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Mamilla Cemetery New Incitement?

April 4, 2012October 16, 2021rjstreets

The week before Passover is a time of clean up, everything from Twitter

to cars need to be cleaned.

Until a couple of years ago one of the most neglected eyesores in

Jerusalem was the Mamilla Cemetery, it resembled a garbage dump.

In June 2010 the cemetery got a make-over,

fresh cement was brought in

and mixed for new grave stones

and hundreds of new tombs, which were soon proven to be fake.

One might ask why am I taking time away from Passover preparations,

the Mamilla Cemetery hypocrisy is not new?

Two years ago the Center for Constitutional Right – CCR- initiated the

Mamilla Campaign to the UN

to stop the building of the Museum of Tolerance.

This past week from New York

the CCR has initiated a new campaign with a new video.

It’s not quality photography, but it is enough to be upsetting.

The picture I had seen on a Tweet was taken from this video

and is spreading in the Arab media world.

It was a warm, sunny spring day in Jerusalem,

so I went to see the new desecration for myself.

The Mamilla Cemetery and the adjacent fenced-off building site

are situated across from Gan Ha’atzmaut, Independence Park.

There were people enjoying the weather and afternoon sun.

Abuse of the Mamilla cemetery was not to be seen.

BDS did not work up a large anti-Israel reaction…

so it seems here we are again…

back to using the Mamilla cemetery to incite against Israel.

March Madness

March 30, 2012rjstreets

In the United States “March Madness”

is the spring college basketball tournament,

in Israel “March Madness” takes on a different meaning.

With the new threat of millions of outsiders

on a Global March to Jerusalem – the “GMJ,”

Israel is again cast as the aggressor in the Middle East.

Looking through March photos, I found this picture

taken last year as Muslim worshipers were going to pray.

These men were entering through the Jaffa Gate to the Old City.

There were threats of violence on that Friday,

but Muslim worshipers still had access to their mosque.

This is not the picture GMJ paints for the world.

Please let us not forget, in March of last year

the Fogel family were brutally murdered

and a Jerusalem bus bomber killed a woman.

In March ten years ago, the Park Hotel in Netanya was blown up,

30 people were kiled.

The Global March to Jerusalem

joins BDS (Boycott, Divest and Sanctions)

and Israel Apartheid Week

as the newest anti-Israel publicity exploit.

The GMJ organizers must have not have seen what

was really happening in Jerusalem,

so I am sharing again:

This is Apartheid?

Israeli Apartheid? and More Israeli Apartheid?

It is time to stop the madness.

Malha Mall Rioters Drown out the Music

March 27, 2012rjstreets

Malha Mall in Jerusalem is a large shopping center, busy day and night.

Typical scenes like this one show no hint of apartheid.

Last week a group of Beitar football (soccer) fans made quite a scene

in Malha Mall that caught international attention.

In no way do I condone their rowdy and obnoxious behavior,

but sports fans have rioted in Canadian and US cities also.

Was the entire country condemned for their miserable behavior?

An Israeli diplomat in Rabat, Morocco had to be rescued from a mob

of tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

I did not hear of human rights activists writing essays against these events.

Once again, an isolated, repulsive incident has been blown out of proportion,

and has drowned out the other sounds coming from Jerusalem:

the sounds of a three-night music festival called “Sounds of the Old City.”

The city of Jerusalem offered free musical entertainment

to bring more visitors to enjoy the beauty of the Old City at night.

Throughout the Old City and Mamilla Mall,

there were also video art displays…

much better for a photo blog than music played in the dark.

It was easy to follow the lights and art

through the narrow alleyways of the Old City.

The Hurva Synagogue in the Rova, the Jewish Quarter, was lit up.

Musical performances were scheduled from 6-11:00pm;

sorry, I only got a program on the way out and missed the shows in the Rova.

Musicians performed inside the Cardo

and out, two of many dramatic backdrop locations.

Shows were also performed in the Christian and Muslim Quarters

and along many of the Old City streets.

Comfortable seats were impossible to find,

but the food for sale near Jaffa Gate was hard to miss.

The crowds grew larger as the night went on.

On the way home, this drum circle near Jaffa Gate caught my attention.

One boy got up and started to dance

to an audience which gathered to watch and included smiling Arab families.

The sounds of music from the Old City went unnoticed by the media,

drowned out by the noise of a few trouble makers.

There was no violence during the festival…so it is not news.

The “Sounds of the Old City” was happening in Jerusalem last week.

What did you hear?