Mea She’arim - Police again cracked down on the hareidi neighborhood of Mea She’arim last night, arresting dozens as protesters conducted angry protests against police interference in neighborhood affairs.
Protests, mostly by members of the Gerrer Hasidic sect and members and supporters of the hard-line Sikrikim group, have been going on for weeks, with residents burning tires and garbage bins, and throwing rocks and other objects at police. But over the past few days police responded in force – much to the surprise of many protesters, witnesses said.
Among the tactics used by police was the deployment of undercover police dressed in hareidi garb who circulated among the protesters. When some protesters began throwing rocks at police, these “hareidim” quickly arrested them. Police have been using this tactic for several nights, and have managed to arrest dozens of protesters in this manner – a wave of arrests that has not taken place for many years, neighborhood veterans say.
The protests and violence are part of what has been essentially a long-running dispute over a prime parcel of Mea She’arim real estate, called Batei Varshaw (“Warsaw Houses”), originally meant for use by poor hareidi immigrant families from Poland, but now at the center of a struggle over affordable housing and real estate development involving longtime residents (who claim they are being forced out), Gerrer Hasidim (who claim the Sikrikim group is trying to drive out Gerrer residents of the area), and the Sikrikim (who claim the Gerrer Hasidim are seeking to take over and use the area for a mass real estate project).
Batei Varshaw, with 150 apartments, is located right off Shabbat Square at the center of Mea She’arim—and almost everyone agrees that the 130-year-old neighborhood is badly in need of an upgrade due to its dilapidated state.
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