Not a Pretty Picture

Police across the United States and around the world are entering and closing down

“Occupy” protest camps and tent cities.

 Around Gan Sacher, Sacher Park, there is major landscaping in progress,

but it is still “occupied” by homeless people.

The encampment

set up on a major thoroughfare

takes up a sizeable section of the park.

It is not a pretty picture.

Wood is ready to burn for heat and cooking,

a reminder that meteorological winter begins today.

Structures are covered with plastic to protect them from the rain.

Inside the park, fences have been installed,

a garbage bin is in place,

 as are a Tzedekah box to collect money

and primitive washing facilities.

Many passers-by complain about the appearance of the park.

The irony is that those tents in the sun can be a whole lot warmer

than the old stone buildings in Jerusalem that get no sun in the winter.

The tent dwellers may save a lot of money on daytime heating costs,

but it is not a pretty picture.

To end the week with something positive…

everyone can take part in Hamshushlim, an annual Jerusalem event with

hundreds of museums and restaurants offering reduced prices

and free entrance on Thursday nights in December.

5 thoughts on “Not a Pretty Picture

  • December 1, 2011 at 4:58 pm
    Permalink

    it might be warmer in the day, in the sun, now but its for sure freezing at nite. no, it’s not a pretty picture at all. I hope all those pple go back to their homes. the park should not have pple sleeping there.

    Reply
  • December 4, 2011 at 5:17 am
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    Sorta like SUKKAH but in the wrong season. Hope they know why there are there,and not just being used to make a point about poverty and prices…which are world wide problem. We here in New Zealand (a land of milk and honey too) are seeing the same sights in our parks. And we have a welfare system that is awesome~ unless you have pets to feed, cable TV fees, smokes to buy, and a fancy moble package with unlimited calling…just some of the inconsistent issues that the POOR think they ‘deserve’. Wish I could afford all that there is to be ‘modern’.

    Reply
    • December 4, 2011 at 12:49 pm
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      Yes, they started out looking very much like sukkot. There are many of these ‘dwellers’ who say they are homeless. On the day I went I only saw one person, hopefully they were all at work. I have not checked who really sleeps there. (There are people who regularly slept in the park, got up and left in the morning. Do not know how this affects them) To live in Jerusalem takes a lot of money, I sold a large house in US and ended up renting an old place with no heat. We put in heat and AC, but have to use it carefully or the power blows.
      Your comment reminds me of a picture of Michelle Obama working at a soup kitchen where one of the poor guys had out his fancy phone taking her picture.

      Reply

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