In a tiny apartment in the haredi neighborhood of Geula late one night earlier this week, a skinny young man wearing the typical black coat of the Edah Haredit (Neturei Karta) is sitting, speaking softly. On the large table in front of him are a few rugelach, a bottle of soda and some plastic cups. The man – who asked to be identified only by his first name David, barely 25 but already the father of two – is the brains behind the recent violent haredi protest against the planned Green Line of the light rail, whose route crosses the heart of the Geula/ Bar Ilan neighborhood.
David speaks softly, but is adamant against what is considered by the Transportation Ministry and the municipality to be the flagship of the development plans for the capital.
“We are here to stay. The sooner the authorities grasp and understand this, the better it will be. We are not going anywhere and we will never accept this plan as it is proposed. We ask for a tunnel and will not accept any other solution.”
Asked why this strong opposition to the light rail, David replies, “Nobody asked us. Nobody tried to find out what we really need or want, what fits our way of life. Nothing. They [the municipality, the Jerusalem Transportation Master Plan] just came one day and said, ‘This is what we plan, you may submit objections, but we are not committed to accept them.’
“Hence, left without choice, we fight back.”
“We want to stop this work. What we usually do is lay on the land, or under the wheels of the tractors – anything that can stop the teams. That’s what we do. There were cases that some of the protesters went far, that was not our initial plan.”
David and the large community behind him are called the “Zealots” of Jerusalem, albeit the historical contexts are quite different. The Zealots of the Second Temple era called for rebellion against the Romans, out of nationalistic – and religious – fervor. These days, the Zealots of Jerusalem are anything but nationalists, and if rebellion still seems the main message, it comes from a stubborn refusal to become part of the mainstream Israeli discourse, of a strong adhesion to the old traditions, and a refusal to enable any slight change. For the past few years – some of them say at least five years – the major struggle was against the path of the Green Line.
David runs a kollel and has managed to gather support from all the different factions inside the capital’s haredi sector – from the most extremist side of the Neturei Karta (of which he is a member) up to the “mainstream” haredi part, including those represented at the Jerusalem City Council and the Knesset.
“We, at the Edah Haredit,” asserts David with a touch of irony, “always knew that haredim of all streams would never really be accepted by the ‘Zionist Establishment.’ We always knew that behind the nice smiles, there will always be contempt, even hatred. So we never wanted to be part of it.
“We are against this project as it is planned – with the brutal crossing inside our neighborhoods, without any consideration for our way of life, our customs, our needs – just because someone in the government has decided this is a good idea. We say, ‘A light rail? Okay. Underground, build a tunnel – just like what was approved for the line planned on Yehezkel Street nearby.’
“But they won’t even listen to us – so we do everything we can to stop it.”
ASKED TO detail the reasons for this opposition, David mentions several points.
“The crossing of the line through the heart of the neighborhood will simply ruin our life; there is no reason we should be sacrificed for this development that does not serve us. Moreover, this plan says that high towers can be built along the line. We can’t prevent an entrepreneur from buying land to build a 12- or 14-story building. Who will live there? Not us, of course, we do not use the so-called ‘Shabbat elevator.’ So people who are not part of our community will come in – here is a simple, quick way to get rid of us and expel us – because once there are non-haredim living in the neighborhood, there will be no place for us.
“Is that what’s behind the plan? To eject us from our homes?”
After the first spontaneous protest, David and a small group of his Edah Haredit peers decided to get more organized. They found the little apartment where they agreed to meet me, bought the basic necessary equipment (printer, computer, etc.) and now even employ a communications consultant, himself a member of the no-less-radical Peleg Yerushalmi faction. One of the first goals was to obtain the blessing of the rabbis from all haredi streams. David succeeded in enlisting an unprecedented level of cooperation.
Posters and brochures were dispatched to synagogues; everything was done to garner as much support as possible. The next step was to raise money for the struggle. Again David was successful, especially when armed with all the official blessings and support declarations.
“This is going to be a long struggle, but we are not going anywhere and we will not surrender. The Master Plan, the municipality and the government – they will all have to understand that the fact that we are haredim and members of the Edah Haredit doesn’t mean we do not have rights. There will be a tunnel for this line or no light rail.”
In one of the surprising plot twists that Jerusalem so often provides, an alliance is being forged between David and his partners and the secular and Zionist residents of the German Colony opposed to the path of the light rail’s Blue Line on Emek Refaim St. A few meetings have already taken place. The parties exchanged ideas, and though there is no plan to use the Eda Haredit methods, this quite unexpected bond underscores this city’s special character.
Shortly after the end of the meeting, on the same little street in Geula, an attempted murder took place. Two former haredim riding a motorcycle approached a young haredi from Geula and stabbed him several times. They disappeared before anyone could stop them and the victim was taken to a hospital.
Asked how this could happen in such a neighborhood, one of David’s friends explained that “these thugs” are not haredim anymore. “They come from another neighborhood. None of them are from here.”