Highs and Lows Felt in Jerusalem

Last week was a week of good and bad news,

now it looks like this is one of highs and lows.

Real Jerusalem Streets is not just about the good stuff,

but what is really happening.

On days like this it is hard to know where to start

and what to post, there is so much to say.

Arab media has been inciting with scare headlines

like “Settlers are Storming Al-Aqsa” for months.

First of all no one is “storming”

if anything a few are walking slowly and under threat.

 Jews have to be careful how they move their lips,

as no Jewish prayer is allowed.

image MK Shul Mualem

MK Shuli Mualem went on the Temple Mount and was assaulted.

Today there was a deadly attack against people waiting for the light rail.

The border police officer murdered in the terror attack in Jerusalem

was named Chief Inspector Jidaan Asad,

he was 38 years old and had a young son.

The terrorist who drove the van into the crowd had published posts

glorifying previous attacks against Jews on his Facebook page.

There was to be a day of rage on Friday,

but the heavy rain this week has kept many inside.

On Shabbat afternoon a huge rainbow arched over the Old City.

Stone-throwing children have been a problem for months,

maybe now police will try and put and end to it.

image protest Israel

There were new protest signs this week.

But the Mayor would rather you hear about

sign for cultural event

the many artistic and cultural events,

iamge Azza street

including another Einstein on AZZA this Friday.

Streets will be shut for university lecturers to hold forth to the public – for free.

But my  high of the week was the Masa Israel Journey Mega-event,

in the Jerusalem Convention Center’s main auditorium.

image Israeli Prime Ministeri on stage

Certainly it also was a high for the Prime Minister.

Thousands of young people from around the world,

image crowd of young people

 some dancing in the aisles,

image people happy to be in israel

excited and happy

image crowd of young people

 to be in Israel for a year volunteering.

image Jerusalem crowd

School trips to Jerusalem from around Israel have been canceled,

but if you want to end on a high note,

check out this post from Israellycool

earlier in the week and watch the short video at the end,

עם ישראל חי

Am Yisrael Chai

Good News – Bad News from Jerusalem

  Good news first.

I was in the US for birth of a grandchild,

baby photo

his name is Yisroel Tzvi,

and he already is trying to figure out this world.

In the last two weeks I’ve had no computer time,

no down time and little sleep.

I hope you missed the updates from RJS these past two weeks?

image of sky from El Al plane

As always it is an adventure to fly El Al

and arrive back to Jerusalem, Israel.

But as I arrived home I heard terrible news:

Rabbi Yehuda Glick had been shot

and seriously injured

in an assassination attempt.

I posted on Israellycool  asap,

and you can see the background story and updates

HERE

DSC_7125fb

In June at the Begin Center,

Yehuda Glick sponsored his first LIBA conference,

where I was shocked to learn that Jews are allowed

only 20 hours a week on the Temple Mount,

while Muslims have almost free access.

Today access to the Muslim masses was limited,

though tomorrow restrictions are to be lifted.

Helicopters are flying overhead,

and in Jerusalem that usually means trouble.

Much has been written about “Price Tag” attacks,

today there was graffiti painted near a church.

price tag in Jerusalem

 Months ago this photo was taken across from the Begin Center.

It did not fit the media spin of “Price Tag”

so it was never reported.

On my next photo walk in the area

I saw that it was whitewashed.

Abu Mazen is spinning the story of one of his followers

shooting a man in cold blood

into “Israel is bad,”

 another thread in his narrative;

while Yehuda Glick, a great guy with wonderful sense of humor,

is hanging on to life by a thread.

Join in praying for the recovery of

יהודה יהושע בן רבקה איטה ברנדה

Will this world be easier to understand when Yisroel Tzvi is older?

Jerusalem Formula Road Show

For two days the Jerusalem Formula 2014 Road Show

Formula 2014 181

shut down some Jerusalem, Israel streets.

Naftali Bennett

 Naftali Bennett advised a group of visiting Vietnamese government officials,

if there are two Jews, there will be three opinions,

and for this event there certainly were different opinions.

image Tower of David at start of Road Show

The weather was warm and sky clear,

as the opening stretched an hour over scheduled time.

There is no special track in Israel for racing

and knowledge of race cars is limited,

image race car Jerusalem

Many do not know a Blu blue car

image Jerusalem formula car

from another blue car.

But for the second year,

image race car

beautiful fast machines

image cars Jerusalem Formula at Tower of David

were out near the Old City to impressive.

The track was not a loop like last  year,

so it was easy at Tower of David

where cars turned around to take photos.

image race car moving.

But I did get this car speeding up.

A big difference this year was that several young Israelis were featured:

image Roy Nissany and his car

one was Roy Nissany.

image race car Israeli flag

More Israeli flags were out this year.

image hot rod car

Terry Grant not only smoked up the street with his spinning Hot Rod,

but got out, walked away, and then got back in the moving vehicle,

all without wearing a helmet.

image motorcycle in Formula

And then there were the motorcycles,

image stunt motorcycle

flying over the streets

image Jerusalem motorcycle stunt at formula

upside down

image motorcycle stunt

and sideways,

image motorcycle stunt

with riders doing amazing stunts,

image Jerusalem crowd

as crowds lined the show areas.

image end of road show Jerusalem

Do we need to shut down streets before a holiday

(a summer event had to be postponed)

or any time for this spectacle?

I heard an American tourist say,

“Seems to me to be a lot of money and noise for not so much.”

As we walked the long way around because of barriers on the track,

she added that she was 66 years old,

and does not think the same way she did when she was 16.

Young people were excited and came out to see the cars,

 thousands were out to see,

 what was happening on the Jerusalem, Israel streets.

image Jerusalem mayor

Mayor Nir Barkat and Eugene Kaspersky think motorsport history has been made in Jerusalem

and that it is great and an investment for the future,,

but many others disagree.

Now enough with cars,

it is time to prepare for Sukkot,

but if you want to see more of that crazy motorcycle show,

please click HERE.