culture – Page 35 – The Real Jerusalem Streets

18 New Photos of Arab Girls

March 8, 2016March 6, 2021rjstreets

Another International Women’s Day during Israel Apartheid Week,

while each year the IAW hate-fest gets longer and louder,

not much else has changed.

Hanin Zoabi can still yell about

“occupation and injustice” from inside the Knesset.

She can shout that Israel is a Jewish state and not democratic.

She rants against the Israeli government

and retains her seat in the Knesset

and her right to free speech.

Does she not see her freedoms as an Arab woman in Israel,

as compared to females in the rest of Arab world?

There are not just female Arab Knesset members,

but Arab – Muslim girls visit the Knesset on a regular basis,

an Arab girl can work as a guide,

while an Arab female Knesset member speaks with the media.

When seven new Qadis were sworn in at Beit Hanasi,

the Israeli President’s official residence,

females were not among the new Islamic Sharia judges,

but Muslim women and girls were invited and attended.

Women in Saudi Arabia are still not allowed to drive a car.

Sometimes new female drivers are chaperoned,

but in Jerusalem, Israel,

I have seen a female driving instructor wearing a hijab.

Life is not always a day in the park,

but many like to sit and enjoy the new Teddy Fountain.

Arab girls can walk about freely.

They can be found

with cell phones texting inside an office building,

or alone on the street.

As this couple was crossing busy King George Street,

there were two Israeli girls in uniform on the other side,

who did not even notice they were there.

Arab women and girls can be found,

shopping in the Machane Yehuda Market, the shuk,

in Talpiot, in groups

or alone,

day or night,

in the stores of Mamilla Mall,

or along Jaffe Street in town.

Photos of Arab girls,

walking to Jaffa Gate and the Old City,

or eating in a cafe on Ben Yehuda Mall,

are normal, every day, no-news occurrences.

I have too many photos to share.

But, these are three all-time favorites:

This woman and other Arab women receiving diplomas for

their advanced graduate degrees in science at Hebrew University.

This woman taking a selfie at the Western Wall Plaza,

while hundreds of IDF soldiers waited for a special ceremony.

And this one,

oh, those Arab girls.

Five years have gone by since my first post,

and Arab women and girls in the Middle East

still have more freedom in Israel.

Updated: On March 13, 2016,

one photo was requested to be removed.

March 8, 2021 – the young woman who asked to have her photo removed let me take it when she was a Knesset tour guide. Today she is serving as an Israeli diplomat in a foreign country.

Winter Noise in Jerusalem

March 2, 2016rjstreets

Jerusalem, Israel has festivals:

Light Festivals, Sound Festivals, Knight Festivals,

and in February, שאון חורף or the Winter Noise festival.

It happens on four Mondays nights in February,

each time in a different location, and it lasts

until the wee hours of the morning.

This year the final event was on Azza Street.

Along the 20 stops of the route

there were hula hoops,

a man selling hats next to a fire juggler,

and these ‘what-ever they are’ characters.

Lectures were in the pizza shop,

and in the drug store too.

Each venue had people lined up to get inside.

The book store was open and people inside.

There was classical music

with Capoeira across the road,

and more musicians down the way.

Around the corner on Ben Maimon Street

was a stage for entertainment until almost dawn.

Singer Zion Golan had a stage and crowd in the small Azza Park,

and the #9 bus had trouble getting by the crowd

that was listening to piyutim on the corner of Metudela.

People were drinking, eating,

enjoying, and just strolling,

next to buildings illuminated

with colorful lights.

I heard someone talking about the “Magic Carpet”

and I thought I had missed something.

Cute photo I thought, but what are they doing?

What selfie was he taking?

Only when I got home and saw all the photos

did I realize that the man sitting on ground

in front of the green background screen

was the same man whose image was projected

on the wall across the street, flying on the magic carpet.

Wow.

So clever.

Never know what you will find on

or flying over the Jerusalem, Israel streets.

Winter in Jerusalem: Good, Bad, Ugly and Beautiful

January 6, 2016rjstreets

Snow in Jerusalem, Israel.

Last week snow was forecast,

but after all the excitement and buzz,

there was no snow.

Instead there was rain, lots of heavy rain and grey fog,

and no beautiful photos of white snow scenes to go viral.

We also had a garbage strike

with lots of not so pretty pictures.

I will only share one photo of an over-flowing bin

of umbrellas which are useless in windy Jerusalem,

and skip the photos of mountains of ugly garbage.

The security situation did not keep me off the streets,

but the weather conditions certainly did.

With the sun now shining and warming the air,

it is time to see what is really happening.

The walk through First Station was depressing,

as at midday there it should have been full of life

and more than one jewelry stall with one customer.

One family from Melbourne was wondering where all the people

were, and became my new friends and Tourist of the Week.

As for a walk through the Old City,

this pathway is usually packed with people.

I often wanted the Old City streets quiet for photos,

but this was too quiet.

Only a few people were out enjoying the weather.

Even the colorful lions were all alone.

Color, it is that time of year

when I marvel at the winter colors in Jerusalem,

red,

orange,

yellow,

green,

blue,

purple,

fuchsia,

pink,

white,

pink and white,

and the sky at sunset.

Tourists are cancelling.

Fear is keeping people away.

But those who come have had a great time.

These visitors from England

were able to be the first to walk on the new path,

near the skate park in Liberty Bell Park,

but more on that next time.

And the good out of the current situation?

Traffic seems to be moving better than usual.