Jerusalem Streets See the Colors of February

Where should I begin to share a week where moods change as quickly as the weather?

It seemed every time I went outside the sun disappeared behind the clouds.

Often it rained, and rained hard.

But at least one evening I was in the right place at the right time to capture the colors in the sky, and with no filters, nature’s beauty appeared before the onset of darkness.

And look at this cactus, a wonder of nature growing so high and with new fruit.

The stalls at First Station were empty in the evening without the regular tourists in Jerusalem, Israel.

The carousel was wrapped in protective plastic and the Ferris wheel was not turning.

One Muslim man took advantage to say his nighttime prayers with no customers around.

I was on my way to the Menachem Begin Center for a program with Elliot Abrams and Dennis Ross.

Barbara Diamond moderated the live discussion as the two US experts discussed growing antisemitism.

A video with Bill Maher concluded the evening. His method of inserting humor while presenting historical facts that counter fictional narratives was greatly appreciated.

One of too many reminders of deadly attacks in Jerusalem is this memorial plaque listing the 11 names of martyrs murdered by a suicide bus bomber on January 29, 2004.

A reminder that 20 years ago, there were also calls for an intifada. Do people have such short memories?

Car-rammings became a new method of terrorism. Bigger, higher, and better bollards are now placed at Jerusalem bus stops to protect people waiting to board a bus.

But the Jerusalem streets, even during this October 7 wartime, are not shut down and dark.

The annual Shaon Horef, Winter Noise Festival is scheduled for the next four Monday nights on various Jerusalem streets.

The runners are out training for the Jerusalem Marathon set for the morning of March 8, 2024.

This week, at the Friends of Zion Museum, the Government Press Office held an evening event. Maayan Hoffman moderated a panel that included international journalists based in Israel.

CBN’s Chris Mitchell listened to Israel spokesperson Eylon Levy, while I was more focused on his socks.

Thousands of journalists came from around the world after the October 7 Massacre. I decided not participate in those early trips to see the death and destruction.

The panel with family members of the hostages was a somber conclusion to the evening. It boggles the mind that so many around the world deny the proof from videos and testimonies of survivors.

Some of the families of hostages have traveled the world to give testimony to get their stories told.

In the same place where the protest tents for the release of Gilad Shalit were, new are ones calling for the return of today’s hostages.

Frustrated after four months of captivity, protesters have taken to the Jerusalem streets calling for release.

The lights on Rivlin Street on the way to the Friends of Zion were twinkling on Thursday night.

I started on a positive note with colors in nature and want to end with one particularly colorful event.

Back on Thursday night, I was again at the FoZ for the opening of the Indigenous Embassy in Jerusalem with the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The program began with a moment to remember those murdered in the horrors of October 7.

Then we heard about the love of Israel coming from around the world, from Hawaii to Tonga.

Traveling thousands of miles to stand with and pray for the people of Israel.

IEJ is to become a hub for indigenous peoples visiting Israel and a tangible expression of their support. IEJ will also support and promulgate the academic work being undertaken to respond to false narratives. 


However, IEJ does not purport to be an official representative of any of the governments that host nations of the respective indigenous peoples. It will engage in educational and cultural initiatives and mutually beneficial collaborative projects. 

The Solomon Brothers added musical highlights to the event. But, when many participants got up to dance to Hava Nagliah, I thought it was my time to go home.

It’s over ten years since Ryan Bellerose shared his enlightening essay on Indigenous peoples. I thought of him throughout the evening even though he was not there in person.

Closing with a video also from 10 years ago, the prayer for Israeli soldiers.

At that time IDF tanks were lined up along the Gaza border.

Then, international opinion forced a ceasefire.

Hoping for the return of all the hostages and less gloomy days ahead on the Jerusalem streets.

See the Jerusalem Streets for Tu Bishvat

What is changing faster?

The weather over the Jerusalem streets–or the mood of the people, trying to move forward after almost 4 months since Hamas atrocities started a war on October 7?

From the horrors on Simhat Torah, it is already time for Tu Bishvat, the holiday called the ‘New Year of Trees’.

The almond trees were indeed bursting with flowers this week.

The sky at sunset was often filled with pink clouds.

Even the pink blossoms of the cherry trees in the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens were ready for the holiday.

A sign on the way to the gardens was for ‘raising a glass’ to celebrate Rosh Hashana before an election which was to be held at the end of October and is still on hold until the end of February.

Inside the gardens, the pond is ready for the spring and summer ahead.

The 75th-anniversary birthday celebration for the Knesset on Tu Bishvat was extremely low-key. Oh so very different than in 2016, when the current location celebrated its 50th year on Tu Bishvat.

No flags were flying on the street, and no tourists were admiring the menorah across from the entrance.

The row of carob trees across from the Supreme Court was fully green, a far cry from those old brown bokser pods we remember for the holiday “treat” that in Jerusalem litter the ground.

Back at Beit Hanasi, the Israel President’s Residence, the reception held was not for Tu Bishvat, but for the UN-mandated International Holocaust Remembrance, Day which falls on January 27th, and this year on Shabbat.

Inside the chairs were lined up for survivors of the Kindertransport, but the hostages in Gaza were not forgotten. There is an undercurrent everywhere thinking about the hostages held by Hamas.

These “children” who were saved 85 years ago by being sent to England, many never to see their parents again, were the featured guests of the President of Israel.

Germany’s Ambassador to IsraelSteffen Seibert attended and listened carefully to the survivors’ stories.

Sitting next to the moderator, he heard one of the survivors rescued from Nazi Germany in the Kindertransport operation in 1938, say that she was once again evacuated from her home – this time in Kibbutz Zikim on the Gaza border, after the community came under attack by Hamas on October 7.  

So yellow ribbons are tied to trees anticipating the hostages’ return.

The military cemeteries are expanding, with more graves and fresh memorial wreaths,

and new ones being prepared for use.

There were only two graves here on our last visit, not so long ago.

Love not war, as war goes on into the fourth month–a war Israel did not want, but must win.

On Tu Bishvat it was good to see the roof of the Bird Observatory green again.

Even the Jerusalem buses go green with the new electric ones.

The new towers rising over the Jerusalem Streets seem to reach the grey clouds in the sky.

Construction is starting up again.

Nature is coming back to life again, with green grass and almond trees in bloom.

Flowers line the path ready for the Jerusalem Marathon in March.

Azza Street was blocked for a protest – again.

But flowers are sprouting from the old stones, part of the old and new, and changing along the Jerusalem streets.

Tu Bishvat four years ago at Beit Hanasi, ended with a special hope. Still singing songs of hope.

Moving forward and upward from October 7, it’s Israel Space Week 2024.

Israel Space Week started on January 28, 2024.

Something is always happening on the Jerusalem streets.

Hope to see you all here soon!

100 Days from Jerusalem – See South and North

100 Days

Shabbat Simhat Torah morning when Hamas started a war that they called the Al-Quds Flood.

Thousands of terrorists invaded southern Israel, murdering and rampaging while raining rockets down on us in Jerusalem and throughout much of Israel.

This 100 Days photo essay is a brief review to give you a glimpse into Israel today.

The sun has risen every day since October 7. Those who were awake at 7:10 am today caught sight of a rainbow stretched over the Jerusalem streets.

The Israeli flags and banners “united we will win,” large and small, abound on the Jerusalem streets.

The graves of fallen soldiers in the Har Herzl Military Cemetery, near the new memorial hall, used to be all the same, row after row of identical graves.

But not now. On one of the too many new gravesites of the hundreds of fallen soldiers since October 7, there is a birthday balloon, Yehonatan died on November 10, 2023, days before his 22nd birthday. Photos, candles, flags, and other momentoes also cover many of the new graves.

Workers are clearing new areas for more graves.

At the same time, we were at Har Herzl, there was a 30-day memorial service for one soldier and a funeral for another, which drew a large crowd. As with most people in Israel, we knew friends and families at both of the sad events.

On one positive note, two women were giving out bottles of water to support the mourners as they left.

One way of supporting the families from the south who survived October 7 and cannot go home is through therapy performances for their children. This one was at the Ramada Hotel where hundreds of evacuees have been staying.

A few days, a few weeks, but months in a hotel unable to go home?

Will those murdered on October 7 be forgotten? Jacqui Vital, mother of Adi Vital Kaploun hy”d, is one of many parents who are speaking to solidarity groups to share and keep their memories alive.

So after almost 100 days, it was time to leave the Jerusalem streets, and head south to see, along with so many other groups to witness the destruction denied by so many outside of Israel.

The entrance to Kfar Aza is testimony to what was a beautiful agricultural kibbutz.

Until Hamas terrorists broke through the fences on the morning of October 7.

Murdering, burning, and destroying not only buildings but hundreds, thousands, of lives.

Especially hard hit were the young members of the community, only in their 20s, who were tortured and murdered in their homes.

If you look through the trees, you can see Gaza, only a short distance away.

Yes, it is hard to imagine the destruction by Hamas that morning.

No matter what the UN or IJC say, this was a genocidal attack.

Today we have not only Holocaust deniers, but October 7 deniers.

The next stop was the site of the Re’im Nova Festival where a “Bring Them Home Now” display was at the entrance. Notice that all the signs are in English to try and wake up world’s attention to the very real humanitarian crisis and war crimes.

Pictures have been posted of those murdered on the morning of October 7 at the music festival.

With special attention to those people still missing and held as hostages in Gaza.

Their fate is unknown, as they are held in the deepest terror tunnels as human shields for Hamas leaders.

We also visited Sderot where a new mural has risen over the site of the destroyed police station. I had visited several times on previous media trips south, but that is another story.

Members of our group helped the owner of this sukkah take it down, 96 days after the holiday.

Sderot is a beautiful city with a population of 30,000 people.

It has grown over the years, even under rocket fire from Gaza less than a mile away.

The Sderot Yeshiva roof was reinforced to make the entire study hall a sheltered safe room, so the young men not on active army service came back recently to study, plus former students have come back to support their Yeshiva. But first, they began by finishing up their interrupted Simhat Torah dancing.

On Wednesday night in Jerusalem at the Kotel, Western Wall, 50,000 people gathered to pray for the safety of the hostages and soldiers.

We however were near the Gaza border where volunteers prepared a BBQ, one of thousands in support soldiers in the field.

On Thursday morning we left the Jerusalem streets for Tel Aviv.

Tel Aviv is where many of the hostage families have come to organize and support each other.

One initiative was writing a new Torah Scroll for the return of hostages.

The public square renamed Kikar Hachatufim, Hostage Square – is filled with projects.

And nearby, one can find almost anything needed by the families and their supporters.

On the Jerusalem streets, the new garbage trucks

or the rain might have been a topic for this past week.

However, after 100 Days, the fate of the hostages is on everyone’s mind.