Dear Sir/Madam, We (American/Israeli citizens) find
ourselves in a situation here. We have
been living in Arad for some time
and this past year, the ultra-orthodox Jews have decided to target all
Christians and Messianic Jews to push them out of town. This is nothing new in Israel,
however, the Mayor (newly-elected) has decided to back the orthodox Jews. We find ourselves being the target of daily
picketing at our houses, slander, vandalism, and even physical attacks. Needless to say, under these circumstances,
the police are doing nothing to help us.
Arad has always been a
secular town and very tolerant and a model for peace between the Arabs and Jews
and Christians.
We respectfully request that someone from the embassy come
and speak to the Mayor. Perhaps if he
realizes that an outside influence as powerful as the U.S.
is aware of the situation, then he will take his position more seriously and
represent all the people and not just a noisy minority.
There have been many articles written in the Negev
newspapers about this situation and many os the secular Jews are against what
the orthodox are doing. It is very
difficult to live in a constant state of harrassment. At least nine of our group
have dual Israel/U.S.A. citizenship and some others are Americans with
residency permits.
This is a situation which can be neutralized very easily
just by making an appearance. I don't
think the Mayor (Dr. Moti Brill) wants to jeopardize all the extra funding the
city receives from the United States. Please help us.
Thanking you in advance for your assistance, Lura Maiman and
Edwin Beckford
50/2 Nahal St.,
Arad, Israel
Phone - 067 508 844
email
- lura_eddie@hotmail.com
"Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?" Jeremiah 32:27