Elderly and disabled long-time residents facing harsh new reality
B'nei Brak residents prohibited from driving home
Hiddush is handling a new request we received from a group of people, including seniors and some who are partially disabled, who have been living in Bnei Brak for decades, on a street that is home for both religious and secular residents.
Uri Regev 19/03/2020 20:46
Tags: activism · coronavirus · legal activism · Bnei Brak · Shabbat
B'nei Brak, Israel; source: Wikipedia
Gradually, the number of religious households grew along the street, and suddenly the old secular residents found themselves facing a new traffic sign, approved by this ultra-Orthodox municipality without their knowledge, which prohibits vehicles from entering the street on Saturdays.
Someone also wanted to make sure that the sign is adhered to, and added a roadblock placed there on Fridays before Shabbat starts.
Hiddush has taken on their legal representation, and we’ve demanded the immediate reversal of the illegal decision to place this traffic sign that effectively locks these residents in their homes on Saturdays, for it forces them to park their vehicles away from their homes, thereby making them less accessible [or, alternatively, the sign may force them to sell their apartments where they have been living for decades to seek refuge outside their city]. Some of the residents are old and disabled, and for them this poses a particularly harsh new reality.
Someone also wanted to make sure that the sign is adhered to, and added a roadblock placed there on Fridays before Shabbat starts.
Hiddush did not receive a response from the municipality and yesterday followed up with an urgent additional demand point out that particularly during these days of Coronavirus pandemic the illegal hazard and blockage of the road on the Sabbath further increases the serious threat to people’s lives. We realize that the courts in Israel are now operating only on emergency cases and hope very much that the municipality will not take advantage of this situation, thinking that the courts will not be addressing such cases at this time. We will not deter from turning to court, even if only for temporary relief, for the Municipality’s illegal action puts our clients’ life at risk.
This is a very disturbing sign of what can be expected in mixed neighborhoods, at a time when ultra-Orthodox officials are making claims of anti-Semitism in response to those who oppose building ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in cities that are mostly secular, which is actually due to the fear of phenomena exactly like this one in Bnei Brak.