Hiddush Petition against Jerusalem Municipality:
Excluding non-Orthodox and non-Jewish from municipality website is illegal!
Hiddush – For Religious Freedom and Equality submitted a petition to court, challenging the Jerusalem Municipality’s illegal exclusion of those synagogues that represent Reform, Conservative, egalitarian Orthodox, and other independent Jewish communities, as well as non-Jewish religious institutions (primarily Muslim and Christian) from the “Religion and Tradition” section of the municipal website, which only includes information about Orthodox synagogues and institutions.
25/02/2020 12:40
Tags: Jerusalem · Jerusalem municipality · legal action · discrimination · non-Jewish · non-Orthodox
The Jerusalem municipality, source: Wikipedia
Yesterday, on Sunday, Hiddush – For Religious Freedom and Equality petitioned the District Court of Jerusalem against the Jerusalem Municipality, due to the municipality's refusal to correct the illegal, discriminatory information provided on the municipality's website regarding institutions of religion and tradition. The Jerusalem Municipality website provides, as a public service, a section on “Religion and Tradition” that includes a list of synagogues and religious institutions throughout the city. However, only Orthodox synagogues, ritual baths and other religious institutions are included. The petition holds that information regarding non-Jewish houses of worship, as well as those affiliated with the non-Orthodox Jewish denominations and egalitarian Orthodoxy are excluded from the municipality's website, and information regarding such religious services is not accessible to Jerusalem’s residents and visitors.
According to Hiddush’s petition, there exist large non-Orthodox Jewish communities throughout the city, particularly those affiliated with the Conservative and Reform denominations, and thousands of visitors to Jerusalem who are members of such non-Orthodox communities in the Diaspora visit the city every year. Today there are approximately 17 Conservative and Reform communities in Jerusalem. In addition, there are egalitarian Orthodox synagogues and independent communities, which are also excluded. All told, there are approximately 20-30 such institutions and communities, which, according to the municipality, do not exist, or do not merit being included among the religious institutions listed on the “Religion and Tradition” section of the Jerusalem municipality’s website. Furthermore, In Jerusalem, there exist large Christian and Muslim communities, which make up nearly 40% of the city's population, and hundreds of thousands of Christian and Muslim pilgrims and tourists come to visit the city every year, but no information about Christian and Muslim houses of prayer, nor other affiliated religious institutions are listed on the municipality's website. This, despite the website’s emphasis on Jerusalem’s being a holy city to all religions, and its underscoring of the city’s diverse population and appeal to visitors from around the country and the world.
This petition seeks to force the municipality to equitably publish information on religious and traditional services on its website, including information on all houses of prayer and other religious institutions throughout the city, irrespective of religion and denomination.
About a year ago, Hiddush contacted the Jerusalem municipality in this regard, but despite repeated reminders, Hiddush has received no reply. Therefore, in pursuit of Hiddush’s mission of religious freedom and its commitment to mend religious inequities, it petitioned the court. This petition seeks to force the municipality to equitably publish information on religious and traditional services on its website, including information on all houses of prayer and other religious institutions throughout the city, irrespective of religion and denomination.
The Municipality of Jerusalem is governed by the laws of the State of Israel and the principles of equality and freedom of religion, but it acts as though these principles, as well as the Israeli Supreme Court's longstanding ruling, don’t apply to it. Hiddush was established to promote, regardless of religion, denomination, or political views, the full implementation of Israel’s Declaration of Independence’s promise of religious freedom and equality for all walks of life. The filing of this petition is grounded in the fundamental need to put the Jerusalem Municipality and the religious politicians who dictate its policies on notice that the capital of Israel is, in fact, within the State of Israel; and as such, it must implement a fair and equitable policy without any religious exclusion or coercion.