Summer in the Shuk

In the Machane Yehudah Market, The Shuk,

the piles of fresh garlic of spring,

have been replaced by the piles of summer fruit.

The old and narrow Jerusalem streets in the area are often crowded,

but on Monday nights in July, the crowds

have come for the Balabasta Cultural Festival.

As the sun sets the celebration begins.

Numerous musical performances,

live bands,

soloists

and groups,

 all performed in the alleyways and corners of The Shuk.

Games were available

and many performers entertained the crowds for free,

but this mime had a sign requesting a coin to start his dance moves.

Artists painted in many locations,

adding more color,

to the market event.

Well known for its fresh food,

there were actually some people who were in The Shuk to do their shopping.

If you could get close to the displays,

there were bargains.

The Balabasta Festival has grown from last year.

Five years ago The Shuk was empty, a scary and dark place at night,

now it is filled with people and roses.

Time for a Break

Too many things this week are too difficult to understand.

  20 Kassam rockets and mortar shells have landed in Israel from Gaza,

while Israel sent hundreds of trucks filled with tens of 1000’s of tons

 of goods and fuel into Gaza just this past week.

Activists from around the world fight to get to Jerusalem to protest,

while the world ignores that east Africa is starving.

The murder of Leiby Kletzky z”l in Brooklyn is impossible to comprehend,

as is strapping explosives to a child making her a walking bomb,

 as they did in Afghanistan.

When child safety is not a basic belief…it is too difficult to understand.

Time to take a break for something sweeter, perhaps an ice cream

or melon that is now in season.

Or sport,

as dozens of teams gathered in Kikar Safra, Safra Square, 

for a basketball derby.

A few young women wore colored team shirts

and possibly a future star could be found in the crowd.

Cyclists were out adding color to the streets.

From Kraft Stadium, 

a Woodstock revival filled the air with music and smoke.

 The Thursday night audience was colorful…

very colorful!

The heavy warm air of last week brought vivid colors

to the summer skies at sunset,

a perfect time to take a break and just enjoy the view.

After the dark of night…the colors at sunrise were again hard to describe.

From the darkness of last week to the light of another day…

 

 for the refuah shelamah of Tzuriya Kochevet Bat Sarah,

may the colors of sunrise be in your future for many years to come.

Welcome to Palestine

It is hot…

ok…we are spoiled, the rest of the country is hotter,

and it is dry, putting the public and the fire department on high alert.

 Smoke billowed from this apartment building, two fire engines arrived to

  find that smoke was from a man starting his BBQ grill on an outside porch.

Last week’s loud music and voices coming from open windows 

have been replaced by the sounds of summer:

the whirl of air conditioning units.

In the center of Jerusalem, usually busy Gan Sacher, Sacher Park,

was quiet on Friday afternoon,

 everyone seemed to be moving a bit slower…

even the soccer players.

It was a  good day to sit in the shade and read

"Arab woman photo", "picture Arab woman". "Palestinian woman image"

and perfect to select a choice picnic spot.

"picture Palestinian" , "Palestinian woman photo", "image Palestinian"

Children are out of school, keeping them busy, happy, safe and cool

have been the real streets main concerns…

and as always a good parking spot. 

Day and night, the Renewed Israel Museum is a popular choice for many

and also this week the cool theaters of the Jerusalem Film Festival,

as many of the summer holiday visitors have discovered.

Had the flytilla activists arrived as the millions of regular visitors,

they would have passed these posters 

on a wall in the new Ben Gurion terminal.

"Palestine poster", "Picture  build Palestine", "image Palestine"

The irony of a United Palestine Appeal poster

"picture Palestine appeal", "photo Palestine uniform", "image Palestine"

 to build a Jewish future would probably have been wasted on them.

These activists must not know that

 cities under Palestinian Authority control have been safer of late,

and people holding US passports have visited them regularly.

Instead of sitting in jail or being deported, these activists could

"Palestinians in Jerusalem photo", "picture Arabs", "Palestinian family"

have joined the many Arab families

who frequent Gan Sacher in the evening to picnic

and bring plenty of food.

Some call stopping the flotilla and the flytilla an over-reaction.

Today a suspicious package brought downtown Jerusalem

to a standstill.  Another over-reaction?

Possibly… except for the one time it blows up in your face.

The Greek flag is flying with the Israeli and Jerusalem flags

lining the route to welcome the Greek President to Jerusalem.

The Greeks played an important part in stopping the flotilla,

and deserve a big thank you.

In case one needs to be reminded about smuggling weapons to Hamas,

three rockets from Gaza landed in southern Israel yesterday.

Thank you, President Karolos Papoulias…

the ‘Welcome to Palestine’ activists just don’t get it,

but fortunately…you got it!