The changing face of Jerusalem’s Machane Yehuda, which has become less of a farmers’ market and more of an entertainment venue, is resulting in an increase the number of cases of violence which demand police intervention. Last month, police closed four pubs temporarily due to violent incidents.
Police have decided to increase the manpower in the shuk during the evening and nighttime hours, when ‘The Shuk’ converts to an entertainment venue, as the growing number of pubs and restaurants begin operating towards the evening hours.
Two cases were reported by YWN-Israel, in which pubs in the shuk were fined; closed for 21 days due to incidents which occurred.
Police speak of block parties taking place without permits, resulting in alleys and streets being blocked illegally. Police explain too often, the pubs and restaurants violate the terms of their operating license, endangering the welfare of the public as a result of the festivities.
The shop owners, represented by the chairwoman of the shuk merchants vaad, Tali Friedman, are calling on police to be more cooperative and less quick on the trigger with closure orders against businesses. She calls for “finding the balance” when it comes to the nightlife in the shuk, which is now part of Jerusalem’s nightlife.
Police are planning to increase the size of the nightly patrols in the shuk, hoping to maintain order, especially now during Tishrei, when hundreds of persons arrive nightly for the popular “Siyurei Slichos” in the adjacent Nachlaot neighborhood along with other areas in the city. This brings thousands to the capital nightly during the Tishrei Yomim Tovim period.
The merchants in Machane Yehuda are calling on police to increase dialogue with business owners and to refrain from closure orders whenever possible.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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One Response
The situation there is awful; let them close down everything after 9. The shuk is the new hotspot, the makom tumah in Yerushalayim ir hakodesh. It is a disgrace, probably worse than town at this point, and should never have been converted into a nighttime venue in the first place.