The Real Jerusalem Streets – Page 417 – Jerusalem, Israel – what is really happening

Farewell Udi, Ruti, Yoav, Elad and baby Hadas

March 15, 2011rjstreets

This should have been about the social workers’ strike

and spring wild flowers.

However,

five members of the Fogel family were murdered last Friday night

and came from Itamar to their final resting place in Jerusalem.

People filled the streets on Sunday afternoon March 13, 2011.

All the cameras

and photos cannot capture

the masses of people coming together at the Har Hamenuchot cemetery.

.

People stood

and sat

where ever they could find in a free spot.

As rabbis, politicians and family members spoke

the crowds were mostly silent

and somber.

Overwhelming emotions

from thousands

and thousands of people

who came together to farewell a family they did not personally know.

As Psalms concluded the emotional service,

the crowd surged forward toward the grave sites,

following the procession, sadly, respectfully and quietly…

with a few protest signs.

Then they walked back towards Jerusalem.

It was an exhausting, painful day for all.

May the Fogel family be comforted with the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.

Photos Getting There

More photos at funeral and more photos of funeral.

Updated on March 15, 2013, a good time to remember.

Two women wearing hijab sit inside Aroma Cafe in Jerusalem Israel Mailla Mall on Jerusalem Day

Israeli Apartheid?

March 8, 2011March 8, 2020rjstreets

Saudi Arabia bans protests, Turkey locks up journalists,

Iran and Libya kill their opponents,

Egypt killed protesters, Syria kills hundreds every day.

Haneen Zoabi, an Arab woman is an elected member of the Israeli Knesset

and has led anti-Israel protests.

Israeli apartheid?

Her actions would never be tolerated in any of the surrounding countries,

but Zoabi’s anti-government pieces are routinely published

in main stream Jerusalem newspapers and supported by the courts.

While Saudi Arabian women are forbidden to drive a car,

in Jerusalem, many Arab women take driving lessons

and sit where they want on public buses.

School girls are not afraid to share the same streets,

no matter what uniforms they wear, and go on to attend Israeli universities

and find work in the medical professions in Israeli hospitals.

Arab women walk alone

through the streets of the Old City

and in all the neighborhoods

around

Jerusalem, Israel

dressed in clothing

of all types

and colors.

Often Arab women shop

in Mamilla Mall,

in the Machane Yehuda Market, the shuk,

on Jaffa Street,

King George Street,

and in Talpiot.

They can eat in a street cafe or restaurant

or walk with a male companion.

With young children

or alone,

Arab women are not afraid or forbidden to move around freely.

Israeli apartheid?

Tragedy Beyond Words

March 3, 2011rjstreets

While “Days of Rage” are making headlines and Grad rockets keep coming from Gaza,

the new Trophy defense system destroyed a rocket-propelled grenade before it hit a tank.

If we could only successfully disarm the deadly weapons lurking on the Jerusalem streets.

Road deaths in Israel increased by 11% in 2010.

Drivers talking on cell phones, not yielding to pedestrians, speeding, running red lights,

and just plain aggressive and careless driving

not only knock down signs and cause property damage,

but also cause serious injury and death.

One year after Brian Atinsky’s family was wiped by a reckless driver, he is in the Knesset fighting for reforms.

Tragedy after tragedy, and now

MK Robert Tibayev is chairing a new subcommittee for the War on Traffic Accidents.

Sadly, it is all too little to late for Nachum Eliezer Raanan ben Yosef haKohen,

a man of poise and wisdom, advisor and dear friend to many;

a husband, father and grandfather who gave much to his family and communities around the world,

and had so much more to live for.

However, his life was cut short by a bus while crossing Emek Refaim Street in the Germany Colony.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

In Eilat, there are no traffic lights–only traffic circles or roundabouts,

and drivers are careful to stop for pedestrians at the cross walks.

Thousands of new cars are off-loaded daily in the port in Eilat and

huge carriers take them north where demand grows in spite of the ever-rising price of gas.

Some Jerusalem streets are old, narrow and crowded, but

90-95% of traffic accidents are caused by careless or negligent drivers.

Where are the days of rage against this outrage?

No more excuses… we must have safer streets… and now.