Save the Nature Museum

Doctors are striking.

Protest tents are popping up like mushrooms in the parks.

The price of gas, electricity and temperatures are rising.

With so many serious issues at once, it was easy to miss a protest meeting

   to save the Nature Museum in Jerusalem.

Thousands of visitors drive down this little street leading

  to the Moshava Germanit, German Colony parking lot,

and probably never noticed the main entrance to the Nature Museum.

This old Armenian house and sprawling grounds are home

to the Nature Museum in Jerusalem,

where thousands of children have been exposed to nature and animal life.

In spite of the heat, a crowd gathered in the afternoon on July 26, 2011

to protest its threatened closure.

Professor Ariel Hershfeld was the first of several speakers.

City council member Meir Turgeman, who grew up in the neighborhood,

was the last speaker and called for the city to listen to its residents.

It was hard to gauge the attendance at the protest, as the many activities,

entertainment,

and animals provided constant distractions.

The soft music of this protest was quite a contrast to the loud demonstrations.

Will Shalem College get the grounds for its new campus?

The grounds of the Hanson Hospital are near by and could be restored

to offer a new and improved neighborhood Nature Museum.

There was mumbling in the crowd of another Holyland

where the interests of business and money

win over the interests of the people.

More photos are posted  on  The Real Jerusalem Streets Facebook page.

Tent Protest Grows

The “Tent Protest’ began in Tel Aviv when a group of young people

camped out in the city square to draw attention to the high price of housing.

Sunday night tent protesters took to the Jerusalem streets.

The demonstrators carried tents

and signs along a route heading towards the Knesset.

Many chanted loudly,

 a few protesters carried Israeli flags.

After stopping briefly to block the intersection at Ruppin Street,

the march headed up the hill towards the Rose Garden to set up the tents,

all the time with police escort.

The price of housing in Jerusalem has risen steadily for a number of reasons,

 new construction is for luxury units, impossible to afford on an Israeli salary.

It is a problem for not only for young people,

everyone is affected by the serious housing shortage.

 

 

Ziggy Marley in Zion

On a warm but pleasant July night,

 Ziggy Marley, son of the late Reggae singer Bob Marley,

 defied those who called for him to boycott Israel

and performed with other musicians in Jerusalem’s Gan Sacher, Sacher Park.

The huge stage took days to build

and by concert time much of the park and its paths were closed to the public.

Security was tighter than usual at this event,

which made  jumping the fence to crash the concert a bad idea for these two fellows.

Inside were hundreds of mostly young music fans,

but the music could be heard outside the entrance, located on top of the hill,

at the other end of the park,

and by people all around the neighborhood until late that night.

There was plenty to drink,

while large screens projected

the performances to the crowd.

No chairs were in sight… but plenty of hair was.

Instead of the usual meal of a sandwich wrapped in plastic,

a grill was set up to feed the police on duty.

Meanwhile,

 Paul Simon was performing in Ramat Gan and got all the media attention.

On the way home I passed a really big crab making its way to the concert.

He or she must be a loyal Reggae fan, maybe a Rastafarian?

With so many Jerusalem cultural events how can you be crabby…

maybe if you live in the neighborhood and do not appreciate the music?