“A body of men who hold themselves accountable to no one, ought not to be trusted by anyone.” – Thomas Paine
Planning for the next five years
This guiding principle, written by one of the USA’s Founding Fathers, is also an underlying principle of the Jerusalem Covenant. It is what brought Ariella Bernstein, Chief of Staff at the Jerusalem Foundation, and 90 other active residents, including Arabs and secular, religious and ultra-Orthodox Jews, City Council members, municipal professionals, lay leaders, supporters of all the different mayoral candidates, to our “Jerusalem: Toward the Next Five Years” event that took place on Tuesday, November 27 at the newly-opened WeWork branch in Jerusalem. Their common goal: to make Jerusalem a city that is good for all its residents.
Yisrael Isaacs, on the need to work together on the things that unite
Participants created work groups on public transportation, mixed neighborhoods, cleanliness, social activism, economic development, urban planning, East Jerusalem and aesthetics in the public sphere. These groups will continue to advance issues and projects in these areas in the spirit of the Jerusalem Covenant, which has created guiding principles for civic action in the city. The Covenant will help us to devise what is the most worthwhile to do, how to do it, and to make sure we’re not forgetting anyone, and to work together to create a common good and well-being in our city. As our Director, Hagai Agmon-Snir, wrote in this MyNet article (in Hebrew): “The Jerusalem Covenant seeks to say one thing – that the city and the municipality need to take care of everyone and give them services in the most culturally sensitive way possible, just because they are city residents. This clean approach will enable Jerusalem to develop in the best way possible for everyone.”
Working to further East Jerusalem, public transportation, cleanliness, urban planning, resident activism and much more
Many thanks to Eli Yakobi, Yisrael Isaacs and Ariella Bernstein who opened the event. A special thanks to everyone who came and participated and contributed to the evening, paving the way for the next five years. More thanks go to the Leichtag Foundation, Charles and Lynn Shusterman Family Foundation, the Natan Fund and the Jerusalem Foundation for their support for our efforts to increase tolerance in Jerusalem.
Here’s the Hebrew Facebook post that sums up the evening:
