Problems in Acco
Most schools in the western Galilee city of Acco (Acre) are closed today, for the third straight day. The Parents Association in the city is protesting the municipal education budget cuts, as well as the downgrading of its preferred status.
Acco is suffering from other problems as well. The downtown and upscale Wolfson neighborhood, for instance, is now 95% Arab, reports Shimon Cohen. It is said that over 10,000 Jews have left the city in the past years, and their apartments are snatched up by Arabs. Local Chief Rabbi Yosef Yashar has his suspicions about this phenomenon: "I assume that there is a guiding hand behind all this. It turns out that every time a Jew puts his apartment up for sale, an Arab shows up at the door with the full amount, with no haggling. Where does the money come from? They're trying to [take over] the entire city."
"When they take over a neighborhood," Rabbi Yashar told Cohen, "they make life unbearable for the Jewish residents. They celebrate weddings for three loud days, with music broadcast over the muezzin speakers on the loudest volume, and the like." Cases of anti-Jewish violence have been reported in the city as well.
The local hesder yeshiva is headquartered in the Wolfson neighborhood, and is trying to stem the tide. The yeshiva's Rabbi Nachshon Cohen says that although the Noam religious school almost closed for lack of students, "now, religious families are moving in. Six new families have joined us this summer."
Most schools in the western Galilee city of Acco (Acre) are closed today, for the third straight day. The Parents Association in the city is protesting the municipal education budget cuts, as well as the downgrading of its preferred status.
Acco is suffering from other problems as well. The downtown and upscale Wolfson neighborhood, for instance, is now 95% Arab, reports Shimon Cohen. It is said that over 10,000 Jews have left the city in the past years, and their apartments are snatched up by Arabs. Local Chief Rabbi Yosef Yashar has his suspicions about this phenomenon: "I assume that there is a guiding hand behind all this. It turns out that every time a Jew puts his apartment up for sale, an Arab shows up at the door with the full amount, with no haggling. Where does the money come from? They're trying to [take over] the entire city."
"When they take over a neighborhood," Rabbi Yashar told Cohen, "they make life unbearable for the Jewish residents. They celebrate weddings for three loud days, with music broadcast over the muezzin speakers on the loudest volume, and the like." Cases of anti-Jewish violence have been reported in the city as well.
The local hesder yeshiva is headquartered in the Wolfson neighborhood, and is trying to stem the tide. The yeshiva's Rabbi Nachshon Cohen says that although the Noam religious school almost closed for lack of students, "now, religious families are moving in. Six new families have joined us this summer."