Jerusalem: Green Light Don’t Go

The Jerusalem streets can be very dangerous.

truck on sidewalk

Many are too narrow for modern vehicles

and sidewalks are often blocked

illegal parked car

forcing people to walk in the street in traffic.

 The traffic lights in the center of town often come in pairs,

traffic lights

   many times the closer light can be red, while the further one is green.

Those unfamiliar with this system often unwittingly step in the cross walk

 in front of oncoming traffic.

cross walk

While some intersections are extremely complicated,

blocked traffic light

the corner of Shalom Aleichem and Keren Hayesod Streets

is especially dangerous.

street crossing in Jerusalem

 The red light visible from most angles

blocked red traffic light

is really green.

 Much more dangerous though,

Jerusalem street

the green light is really red.

big street advertisement

While this traffic light was always hard to see behind the street sign,

 now the large advertising sign blocks the line of vision,

green light

making it almost impossible to see the traffic light.

street corner in Jerusalem

Thousands of visitors walk from Gan Hapa’amon, Liberty Bell Park area

on Keren Hayesod Street towards town,

this is a tragedy waiting to happen.

Many tourists eager to get into town look across the street,

see a green light and continue walking.

This recent sign says it all:

road safety sign

“Be Careful on the Roads-It’s a Matter of Life”

ambulance

and hopefully, not death… or injury.

Summer Nights in Jerusalem

Spain has won the World Cup, so finally soccer fans 

are freed from their TV sets to enjoy the Jerusalem summer nights.

Playgrounds can be unbearably hot during the day,

 so at night, even little children come out to play.

Not everyone stays inside to avoid the blazing sun,

but streets are quieter than usual.

One busy spot is the tent where the Shalit family is receiving a constant stream of visitors.

 Across the street there has been a small counter protest in the evening,

but the number of yellow ribbons continues to grow.

The usual crowds of visitors are near the Jaffa Gate all day

and at night,

and at the Kotel, the Western Wall, all night long.

Tower of David

Light and Sound Show

is an extremely popular

night attraction.

Ben Yehuda Street Mall

Machane Yehuda, the shuk  and

 Mamilla Mall are popular for shopping, eating out, or just getting out at night.

The fountain in Paris Square takes on a whole new look in its night-time colors,

as did this construction site when it was lit up at night.

A sign of change, a coffee shop is to be open all night long.

A new sign promoting the municipality’s summer cultural events

seems to be everywhere.

 Free summer musical programs attract large crowds.

 However, the Jerusalem Film Festival showing

of “Blazing Saddles’ was free in the park

and did not draw a large, early crowd, eager to get good seats.

 If the movie was not shown during the Nine Days leading up to Tisha B’Av

 there certainly would have been many more people in attendance.

All is not fun after dark, there is often road work being done. 

Judging by the large number of cars with diplomatic license plates

parked near the American Consulate last night, 

 there was plenty of work to be done before today’s arrival of special envoy George Mitchell.

 Too much summer sun or night-life?  Try a mid-afternoon nap.

 

Though not a picture from this week,

 a beautiful night scene from Jerusalem, like a cool summer night’s breeze…

with thanks to M  Hurley.

 Update July 2012: the coffee shop is gone and so are those lions, 

the Olympics are the sports to follow,

amazing how so much of today is the same as two years ago.

The Gilad Shalit tent is becoming a memory.

Demonstrations in the News

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.