THIS WEEK IN JERUSALEM

Peggy Cidor’s round-up of city affairs

By PEGGY CIDOR
Jerusalem Day521 (photo credit: NATI SHOHAT / FLASH 90)
Jerusalem Day521
(photo credit: NATI SHOHAT / FLASH 90)
Trouble in paradise In a dramatic development the results of the Meretz primary that brought city councillor Meir Margalit to the helm of the party have been canceled. Less than two weeks after the election, Margalit is facing an embarrassing situation. Rabbi Ehud Bandel, one of the candidates on the list, discovered some alleged irregularities in the voting procedure and requested a revision of the results and an inquiry.
According to the initial findings it seems that some Arab voters, not residents of the city, voted for both Margalit and the party’s Arab candidate, Fuad Suleiman, an act that is considered fraud. At press time, it was not clear whether party chairwoman MK Zehava Gal-On would call a new election or appoint new candidates.
Hard Labor Is the Labor Party finally taking part in the elections? It depends on whom one asks. Twenty years ago, the party lost the city (in the 1993 elections, when Ehud Olmert, representing Likud, beat Labor’s Teddy Kollek), and rumor has it that the local branch of the party is seriously surveying the situation. Esti Kirmayer, chair of the Jerusalem district of the Labor Party, recently told In Jerusalem it was time for Labor to return to local politics.
For the moment, there are no big names connected to the party, which officially revealed its intentions to return, but names are definitely in the air.
The major option is still a joint venture with Mayor Nir Barkat as part of his list as it stands. Last week the internal elections in the local branch of the Labor Party put Itai Gurtler, former president of the students’ association, in first place on an eventual list for the city council. What remains to be determined is whether this list will run as the Labor list for the Jerusalem city council, or whether the Labor MKs will decide it is still not time to rekindle the old love story between Labor and the residents of Jerusalem.
Synagogue or court
The opening of Cinema City looms ahead. For the moment it is clear that the date promised, the end of June, is unrealistic, and the earliest that the building can be completed is by September. But a petition to the High Court of Justice has already been submitted. On Monday, city council member Ofer Berkowitz, chairman of Hitorerut, and three other members of his movement submitted a plea to the High Court to rule that Cinema City can open on Shabbat.
The conflict over the Cinema City issue began in October 2010 with the decision by the city council’s finance committee to approve the project, on the condition that it would not open on Shabbat. Hitorerut never accepted the verdict and, about a year ago, launched a major campaign to have it reversed.
Arguing that Cinema City closing on Shabbat would be yet another reason to induce youngsters to leave the city, Hitorerut members organized an outdoor screening two weeks ago at the Cinema City site, which was attended by 500 residents, mostly of the younger generation.
Berkowitz said that the struggle will now focus on the legal aspect, and Yossi Havilio (former legal adviser of the municipality and an old friend of Barkat’s who became a foe) will represent the case in court.
“We are confident that the court will see to it that the rights of the secular population and the tourists who come to the city will not be compromised,” Berkowitz said.
Waking up for the campaign With only four months to go before municipal elections it seems the parties involved are getting into gear. On Wednesday, June 19, Hitorerut officially launched its campaign with a broad gathering at the Gerard Behar Theater.
According to Hitorerut chairman Ofer Berkowitz, this will be an intensive, determined campaign aimed at increasing the number of representatives on the city council. On this council Hitorerut has one seat, occupied presently by Berkowitz, after a rotation between him and Merav Cohen, who will not be on the new list.
The new list, to be presented soon, will include activists, representatives of the neighborhoods and of the community centers and local councils. The official goal of Berkowitz and No. 2 on the list Hanan Rubin is to bring a “Zionist and pluralistic power to the council for the city.”
Persona non grata? City council member Rachel Azaria (Yerushalmim) got an unpleasant surprise this week when she was notified that her scheduled speech at the Baka local council center had been canceled.
Azaria had been booked to give an address during a special evening program for Tisha Be’av, as she has for the past three years. The organizers of the special programs (which take place in many locations, including outside of Jerusalem), the Sderot Conference and the Tair Center, invited Azaria this year, too, but canceled her participation, according to Azaria’s staff, following a specific request from the Baka council.
The official reason given was that as the event is scheduled to take place less than three months before the elections, and Azaria will be running for a seat on the next city council, her participation is against the law.
The problem with that explanation, says Azaria, “is that we found many other [local] politicians scheduled to speak at the Tisha Be’av events both in Baka and other places.”
“I work hard to promote Jewish pluralism in Jerusalem, and I sincerely hope that the Baka council will reconsider this discriminatory decision – after all, Tisha Be’av is precisely the time for dialogue and public debate.”
Special discount Considering buying an apartment in the city? If it is your first and only purchase, you may be entitled to a special grant of up to NIS 100,000.
Apparently a recent decision of Construction and Housing Minister Uri Ariel (Bayit Yehudi), this is in fact a rule that prevailed here for several years, which was canceled by the former minister, Ariel Atias (Shas).
It is not clear what effect this will have on the real estate market in the city, but NIS 100,000 is not a paltry sum. Mayor Nir Barkat announced that the move will encourage more young couples to remain in the city.
And now for something completely different… Tired of the endless list of festivals and looking for something both high-quality and less crowded? Here is a suggestion: The New Dawn Duet at Confederation House, on Wednesday, June 26.
Itamar Erez and Yishai Afterman are launching a new album and will play selections from it in the framework of the “Middle East Improvised” series of ethnic jazz concerts.
Coming soon to Confederation House, the next concerts in the series of ethnic music, on July 4, include performances by Udistan with Ronen Shapira (piano, oud and vocals), and poet Roni Somek.