Jerusalem’s mayoral elections are over. There are those who are happy, there are those who aren’t. Two grueling rounds of elections, after (for some) months of campaigning. But what’s for sure, now it’s time to get down to work. We mentioned here about the Jerusalem Covenant, a document that was signed by all Jerusalem mayoral candidates before the first round of elections. We also reported about the exciting event we held with all the mayoral candidates before the first round.
Ofer Berkowitz and Moshe Lion, running in the second round of Jerusalem’s mayoral elections
Now it’s our – and your – turn to make sure that those who signed live up to their promise. We’re planning a post-election event we’re planning to make sure that the new City Council and mayor act in the residents’ interests. Leading up to that, we’ve made a little video (in Hebrew) emphasizing this need:
We plan to make sure that the Jerusalem Covenant was not only full of pre-election promises, but a real guide for the new mayor and City Council. Our Michal Shilor, coordinator for our Grassroots Campaign for Tolerance, wrote this opinion piece (in Hebrew) on MyNet, the local online news site for Jerusalem news, operated by the Ynet platform:
Now it’s our – the activists’ – turn to show that these elections didn’t break us, nor did they split us apart. We will continue to do our part so that City Council members will understand that we, the residents, own the keys. We need to be partners in everything that goes on here, every day. And our collective voice demands – put shallow identity politics aside and let Jerusalem, in its wealth of diversity, to develop…If we stand up and continue to work, we’ll forge a path for all Jerusalemites across the spectrum, together.
Our director, Hagai Agmon-Snir, also wrote about this on Mynet, two days before the second round:
The Jerusalem Covenant proposes a new language. It talks about a flourishing and developing city, benefiting all its residents. It seeks to recognize that Jerusalem has a cooperative good, far beyond identity politics. The Jerusalem Covenant entrenches that approach that there can be social solidarity in Jerusalem – and that it really is important for the modern orthodox population that life be good for the Ultra-Orthodox, for secular Jews, and for Arabs. (You can change around the order of the different groups if you like.) It says that in a city like Jerusalem, resident involvement is a resource that the Municipality needs to encourage, and not to discourage. And of course, it expects the Municipal leadership to be human, fair, decent, mentchadik.
Journalist Peggy Cidor quoted Hagai in this Jerusalem Post article, which speaks about what the new mayor should do in his term:
HAGAI AGMON-SNIR, director of the Jerusalem Intercultural Center on Mount Zion, emphasizes the need to include civil activists, valuing them “not as annoying individuals but rather as partners for the sake of the city.” He says that new approaches to some of the major issues in the city are required.
“The status quo has become a way to freeze everything and prevent any initiative. We, at the Center, have been working on a new pact that will provide the tools necessary to promote more understanding, more options and opportunities to meet the needs of all the sectors. That is what this city needs now.”
We’ve already had a number of city council members, from a range of parties and lists, sign the Covenant, from the Ultra-Orthodox Agudat Yisrael
Agudat Yisrael signing the Jerusalem Covenant
To the left-leaning secular Meretz party.
Meretz signing the Jerusalem Covenant
Many thanks 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.
