Responding to the emphatic declaration of protest of our gedolei Yisroel, headed by HaRav Aharon Leib Shteinman, to the plan of erecting a SporTech center near and adjacent to the chareidi neighborhoods in northern Jerusalem which would drastically impair the sanctity of Shabbos and Jerusalem and the very character of our holy city, thousands of residents have to date signed a petition voicing their objection to the erection of the planned SporTech center in Jerusalem. Activists in the neighborhoods, organizing the mass signatures against this, have announced that they intend to collect thousands of signatures of residents objecting to said project.
Two weeks ago, the city council sought to approve a budget of 72 million shekels for this SporTech, to be built adjoining the chareidi belt of northern Jerusalem that includes some 120,000 residents. This huge center will surely not serve the chareidi public in any way but actually be a terrible blow to its sensibilities in desecrating the honor of Shabbos, of Jerusalem, and of chareidi life in the Holy city through mass chillul Shabbos. However, at the time, due to the adamant objection of the chareidi representatives in the city council, the mayor, Nir Barkat, removed the bill from the agenda and the funds were not approved.
Despite the fact that the municipality did not approve the overall plan or budget for this SporTech, the project was, nevertheless, publicized to the general public to allow for objection which must be presented formally within fourteen days, ending this coming Sunday. The public announcement revealed that a huge sport center was on the drawing board including large open sport fields and inside services on a scale far greater than was previously presented to the representatives on the city council.
In response to the announcement allowing for public protest, the askonim of the various neighborhoods and the neighborhood councils of northern Jerusalem began gathering signatures of thousands of residents protesting the project in the hope of nipping it in the bud before it is too late. It was reported that within two days alone, a large number of signatures were already gathered on the mass protest petition and the hope is to reach thousands more to prove to any official party or body how emphatic is our stand against such a project so close to our neighborhoods and affecting it so drastically.
It will be remembered that when the project was initially presented in the city council, its chareidi representatives were astonished at the size of the budget allocation of 72 million shekel before its statutory approval procedures were even completed. "Is the process of presenting objections merely a formal deception where such a huge budget is requested before any opposition thereof was even voiced?" they wondered.
