Author: rjstreets

Not a Pretty Picture

rjstreets

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.

Terror Triumphs

rjstreets

Mea Shearim, an ultra-religious Jewish neighborhood over a hundred years old,

is a popular tourist stop and shopping center.

When you turn the corner

from Strauss Street,

you enter another world,

where Pashkavillim, not the internet provide the latest news.

On Mea Shearim Street discounted books can cause an instant crowd to gather.

For over a year the Or Chaim Bookstore on Mea Shearim Street

has been the target of repeated and increasing terror attacks.

This English modesty sign now hangs outside as a result of  those  assaults.

Metal doors, security, and police did not protect the owners from the thugs,

who vandalized the store and threatened the owners for over a year.

A group called Sikrikim,  extremists who want to control women’s dress and

 to decide which books are appropriate to sell and to read.

However, in store

after store,

after store,

after store,

after renovated store on Mea Shearim Street,

  no such modesty signs were posted today.

 Feldheim bookstore had the sign in Hebrew only.

Despite unending major building and renovation,

 and unwelcoming signs

 posted at the entrance to the neighborhood, the tourists still keep coming.

A few violent people caused The Or Chaim Bookstore’s shades to be closed,

so from the street no one can see they sell English books.

The damage caused by the Sikrikim was NIS 250.000 (over $65,000) ,

forcing them to give in.

Now they have the signs up.

They will not sell books the Sikrikim disapprove of.

Terror has triumphed in Mea Shearim…

Mughrabi Bridge

rjstreets

 The Mughrabi Bridge ascent to the Temple Mount

was destroyed by severe weather in 2004.

This temporary bridge was constructed

and is still in use.

It is the only way for non-Muslims to enter the Temple Mount

and is used by tourists from around the world.

For a while the lower part of the structure was covered with white fabric.

The women’s area near the Kotel, the Western Wall was made much smaller.

For some time now, engineers have said that the structure is no longer safe.

Yesterday the Prime Minister Netanyahu stopped a project, approved in March,

  to replace the Mughrabi Bridge with a permanent structure.

With the dark sky as background…

this is what the fuss is about,

this simple wooden ramp.

Jordan and Egypt have warned against proceeding with repair work.

There were rockets fired overnight from Lebanon into the North.

  Rocket fire from Gaza continues to threaten Israeli citizens in the South.

What is the greater threat to peace?