Gan Sacher

Israel Apartheid Week is reported to be growing on college campuses;

its participants must have never spent any time in Jerusalem.

Arab families often visit Gan Sacher and other Jerusalem parks.

This is apartheid?

Hospitals are fully integrated; staff, patients, and visitors.

This is apartheid?

Shopping malls are open to all customers.

These ladies hailed a taxi on King George Street

after a successful shopping day at Ben Yehudah Mall.

Arab women shop on Jaffa Street on a regular basis,

often shopping alone.

This is apartheid?

Arab women walk freely in old neighborhoods,

and in new areas. This is apartheid?

However, with small children in hand,

women may not be able to move around quite so easily.

It is not simple for anyone to get a driver’s license in Jerusalem,

but the option is available to all.

Arab girls wait to ride on a regular public city bus.

As the world media focused on stone throwers,

this family was walking in nearby Baka.

There are fewer photos of Arab men,

because unless they are with women dressed in traditional clothes

it is often hard to pick them out in a crowd.

Yes there are serious problems, but

no legislation exists that discriminates against blacks.

Holy sites are open to people of all faiths.

Democratically elected Arab members in the Knesset speak,

vote and can propose laws.

Jerusalem may have plenty of problems,

but this is not apartheid.

Most of the American visitors have returned to the cold, wet Northeast.

The winter legislative session in the Knesset began last week, university students finally have returned to class, and we have a heat wave!

With no beach nearby, what do people in Jerusalem do to cool off if they cannot get out of town?

1. Since many of these old buildings have no air conditioning, people open their windows, put on a fan and try not to move.

2. If they are lucky enough to have a porch,

no matter how small, Jerusalemites sit on porches, talking, eating, maybe reading.

3. Or they go outside, try to find some shade and hope for a breeze.

One of the most popular of Jerusalem’s few open green spaces is Gan Sacher…

pronounced “soccer” and sometimes people even do play the sport, but as with many places in Jerusalem, it is named for the family who donated the money to develop it.

Gan Sacher is often crowded,

but not always.

Jerusalem’s parks are free and open to the public. Family outings and “mangals”, BBQ in the United States, “barbie” in Australia, can be elaborate or extremely simple.

Soon all the smoke will fade to a memory, the weather will turn…and we will begin to complain how cold it is!

If there is snow this winter…. most of the country will try to get to Gan Sacher before it melts.

The Real Jerusalem Streets

This is Apartheid?

Summer is Over?