Ceasefire? #Firgun Day from Jerusalem

Cease fire?

Israel ceases.

Hamas keeps firing.

Firing so many rockets,

it was impossible to catch all the names of the locations.

Israel was still under fire,

50 rockets in 6 hours to which Israel did NOT respond.

The photos posted by Arab propaganda have featured

wailing women and blood covered babies.

Of course many of them are from Syria.

There’s one with a baby in a wool winter hat and a heavy sweater,

in the heat of this past week a baby dressed like that

would have died from heat stroke.

Not gory enough? Now they are using

scenes from Hollywood horror movies.

While damage has been limited, all of Israel has been affected.

Thousands of children were brought to Jerusalem from southern Israel for fun days,

and large groups were hosted at the Knesset and Israel Museum.

image children running

 At a special day camp at Beit Hanasi, the Israeli President’s residence;

Shimon Peres with children in Beit Hanasi

President Shimon Peres sat with a group from Kibbutz Saad.

I went to see what was really happening on the Jerusalem, Israel streets,

instead of staying in and listening to all the alerts today.

image women sitting in shade

Sorry Hamas, but these ladies do not look afraid of you,

image two women sitting on bench in jerusalem

they were looking for shelter from the sun.

two women sitting in shade in Jerusalem, israel

As were my friends who were sitting and talking near a main street.

The big trend on the Jerusalem, Israel streets was staying in the shade.

Not so great for photos, but the cool breeze was nice.

image Jerusalem Street scene

This woman went to the grocery store and returned with her cart full.

image young family in Jerusalem

And this visiting family said they were concerned,

but not so afraid to be here now,

image Jerusalem, Israel taxi

their taxi arrived and they were off for a fun day.

What a different perspective one has when you arer here,

than that of concerned parents watching from overseas.

(I did love finding out that her family were our old neighbors.)

image transportation Jerusalem

This woman had her own transportation,

with an Israeli flag and עם ישראל חי sign.

Arab woman Jerusalem,

A woman wearing a hijab crossed Azza Street

image two friends meeting.

 while at midday two friends met nearby.

Some cafes were almost empty,

but that was because it was a fast day.

image woman walking with cane, photo Jerusalem street scene

Just another ol’ day on the Jerusalem, Israel streets,

not newsworthy with no violence,

after the sirens and rockets of last week, we hope it stays that way.

The Hamas rockets have hit Arab houses in Hebron,

injured Bedouin girls near Beer Sheva,

and knocked out their own electricity.

Each rocket aimed at civilians is a war crime.

All of this must stop.

But as always there is something more…

coming from Jerusalem, Israel.

(please let me know if you hear it here first.)

The International #FirgunDay is on July 17th,

and you are invited to join from anywhere in the world!

Firgun (pronounced FEER-GOON, פרגון)

is a Hebrew word that means a compliment

or act of kindness performed solely to make another person feel good

and without any intention to get something in return.

What do you do on #FirgunDay?

 Pick a person or organization which you find inspiring and worth a “Firgun.”

Post on Facebook, twitter, instagram, or any other social media

 and explain why that was your choice.

Don’t forget to add the #FirgunDay hashtag!

 Help spread the #FirgunDay love and share with your friends,

so they can post there own #Firgun, making another person happy!

Happy #FirgunDay!

בואו נפיץ קצת פרגון! יום פרגון שמח

What’s New in Jerusalem

Nothing about this week was regular.

As I started this blog Fatah and Hamas were competing

to see who can shoot the most rockets into Israel.

Besides hundreds in the south near Gaza,

they also aimed at the civilian center of Bet Shemesh.

Operation Protective Edge has begun,

and Israel finally responds.  Listen for calls of restraint.

Meanwhile, the weather has been hot

and I had not been walking enough lately.

Time to get out and see what was happening.

image Jaffa Street

Yesterday morning Jaffa Road was too quiet,

image people walking in Jerusalem

but later, more people were out walking.

image shuk Jerusalem,Israel

Machane Yehuda Market, the shuk had customers and visitors.

image fresh figs, photo figs, picture fresh fruit

These fresh figs were the largest I had ever seen,

and I could not believe how popular this photo was when posted on Facebook.

Bread in machane yehuda marktet

 After getting a much needed ice coffee, I was glad someone offered to hold it for me,

so I could take this photo of piles of fresh bread.

image young tourists

And more American teens were on their way to explore the amazing market.

image ol d knesset building.

This man seemed as surprised as I was at the

Old Knesset Building  on King George Street.

For years it had been the home of the Rabbinical Court,

but they moved,

and this historic site is to be the site of a new Knesset Museum.

image Hebrew sign

Music and children’s films,

image Hebrew sign

Jerusalem Film Festival

and

image Hebrew sign

Jerusalem Season of Culture and so much more.

The funeral for Eyal, Gilad, and Naftali seems like so long ago.

 I have not used other photographers’ work in a long time,

but this photo was made to be shared.

“Our eyes were wet when hearing about their cruel fate,

I wanted to reflect upon this once again via a photograph.”

 — by Andrei Schwartz.

Now I am off to a meeting in center of Jerusalem.

What will happen next?