It is hot…
ok…we are spoiled, the rest of the country is hotter,
and it is dry, putting the public and the fire department on high alert.
Smoke billowed from this apartment building, two fire engines arrived to
find that smoke was from a man starting his BBQ grill on an outside porch.
Last week’s loud music and voices coming from open windows
have been replaced by the sounds of summer:
the whirl of air conditioning units.
In the center of Jerusalem, usually busy Gan Sacher, Sacher Park,
was quiet on Friday afternoon,
everyone seemed to be moving a bit slower…
even the soccer players.
It was a good day to sit in the shade and read
and perfect to select a choice picnic spot.
Children are out of school, keeping them busy, happy, safe and cool
have been the real streets main concerns…
and as always a good parking spot.
Day and night, the Renewed Israel Museum is a popular choice for many
and also this week the cool theaters of the Jerusalem Film Festival,
as many of the summer holiday visitors have discovered.
Had the flytilla activists arrived as the millions of regular visitors,
they would have passed these posters
on a wall in the new Ben Gurion terminal.
The irony of a United Palestine Appeal poster
to build a Jewish future would probably have been wasted on them.
These activists must not know that
cities under Palestinian Authority control have been safer of late,
and people holding US passports have visited them regularly.
Instead of sitting in jail or being deported, these activists could
have joined the many Arab families
who frequent Gan Sacher in the evening to picnic
and bring plenty of food.
Some call stopping the flotilla and the flytilla an over-reaction.
Today a suspicious package brought downtown Jerusalem
to a standstill. Another over-reaction?
Possibly… except for the one time it blows up in your face.
The Greek flag is flying with the Israeli and Jerusalem flags
lining the route to welcome the Greek President to Jerusalem.
The Greeks played an important part in stopping the flotilla,
and deserve a big thank you.
In case one needs to be reminded about smuggling weapons to Hamas,
three rockets from Gaza landed in southern Israel yesterday.
Thank you, President Karolos Papoulias…
the ‘Welcome to Palestine’ activists just don’t get it,
but fortunately…you got it!