Hot and Busy

rjstreets

While it is hard to avoid the Flotilla and Dubai-related news headlines,

the real Jerusalem streets are hot and busy.

Across the city, proud families pack in hot,

crowded rooms to watch end-of-year school performances,

and graduations from all levels of education crowd the calendar.

School is out soon, and parents are busy organizing the children for summer activities.

  Want to forget the heat at the beach?

A new beach opened

in Jerusalem in the Liberty Bell Park.

Beach is hof yam in Hebrew, this volleyball court may have sand,

but there is no water in sight.  To get away from the heat,

 these kids seem to have found a better solution.

The streets are filled with kids out of school

and tourists and visitors.

 A regular scene at the Kotel, the Western Wall, but especially this season

is a bride and groom coming for photos

where total strangers normally join in the celebration.

Traditional Jewish weddings include the breaking of a glass

to remember Jerusalem.

Monday morning a police officer was killed by terrorists in an ambush

not far from Jerusalem. He was to be married in September.

Instead of wedding arrangements, the family had to arrange a funeral.

The international media may have been too busy to pay much attention,

 but Shuki Sofer will be remembered,

in Jerusalem strangers come together in celebration and in mourning.

Demonstrations in the News

rjstreets

Someone is always demonstrating in  Jerusalem,

 

with a banner displaying their cause by day,

or at night,

alone

 

or in a large gathering.

Some displays are colorful

and up for a day or two,

while the tent for the return of Gilad Shalit

has been up a very long time, as seen by the number of days of captivity displayed on top.

Paris Square is a favorite scene for protests

 

and for news broadcasts to around the world.

Most people walk past and try to ignore the small group of people dressed in black

in Paris Square who regularly protest  “the occupation” on Friday afternoons,

but this week there was a pro-Israel counter demonstration.

After the hour-long protest ended,

police removed the barricades and a few young people waved flags.

The helicopter and extra police left, everyone seemed relaxed,

even the ladies in black.

But then a woman got up and started shouting at the boys with flags,

and one peacenik was heard telling a young high school boy that she hoped

he would return from his future army service  in a coffin.

Cameras started rolling as the yelling got louder,

 

   “Go back to America!” she screamed,

 an Israeli “peace” demonstration.

 The media is on the spot for any conflict, confrontation or violence, no matter how small.

Late Monday night saw a demonstration of a far different type and scale,

 100,000 or more people came together

 to pay their last respects to former chief Sephardi Rabbi Mordechai Eliahu,

may he rest in peace,

 but this demonstration may not have made your local news.

Real Response

rjstreets

As members of the Knesset and government were engaged in loud verbal discussions,

the real Jerusalem streets responded to the seemingly endless negative international press

 by proceeding with two annual events.

Hebrew Book Week opened in  the Liberty Bell Park .

 

 

For the next ten days thousands of books

will be displayed and sold.

 Earlybirds beat the huge crowds that attend every year.

People of all sizes and ages will come to the event to see the vast selection.

 As libraries and publishing houses around the world are closing down, this event seems all the more remarkable.

 

Nearby traffic was being diverted.

Streets were closed to traffic and bags were searched because

  in Gan Ha’aztmaut, the Independence Park, the annual  parade of old tractors was beginning,

Thousands of people turned out for the agricultural community’s Salute to Jerusalem,

which this year honored 100 years of the kibbutz movement.

The number of Israeli flags was overwhelming,

 and there was more than just tractors and flags on the streets.

One of the many speakers was Noam Shalit, father of captive soldier Gilad Shalit.

  

 

Even though he was late, Education Minister Gideon Saar stopped and posed on his way to the podium.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This event is popular with young families, as bus loads of people from around the country came to Jerusalem, but

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

this  year it also became a rally in support of Israel, its army and soldiers.

Marchers went through the center of Jerusalem and ended up in Gan Sacher

where loud music continued until late into the night.

The celebrations ended with a fireworks display at 10:30 pm.

It was a beautiful and colorful day enjoyed by tens of thousands of people, no threats, no riots…

not news worthy.