International Holocaust Memorial Day

Favorite photos from one busy week in Jerusalem

Sharon A

You may see headlines of impending doom and gloom, but the real Jerusalem streets have not been this busy in a long time.

Things are so busy that I had to select multiple times where to go and what to do.

Sharing a very brief wrap-up with only some highlights, favorite faces, and photos.

Monday morning – Knesset

The Knesset on Monday morning was full of activity.

The red carpet and flags were to welcome the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama.

At the entrance security, I met Alan Clemmons and Natasha Hausdorff, two advocates who support Israel in legal matters.

They were also on the way to the Official Parliamentary Opening Plenary led by MK Amichai Chikli and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana.

The 2026 International Conference on Combating Antisemitism- Official Parliamentary opening Plenary was the forum for international delegates to speak.

One dramatic presentation was by Christian Terhes, Member of the European Parliament, when he showed the glorification of martyrdom in the UNRWA text.

The man Chikli was pleased to shake hands with when he entered the room was Flavio Bolsonaro. His name card read: Senator, Pre-candidate for the Presidency, Brazil. He did not speak at this session. But at the main event, he was given the keynote position and launched his campaign. Let’s hope he wins.

The opening conference gala entrance was on Monday night, at the same time as the Jabotinsky lecture at the Israeli President’s Residence. I had to pass on the gala.

Monday evening – Beit Hanasi

US Ambassador Mike Huckabee was the featured speaker, and fans surrounded him before the event started.

The Ze’ev Jabotinsky Lecture is an annual event that was postponed from its earlier date.

The main room was full.

The yellow chair, which had been at all the Beit Hanasi events for two years, was in place.

However, with the announcement that the last hostage was retrieved from Gaza, the Ambassador helped President Herzog remove the chair.

Huckabee gave a proper talk about Jabotinsky; however, removing the yellow chair and his yellow pin stole the show.

I was on my way out to attend a special dinner with long-time friends, as astronauts were waiting to enter to meet the President.

Tuesday morning, Jerusalem International Convention Center, Binyunei Hauma

The full-day conference “Generation Truth” was held at the Jerusalem ICC.

Rabbi Yehoram Ulman of Bondi Beach, Australia, gave one keynote in the morning.

Social media stars participated in a morning panel discussion on antisemitism.

At these events, it is hard to stay inside listening and not go outside to see who is attending.

I first became a fan of Fiamma Nirenstein at a Jerusalem hotel many years ago, where she was featured at an event about antisemitism. I told her I remembered where she was sitting on the panel when the late Robert Wistrich warned of antisemitism becoming mainstream in Britain.

Gad Saad and his wife, I saw at Beit Hanasi. I was glad to be at his keynote talk as I had followed him as a fan online.

Flavio Bosonaro from Brazil gave his talk in English, but it seemed aimed more at the Brazilian presidential campaign.

The panel ‘Algorithms of Hate’ focused on social media.

The Mike Huckabee interview with Alex Traiman, JNS Jerusalem editor, was another favorite.

Dinesh D’Souza, on the left, and his wife were also at the Knesset.

Dumisani Washington, Lee Trink, Seth Dillon, Karyes Rhea, and Ruben Baumgarten are just a few names of impressive guests.

Not an internet or international star, but the man who gave me his chair at the crowded buffet lunch.

There could be much more about the conference.

Wednesday was a day focused on the funeral of Ran Gvili

Thursday night – Friends of Zion

I want to end with a special event at the Friends of Zion, where President Herzog opened with a video to commemorate the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. There were 6 candles for 6 million Jews murdered.

But also the movie ‘Quezon’s Game’ with the Philippine Embassy and Ambassador Aileen S. Mendiola.

Mike Huckabee was a guest, not a speaker. He rose to greet George Lewenstein, one of the Jews saved by Quezon, who spoke.

The story of how Manuel Quezon rescued 1200 Jews from Germany was new to me.

For those of you who are still reading here. Look it up, Manuel Quezon.

The movie is parallel with history. Not sure how comfortable the US staff were with how the US immigration policy worked to keep Jews out. The Philippines was a US territory at the time. Quezon went into exile in the US.

He had wanted to save 10,000 Jews, but only managed to get 1200 Jews to safety before the Japanese took over the Island. That is another chapter, and this is getting too long.

“He who saves one life saves the world entire.” Am Yisrael Chai

See the Jerusalem Streets for Tu Bishvat

Sharon A

What is changing faster?

The weather over the Jerusalem streets–or the mood of the people, trying to move forward after almost 4 months since Hamas atrocities started a war on October 7?

From the horrors on Simhat Torah, it is already time for Tu Bishvat, the holiday called the ‘New Year of Trees’.

The almond trees were indeed bursting with flowers this week.

The sky at sunset was often filled with pink clouds.

Even the pink blossoms of the cherry trees in the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens were ready for the holiday.

A sign on the way to the gardens was for ‘raising a glass’ to celebrate Rosh Hashana before an election which was to be held at the end of October and is still on hold until the end of February.

Inside the gardens, the pond is ready for the spring and summer ahead.

The 75th-anniversary birthday celebration for the Knesset on Tu Bishvat was extremely low-key. Oh so very different than in 2016, when the current location celebrated its 50th year on Tu Bishvat.

No flags were flying on the street, and no tourists were admiring the menorah across from the entrance.

The row of carob trees across from the Supreme Court was fully green, a far cry from those old brown bokser pods we remember for the holiday “treat” that in Jerusalem litter the ground.

Back at Beit Hanasi, the Israel President’s Residence, the reception held was not for Tu Bishvat, but for the UN-mandated International Holocaust Remembrance, Day which falls on January 27th, and this year on Shabbat.

Inside the chairs were lined up for survivors of the Kindertransport, but the hostages in Gaza were not forgotten. There is an undercurrent everywhere thinking about the hostages held by Hamas.

These “children” who were saved 85 years ago by being sent to England, many never to see their parents again, were the featured guests of the President of Israel.

Germany’s Ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert attended and listened carefully to the survivors’ stories.

Sitting next to the moderator, he heard one of the survivors rescued from Nazi Germany in the Kindertransport operation in 1938, say that she was once again evacuated from her home – this time in Kibbutz Zikim on the Gaza border, after the community came under attack by Hamas on October 7.  

So yellow ribbons are tied to trees anticipating the hostages’ return.

The military cemeteries are expanding, with more graves and fresh memorial wreaths,

and new ones being prepared for use.

There were only two graves here on our last visit, not so long ago.

Love not war, as war goes on into the fourth month–a war Israel did not want, but must win.

On Tu Bishvat it was good to see the roof of the Bird Observatory green again.

Even the Jerusalem buses go green with the new electric ones.

The new towers rising over the Jerusalem Streets seem to reach the grey clouds in the sky.

Construction is starting up again.

Nature is coming back to life again, with green grass and almond trees in bloom.

Flowers line the path ready for the Jerusalem Marathon in March.

Azza Street was blocked for a protest – again.

But flowers are sprouting from the old stones, part of the old and new, and changing along the Jerusalem streets.

Tu Bishvat four years ago at Beit Hanasi, ended with a special hope. Still singing songs of hope.

Moving forward and upward from October 7, it’s Israel Space Week 2024.

Israel Space Week started on January 28, 2024.

Something is always happening on the Jerusalem streets.

Hope to see you all here soon!

Did You See these Jerusalem Photos?

Sharon A

Do you find some days it’s easier to get started than others?

When the Jerusalem winter days are gloomy and cold outside (and in), it takes extra effort to put on boots and jacket (and mask) and get going.

Each day I try to walk a different route to find new images to share.

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One day it was possible to get a photo of the menorah across from the Knesset with no people around it. A Knesset guard stopped me as I walked by to ask where I was going. “Gan Sacher” I told him and he let me pass by.

Day after day, the plaza outside of Jaffa Gate has been deserted. Jaffa Gate is shut and the security personnel at the road entrance check identification.

Stores in Mamilla Mall are preparing to open, but no one knows when.

At Machane Yehudah Market some stores were closed, but others were open.

Along busy Agrippas Street people were shopping for Tu Bishvat treats.

To enter the shuk, everyone had to stick out a hand to have their temperature taken. Oh, how security checks have changed this year!

Young families try to get out of the house when the sun is shining.

Zoom school for young children, week after week, is not going well. Report cards were given out to students who only had one day in a real classroom.

A new sign “Jerusalem is Giving a Shoulder – all of us in Jerusalem are getting vaccinated and continuing to abide by the regulations – together we will win and return to our routine” was also published in print media.

Meanwhile, motorcycle food delivery is a fast-growing business. This lunch was going to someone in an Israeli Financial Office.

But my favorite sighting was the hand over of food delivery to a guard outside Beit Hanasi, the Israeli President’s Residence.

Did you notice the white tent in the distance of this photo?

In these tents outside the Rose Garden, across from Finance Ministry, major Israeli hospitals joined together to protest their inadequate funding.

January 27, 2021, was International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Yad Vashem conducted its annual event for the International Diplomatic Corps serving in Israel online, featuring a message from President Reuven Rivlin and a lecture entitled “The Path from Mass Shootings to the Final Solution.”

In the past the diplomatic event was held in the Yad Vashem Synagogue.

In 2017, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to the international diplomats in the synagogue as part of Yad Vashem’s annual programming.

Jerusalem Israel Yad Vashem

Last year Yad Vashem hosted the huge international event with kings and world leaders in attendance, shutting down many Jerusalem streets.

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This section of Gan Sacher, Sacher Park was covered with white security tents last year for the dedication of the “Memorial Candle.” At the beginning of last week, they were again at work on the monument.

But by January 27th, the site finally appeared completed.

The Memorial Candle monument commemorates the heroism of the defenders and residents of Leningrad during the years of siege in the war against Nazism.

An explanation was added in multiple languages with stones at the bottom.

The monument was placed in the park in view of the Israeli Supreme Court.

During World War II, from September 8, 1941, until January 27, 1944, the city of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) was under military siege by the German Nazi forces. Some 490,000 residents and defenders of the besieged city died, including tens of thousands of Jews.

The top of the “Candle” was cleaned and polished this week.

In memory of the Jewish soldiers in the Red Army, and citizens who died during the siege of Leningrad, flowers were placed at the base.

Also, on the night of 27th the holiday of Tu Bishvat began.

After a warm winter, there were signs of spring in Jerusalem.

I assume this location would be hard for most people to figure out?

The green roof of the Jerusalem Bird Observatory was looking good again.

The former President Hotel on Ahad Haam Street was finally, after over a decade in disrepair, going down, on a wet gloomy day.

While the lights were on again at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

No doorman was outside, but inside the door, there was a “Disinfection Stop.” Not only a guard at the entrance but also large bottles of sanitizers.

Fresh flowers were in the lobby, but no guests were visible inside.

Also the Prima Kings Hotel had lights on and signs of life inside and out.

What a week it was. Warm, and cold and wet outside. But unlike in the past, much of the action could be viewed from inside at home.

The Jerusalem Symphony performed online Tu Bishvat broadcasts on January 27th – here is a link for one.

KKL-JNF produced a special celebratory tablecloth kit, with unique games and activities for use with its online celebration. The kit was distributed in numerous countries and in various languages for Tu Bishvat.

There was even an online Israeli Earthquake Conference held this week.

What next on the Jerusalem streets?

You never know what you will find.

However, this man was fly-casting in Gan Sacher, Sacher Park last week.

More on the park next time, there is plenty changing there for another time.

Jerusalem’s planning to be ready in the spring to welcome back visitors.

The week of Tu Bishvat, blooming trees, new growth, and hopes for the future from Jerusalem, Israel.

Take care and stay well out there, hope to see you soon Jerusalem streets.