In this update you will find:
- Status of the evaluation of the alternative landing paths
- Asking for the public's help in widening the number of signatures on the Clear Skies petition
- Wanted: residents with contacts in the national media
- Senior manager in the Israeli Aviation Industry: "A major aviation disaster in Israel is only a matter of time"
Status of the evaluation of the alternative landing paths
The airport authorities are currently evaluating alternative landing paths and that is the reason for the trial flights which are taking place in our area, these days. The Minister of Transportation has instructed the general manager of the Civil Aviation Authority, Giora Rom, to refrain from publishing and implementing the new flight path over Modiin, the same flight path that per our meeting with Giora Rom was supposed to be approved a few weeks ago.
It seems that the pressure that the public has exerted on the aviation authorities, with our demonstrations, and the ceaseless political pressure that is being exerted on the decision makers in Jerusalem by our mayor, is having an effect, at least for now.
On August 12, 2009, our mayor Haim Bibas is scheduled to meet with Giora Rom, at which time he is to receive answers regarding the alternatives that are being examined including the Irya’s suggested alternative which was done in a simulator by the FAA in the USA. This meeting will take place several days after the 60 days timeout issued by the Supreme court will expire (August 9, 2009).
We will be planning our next steps based on the results of the meeting that the mayor will have with Giora Rom. In the event that the aviation authorities will inform us that they have rejected the various alternatives that have been proposed, we will be forced to intensify our campaign in order to avoid the implementation of the new flight paths.
Campaign “knock on the door”
We are appealing for your help in the coming days in order to greatly expand the number of signatories to the petition “clear skies for Modiin”. To this date approximately 5,000 out of approximately 35,000 adult residents have signed the petition. Signing the petition with a valid email address enables residents to receive our updates on new developments and various campaign activities. Additionally we are preparing to submit the petition to the Minister of Transportation. With that in mind we need many, many, more signatures.
What we are now asking each one of you is to knock on your neighbors’ doors and and get additional signatures. We are asking each one of you to commit to signing at least five more of your neighbors to sign the petition.
You are invited to copy-paste the English text here and to email it to your contacts in Modiin-Maccabim-Reut (neighbors, friends, members in your shul, parents in your kids' class/kindergarten), while personally emphasizing to them the importance of signing the petition. Similar text in Hebrew is available here.
You can also print up the petition and hang it in the elevators of your buildings, in the staircases, parking garage, possibly at your doctors’ offices, at restaurants that you frequent, or any business establishment where you are a customer. Remove the signed page after a week or so and forward the signatures to us in the following manner:
We ask you to enter the signature data you collected to the excel spreadsheet you can download here, and to email the filled spreadsheet together with the scanned signature page to planes@modiin.us. If you do not have Excel or a scanner you can simply fax the signature page to 073-2406874.
If each one of us will take it upon ourselves to do this, we have a good chance of getting a much greater representation of Modiin residents on the petition.
Wanted: Residents with connections to the National Media
We received national media coverage of our protest convoy to the airport by channels such as Galei Zahal, Reshet Bet, Arutz 1, Maariv newspaper, and its internet site NRG, Hot Local News, IBA English news and Globes. However some of the national media ignored our protest rally claiming that it is a local struggle and not of national interest. From our experience we have found that it is very helpful if you know someone at a TV station, radio station or newspaper that can connect us to the right people in order to get our message publicized. If anyone has any connections whatsoever in any of the above mentioned media formats, please contact us at planes@modiin.us.
A major Aviation disaster in Israel is only a matter of time
From a myriad of press reports it is understood that the chaos which exists in the civil aviation in Israel continues to exist and expand. Two planes almost had a fatal collision without the control towers noticing it and alerting the pilots. In another instance a passenger plane belonging to the Turkish airline Sky, with 180 passengers on board, approached the ground in a dangerous manner during its landing at Ben Gurion Airport. The state auditor (Mevaker Ha'medina) is about to publicize a first of its kind report regarding the dangerous conditions existing in the Israeli civil aviation. A senior official at the aviation industry has declared that a major aviation disaster in Israel is bound to happen and is only a matter of time. For more details see here.
We are not waiting for the disaster to happen and we are not waiting for the pulic inquiry committee to be appointed.
We, the citizens of Modiin-Macabim-Reut, cannot and will not allow this chaos of the civil aviation to take place 300 meters above our heads and the heads of our children!
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