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Jerusalem in June

June 14, 2012rjstreets

June in Jerusalem…the days are hot,

everyone seems to be moving a little slower

and taking a break for an ice cream or a cold drink.

School crossing guards are being trained for the next school year.

Before school lets out for the summer and the kids are home,

the Kishor Women’s Business Networking conference

attracted 350 business women from all over Israel to the Ramada Hotel.

Making the summer plans for children is a big headache this time of year.

While the abundance of summer fruit in season is a pleasure.

The Jerusalem Light Festival has been a big success this year,

if you missed it,

Damascus Gate as a giant pinball machine was a popular attraction.

Gan haPa’amon, the Liberty Bell Park, was full every evening

for the annual Shavua Ha’sefer HaIvri, the Hebrew Book Week.

Families came to look at children’s books

and sat on the grass enjoying the entertainment.

Religious books,

university publications,

and all kinds of books are on sale in the park until June 16.

Security was obvious, perhaps more so than in the past.

Protesters getting ready for more rallies for social justice

are getting headlines,

but there is so much more happening in Jerusalem.

Once again the annual and popular

Season of Culture and the Israel Festival

will offer dozens of cultural events

to thousands of people from all over the world.

And one thing everyone hopes for…

it will stay cool in the evenings.

How to Understand the Middle East in 2 Minutes

June 11, 2012rjstreets

Things can change in the Middle East in a minute or a day

or as seen in the Arab Spring in Egypt and Syria…

one can never predict the timing of change.

Last week in Jerusalem a few things caught my attention

that you may have missed.

The media gave much attention to Palestinian hunger strikers,

but in the open area near the Israeli Supreme Court,

there was a tent for another hunger strike, by those who supported a law

against destroying the Ulpana houses of Beit El.

On Sunday MK Daniel Hershkowitz arrived with his security team.

First he chatted with the “settler activists” working in the tent

and had a discussion with MK Yaakov Katz, known as Katzeleh.

Then MK Hershkowitz, the Minister of Science and Technology,

sat and spoke to the crowd.

But on Wednesday, after talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,

he did not vote for the bill and thus kept his job as minister.

The politics involved are way too complicated for me to explain.

Also on Wednesday, at Ofer Military Prison,

there was another trial for Shchada Aved Shchada Shata.

He has been convicted of stealing the gun from Asher Palmer‘s body.

Shchada stopped his car, climbed down from the highway

to reach the site where the car had crashed and stole the dead man’s gun.

He is a 47-year-old father of eight with sick relatives,

who wants compassion from the court,

though he showed none at the time of the crime.

In contrast, a Israeli military court had previously permitted

Palmer supporters to hold photos of Asher and Yonatan,

the infant son who was in the car and also died in the crash

at the trial of those who threw the large rock from a moving car,

but not at this past Wednesday hearing.

Michael Palmer, the victims’ father and grandfather was allowed

to enter a written statement as a victim of terror.

Meanwhile back in Jerusalem,

the German flag was still flying after the visit of the

President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Joachim Gauck.

President Gauck thinks the problem in the Middle East is the “settlers,”

wonder if he ever reads Khaled Abu Toameh?

As they were taking down the German and Israeli flags,

this Arab family was enjoying an outing in the park below,

near a memorial and wreath in memory of the bus bombing

on February 22, 2004 where 8 Jews were killed.

Understand the Middle East in 2 minutes?

… impossible.

Light in Jerusalem 2012

June 7, 2012rjstreets

Thousands of people attended the opening of the

Jerusalem Festival of Light in the Old City last night.

It is one of my favorite events to photograph

so I arrived at Jaffa Gate early, before sunset .

There were three colored trails to follow,

I started with the “Orange Trail”

which went past The Tower of David and through

the Armenian Quarter along the Armenian Patriarch Street.

Workers were finishing up the large art piece “Faces of Jerusalem.”

A series of lights called the “Light Line” lined Misgav Ladach Street

and ended at the harp-shaped, “The Visual Piano.”

It was hard to photograph, but impressive to hear and see.

At sunset, both the lights at the Kotel, the Western Wall,

and the views of the area are a favorite even without art light displays.

In the Rova, the plaza of the Jewish Quarter,

there was a fascinating piece called “Meeting Composition.”

It changed with the motion of people under it.

From the Jewish Quarter I picked up the “Blue Trail.”

Last year I was so impressed with performers using fire torches

that I watched for a long time and took dozens of photos.

Last year they were on a small side street,

but this year they were a main attraction in Muristan Square.

Determined to see all the routes, I did not stay to watch,

but started on the “Green Trail.”

There was a light coming from the Mosque of Omar,

but the sign says “For Prayers Only”.

The “Green Trail” went through areas of the Old City

where I usually do not go, certainly not alone at night.

So when the green lights stopped here, I stopped…

until an Israeli woman passed me and said to keep going to Damascus Gate.

Really good advice!

While recently the Damascus Gate has been in the news as a site of protests,

tonight it was lit up as a giant pinball machine.

Along the walls on the way back to Jaffa Gate were “Light Benches”

and this piece which can only appreciated in video.

At the Jaffa Gate the “Cupola” was bright inside and out.

Inside there was a couple dancing to the music,

while people were looking up

and many were taking photos.

Jerusalem, the light of the world.

These are just a few of my favorites from “Light in Jerusalem.”

I have to leave you some surprises, as the event runs until June 14.

If you cannot make it to Jerusalem, Israel this year…

more photos posted on

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