Paper Chronicles Neighborhood Battle Centered On Orthodox Jews

Today's Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles carries a long report on the Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, and its contentious battle over elections to the Midwilshire Neighborhood Council. The tension between Orthodox Jews and other residents of the area is an object lesson in the problem of creating political divisions along religious lines, and in the passions that are raised by religious land use disputes. The long and convoluted history of the area's intergroup tensions are difficult to summarize briefly. However, the article ends with cautious optimism that the competing factions may be beginning to cooperate.