The Real Jerusalem Streets

Gilad Shalit did not celebrate his 24th birthday with family and friends in Jerusalem.

He has been held captive by Hamas in Gaza for 1500 days, 

unseen by any representative of the International Red Cross and unaware of his family’s endeavors.

The original protest tent sent up on the street near the Prime Minister’s Residence was quite modest.

The number of days in captivity shown on the top getting larger every day.

Family and friends marched from the Shalit home in the North

to the Jerusalem protest tent.

Noam and Aviva Shalit settled in the begining of July, receiving visitors,

 tourists who come by

and other supporters.

Counter protesters across the street were louder than usual the evening of 1500 day “milestone” .

Police separated the opposing sides.

The media was on the scene, as the traffic backed up the length of Azza Street.

The tent city is expanding,

1501 days and still counting, the tragic situation continues.

 It is hot, very hot. Most people are trying to avoid going out in the sun,    

  

 but the streets are still full of buses, lined up at the usual tourist sites.       

      

   Jerusalem is suffering in a heat wave, with random power outages as the electricity grid is strained.         

       

 The weather is not bad for all things,        

        

         

  this  ‘recycle’  garden does not seem to be affected at all.         

                  

        

 

  Mamilla Mall was full and comfortable in spite of the high temperatures.        

        

    

 On any afternoon you might find musicians outside the walls of the Old City   

or inside them.      

      

Music can get little feet     

     

  and not-so-little feet moving.       

                       

Street musicians often play in the area around the Machane Yehudah Market, the shuk.  

         

         

          

             

The variety of instruments       

         

 entertainers,       

          

         

          

          

        

        

        

        

performers       

        

                 

          

          

          

          

          

          

          

  

 and music festivals      

 is just astounding.    

      

The month of August is full of music.      

       

        

        

        

      

From a band up on the roof in the shuk     

          

  down to the street below; there was music on Monday night.      

      

   

BenYehuda Street was full of young people who came to hear Funkenstein on a Friday afternoon.   

       

There was lots of beer and too many cigarettes.     

   

     

At the other end of the Ben Yehuda Mall, a night bus was blasting music from the top deck. 

  

      

 On Thursday night, large crowds came to Mamilla Mall     

        

and to Kikar Safra for free city concerts.     

      

     

At any time and any place, the Reb Nachman vehicles can stop, and music and dancers fill the streets.     

The streets this summer might be full of the sound of music, 

     

but until the heat wave breaks, during the day there will be lines and crowds for icy drinks too.  

 

 Gan Sacher, Sacher Park, lies in the midst of a huge desert region,

 it is a refuge for birds from the Middle Eastern summer sun.

The large trees provide shade for people,

 groups both large

and small.

Summer days can be quiet,

maybe a water fight after a frisbee game,

 a  bike ride

 

or a nap.

As the sun goes down though,

 

it comes alive, with people and picnics

 and baseball 

and often there is even a white horse to ride.

But Thursday was not a regular day.

 There were police vehicles

and beautiful police horses in the park,

 a blimp hovering above

and a second one near by.

There were major street closings; it was not a good time to be a passenger in a taxi.

For awhile, it felt like a ghost town, a movie set, like when President George W. Bush visited Jerusalem.

 The Gay Pride Parade, with an estimated 3000 participants, came down the hill from Ramban Street

and past the park towards the Knesset.

 

Police seemed to be everywhere, in the center of town and along the parade route.

Photographers were also out in great numbers, running after that colorful shot .

More police than marchers?  Maybe.  And the Ultra-Orthodox?

 This family wanted to get to the park for dinner,

but waited patiently to be allowed to walk across the street.

 A long day with lots of red tape, but no large, violent protests and few outlandish displays.

Plenty of pink cotton candy and

  in the end, a regular day in the park after all.