated $100,000 in damage to bus stops around the city, telephoned Police Minister Haim Bar-Lev, as well as several police commanders to tell them they must put a stop to the vandalism. "I think that the people who are doing this are a tiny minority, but the haredi leadership doesn't stand up to this. Everyone who gets drenched this winter because of the lack of bus shelters will blame the religious Jews." Keeping the Balance, May 23, 1990 Kollek sees in the current Soviet aliya a great blessing for the city and the country. "It is a productive population and it has a high percentage of people who are not ultra-religious. It's a great opportunity for the country as well as a great moral and practical test. This is the last great Jewry that will come here. It's a miracle that they've come. If we're not able to make use of this miracle, we really will have reached bottom." Two Famous Doves in Surprising Moments of Truth, December 11, 1992 In a Boston Globe (Nov. 29, 1992) interview, Mayor Teddy Kollek seemed to shock the paper's Israel correspondent, Ethan Bronner... "Deep down in Arab philosophy, [said Kollek,] is the conquest by war and not a peaceful conquest." Q: So that if you were to give them East Jerusalem, they'd still declare war? That's your feeling? A: I'm convinced of that. They don't want East Jerusalem. Look, they still want Granada and Cordoba and half of Spain - it belongs to them. "The Dawlet el Islam, land of Islam that we once ruled, we will rule again." ... That is basic in Islam. I make it difficult for myself [saying this] but I have to see that, too. Q: Then your own sense is that an important reason to keep Israeli sovereignty over the city is because there is a long-term threat? A: We are the only ones who will keep it a civilized city. Nobody else will. Running the Show? Yes. Running for Office? Well-l-l..., May 19, 1993 People have an unrealistic attitude [toward co-existence]... If you put a fountain up in a park, and Arab and Jewish children jump in there and mothers stand next to each other, you have done something for better relations between Jews and Arabs. It is not a question of negotiations... It's a question of learning to live together, and it might take one generation or three generations. Look how long it has taken for relations to improve between Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jews.