Liberty Bell Park

Take a walk and see what’s new on the Jerusalem streets

Sharon A

How is it already June?

Where has the time gone, it is a blur.

However, even in these difficult, somewhat sad, days, there are good things to report and some “normal” life has returned to the Jerusalem streets.

Immediately after Lag B’Omer, Jerusalem parks were filled with celebrations and birthday parties.

And the time quickly becomes wedding season as the Jerusalem hills are filled with music.

The community garden in Baka has developed since it began in 2017.

The community space has a book corner I passed on my way to an event honoring writers.

Eylon Levy delivered the keynote address at the 32nd annual Bnai Brith World Journalism Awards at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center.

Walking through First Station with the rows of empty market stalls the absence of tourists is obvious.

Yellow chairs, yellow ribbons, and blue and white flags are seen on the Jerusalem streets.

The KumKum Tea House is adorned with purple flowers and a British flag.

The play areas of this Jerusalem nursery school have cheerful designs on the protective fence coverings.

Beit Hanasi, the Israeli President’s Residence hosted the Michal Sela Hackathon where innovative ideas were presented for safety at home. Sela’s sister founded the Forum after in 2019 Michal’s husband killed her in their home.

Thursday’s Jerusalem Pride Parade was smaller this year and featured families of hostages.

As usual, the Jerusalem streets in the area were closed for many hours with thousands of security officers.

Yellow flags lined the Jerusalem streets along with rainbow-colored ones this year.

The Liberty Bell Park was cleaned up shortly after the crowd marched to Independence Park.

Impressively cleaned – I could only find one poster on the ground as I walked through the park.

No photos from Independence Park, Gan Haatzmaut, however, security would not let me enter.

I would have made a fuss, but I did not want to be late for a special lecture by Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz.

Then, on Friday morning Jerusalem streets were closed for hundreds of riders in the large biking event.

Jerusalem streets will again be closed this week for Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day with thousands more Israel flags and multiple events marking 57 years of reunification of Yerushalayim.

This flag down the Citadel Hotel wall should be one of the longest for the Flag Parade on Wednesday.

Never know what we will see next on the Jerusalem streets.

Today I got a ride home because it was too hot to walk down past the Israel Museum. However, I got photos and videos of the fire raging where I would have been walking.

Past, Present, and Future Come Together on the Jerusalem Streets!

Sharon A

Summer days in Jerusalem, Israel: when the sun bears down so strong it is too hot to wander around on the Jerusalem streets to see what’s happening.

But the nights usually cool off enough to get out.

A stroll to the Botanical Gardens with the sights and sounds of the lily pond is refreshing after being inside for too long.

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Was it the full moon, the upsetting, inverted news coverage from Jenin, or the fast day to start of the Three Weeks before Tisha B’Av, that made finding positive stories to share harder than usual?

However, getting out before dark is always a good idea, as some things were happening you should know about.

Jerusalem Machane Yehudah Market after renovation

Machane Yehuda Market, the Shuk, celebrated 100 years with big events on Sunday night, street actors, activities, and musical performances.

The actual year the Market opened was 1922, but the events were held off due to the limited travel last year after the pandemic.

Shutters with graffiti in shuk, Jerusalem Machane Yehuda Market

The days of market stalls shuttered at night have been replaced with new eating spots, bars, music, and people partying late into the night.

On Monday at the Inbal Hotel, Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion opened an International Markets Conference, interviewed by Talia Friedman.

The Mayor spoke of his efforts to keep the outdoor market open during the Covid closures and its importance for Jerusalem.

Rami Levi, wearing a plain white tee shirt, stood to give the Mayor a hug after he spoke. Rami Levi started his business as a small shop in Machane Yehuda Market and participated in the conference connected to the 100-year celebrations.

Signing an international agreement was part of the program. Markets are working on ways to make themselves relevant in a changing world.

Friedman, elected chair of the Mahaneh Yehuda Merchants’ Association at the end of 2020, has the difficult job of balancing between the old-style vegetable seller and the new nightlife scene.

As with most everything else these days, there is a difference of opinion.

But there is one constant, the Liberty Bell in Liberty Bell Park still has its crack. The replica was organized when Teddy Kollek was Mayor of Jerusalem for the US Bicentennial in 1976.

Near the Liberty Bell is the Yonatan Netanyahu Garden, created in memory of Yonatan Netanyahu who fell in the Entebbe Mission on July 4th, 1976.

Also nearby, next to the Montefiore Windmill, is a small plaza, a popular tourist spot, which hosts musical performances, and even engagements.

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On the right, I included in one photo, the memorial to soldiers who fell liberating Jerusalem. There is an annual official ceremony in their memory.

In the center, a tourist group on segways arrived wearing yellow safety helmets for the guide to share the view and history of the site.

And on the left, a wedding ceremony was being prepared with a musical rehearsal.

The past, present, and future coming together on the Jerusalem streets!

I missed the wedding ceremony but stopped later for a few minutes to watch as a tour bus emptied out, and the people went to watch the dancing and to take photos and videos of the celebration.

I was on my way to the B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem Awards for Journalism Recognizing Excellence in Diaspora Reportage for 2023.

My favorite photo of the night was of new Jerusalem Post Editor Avi Mayer with the world’s oldest working journalist, Walter Bingham, who is 99 years young. He should be nominated for lifetime achievement next year.

During the question and answer period with Alan Schneider, Director of the B’nai B’rith World Center, I noticed Mayer’s unusually muted socks for the occasion. On previous panels, his socks drew the audience’s attention.

While I am not a fan of the hot summer days in Jerusalem, they are good for wildflowers that line the Jerusalem streets.

It was too hot outside to walk, but in Jerusalem Cinema City, any day is good for a scoop or two of ice cream.

What do you think of on July 4th in Jerusalem?

Sharon A

The smell of freshly cut grass is not one associated with Jerusalem, Israel.

But as I entered Jerusalem’s Liberty Bell Park from the shade of the Hubert Humphrey Arbor and descended the steps toward the Liberty Bell on July 4th morning, the familiar clean and fresh aroma of grass filled the air.

The Liberty Bell Park was dedicated 45 years ago to coincide with the 1976 Bicentennial celebration in the United States.

However, for Israelis, the same date July 4, 1976, was the Entebbe mission where Yoni Netanyahu fell in action saving the hijacked passengers.

In Liberty Bell Park there is a memorial garden in his name.

July 1st is Canada Day and next to the Yoni Netanyahu Garden is another memorial Canadians should appreciate.

The Terry Fox Memorial Garden was dedicated in 1985 to a special athlete who captured the imagination and respect of Canadians as he crossed the country on one leg after amputation because of cancer to raise money for cancer research.

As I reached the end of the park, classes of young students were arriving.

I wondered if they knew of the significance of climbing on the exact replica of the US Liberty Bell on July 4th, in a Jerusalem, Israel, park?

So glad it was cooler, following a very hot week of summer weather of last week.

A real conference, live and online, with programs and tags – and face masks.

Dozens of speakers on economy and education and more, but only one was wearing a watermelon shirt, a professor from Hebrew University.

With the rising corona numbers, I hope it’s not one of the last of large gatherings allowed inside.

Also exciting to be back to Beit Hanasi, the Israeli President’s Residence for the arrival of the German President. Notice the equipment to do a live stream, and the antiviral gel on the wall, both new additions since former President Joachim Gauck came in December 2015 to mark the 50th year of Israel-German diplomatic relations.

After over a year of reduced ceremonies, the IDF band was back preparing.

The military honor guard inspected before President Steinmeier arrived.

The mingling and chatting of German and Israeli military officials, in the Jerusalem garden of Beit Hanasi, something I find incredulous.

Who could ever imagine 80 years ago, German media traveling with their President to Jerusalem, Israel, and sending back the breaking story from their laptop computer?

The Presidents spoke and planted an apple tree in the Beit Hanasi yard. One of President Rivlin’s last major events. On Wednesday, July 7, 2021, Israel is to have a new President and preparations are underway for the transition.

Remembering the past and planning for the future in Jerusalem, Israel.

The past and future are reflected in these Jerusalem street signs. The small blue sign is of the combatting antisemitism mega-events held at the end of January 2019 BC (Before Corona). Not sure which election cycle the yellow Shas campaign ad was for. But below are the new signs for Mekudeshet musical events and the night of Tisha B’Av “conversations.”

There was so much more, but enough.

You never know what will be happening next on the Jerusalem streets!