Dare To Care--- That is our motto, the motto of the International Guardian Angels
As a grassroots organization for preventing violence and crime, we support communities standing up for themselves. We have kept a close eye and an open ear on Beit Shemesh. Beit Shemesh is a city that has had its share of problems with both crime and violence--- but it has also shown itself to be a city with courage and determination.
Below is the statement issued by protest organizer, Rabbi Dov Lipman after hundreds of Beit Shemesh residents turned out at a hard-fought appeal against the building of a poorly-planned neighborhood and a city leadership that has turned a deaf ear to residents' protests.
"Let me begin by saying how impressive the demonstration was yesterday. The chairwoman of the appeal board referenced the crowd outside at least ten times during the appeal and it was covered by the national news. Thank you to everyone who came. The most satisfying part for me was seeing the various groups including Old Bet Shemesh rallying together. We are using yesterday as a basis for continuing our efforts to unify the general population in preparation for the next elections (October 2013).
The appeal was very impressive from our side and the answers from the other side were not so impressive. For example, the city's attorney admitted that the traffic situation is going to be disasterous once the new neighborhoods are built and the board had to admit that the plans violate certain official documents such as one which says that they cannot build at the top of the hill of RBS Gimmel 2.
The board will most likely take a few weeks to adjust the plans accordingly and then approve them. This, itself is a huge success because they could have turned around yesterday and approved them. Time is to our advantage and then we can ask for an appeal to the full board and then we can go to court. We are doing everything we can as residents to fight against these plans and there are some new neighborhood plans on the horizon (RBS Hei) for our objections in a few months. Overall it was a very successful day and thank you. "
Congratulations to Rabbi Lippman, to Beit Shemesh and to all of us who care about this country and DARE TO CARE to make it into the kind of place it deserves to be: a place where the law is upheld and where special interests must yield to public interest.
V'chayn Yirbu!
As a grassroots organization for preventing violence and crime, we support communities standing up for themselves. We have kept a close eye and an open ear on Beit Shemesh. Beit Shemesh is a city that has had its share of problems with both crime and violence--- but it has also shown itself to be a city with courage and determination.
Below is the statement issued by protest organizer, Rabbi Dov Lipman after hundreds of Beit Shemesh residents turned out at a hard-fought appeal against the building of a poorly-planned neighborhood and a city leadership that has turned a deaf ear to residents' protests.
"Let me begin by saying how impressive the demonstration was yesterday. The chairwoman of the appeal board referenced the crowd outside at least ten times during the appeal and it was covered by the national news. Thank you to everyone who came. The most satisfying part for me was seeing the various groups including Old Bet Shemesh rallying together. We are using yesterday as a basis for continuing our efforts to unify the general population in preparation for the next elections (October 2013).
The appeal was very impressive from our side and the answers from the other side were not so impressive. For example, the city's attorney admitted that the traffic situation is going to be disasterous once the new neighborhoods are built and the board had to admit that the plans violate certain official documents such as one which says that they cannot build at the top of the hill of RBS Gimmel 2.
The board will most likely take a few weeks to adjust the plans accordingly and then approve them. This, itself is a huge success because they could have turned around yesterday and approved them. Time is to our advantage and then we can ask for an appeal to the full board and then we can go to court. We are doing everything we can as residents to fight against these plans and there are some new neighborhood plans on the horizon (RBS Hei) for our objections in a few months. Overall it was a very successful day and thank you. "
Congratulations to Rabbi Lippman, to Beit Shemesh and to all of us who care about this country and DARE TO CARE to make it into the kind of place it deserves to be: a place where the law is upheld and where special interests must yield to public interest.
V'chayn Yirbu!