Israel apartheid – Page 6 – The Real Jerusalem Streets

March Madness

March 30, 2012rjstreets

In the United States “March Madness”

is the spring college basketball tournament,

in Israel “March Madness” takes on a different meaning.

With the new threat of millions of outsiders

on a Global March to Jerusalem – the “GMJ,”

Israel is again cast as the aggressor in the Middle East.

Looking through March photos, I found this picture

taken last year as Muslim worshipers were going to pray.

These men were entering through the Jaffa Gate to the Old City.

There were threats of violence on that Friday,

but Muslim worshipers still had access to their mosque.

This is not the picture GMJ paints for the world.

Please let us not forget, in March of last year

the Fogel family were brutally murdered

and a Jerusalem bus bomber killed a woman.

In March ten years ago, the Park Hotel in Netanya was blown up,

30 people were kiled.

The Global March to Jerusalem

joins BDS (Boycott, Divest and Sanctions)

and Israel Apartheid Week

as the newest anti-Israel publicity exploit.

The GMJ organizers must have not have seen what

was really happening in Jerusalem,

so I am sharing again:

This is Apartheid?

Israeli Apartheid? and More Israeli Apartheid?

It is time to stop the madness.

Malha Mall Rioters Drown out the Music

March 27, 2012rjstreets

Malha Mall in Jerusalem is a large shopping center, busy day and night.

Typical scenes like this one show no hint of apartheid.

Last week a group of Beitar football (soccer) fans made quite a scene

in Malha Mall that caught international attention.

In no way do I condone their rowdy and obnoxious behavior,

but sports fans have rioted in Canadian and US cities also.

Was the entire country condemned for their miserable behavior?

An Israeli diplomat in Rabat, Morocco had to be rescued from a mob

of tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

I did not hear of human rights activists writing essays against these events.

Once again, an isolated, repulsive incident has been blown out of proportion,

and has drowned out the other sounds coming from Jerusalem:

the sounds of a three-night music festival called “Sounds of the Old City.”

The city of Jerusalem offered free musical entertainment

to bring more visitors to enjoy the beauty of the Old City at night.

Throughout the Old City and Mamilla Mall,

there were also video art displays…

much better for a photo blog than music played in the dark.

It was easy to follow the lights and art

through the narrow alleyways of the Old City.

The Hurva Synagogue in the Rova, the Jewish Quarter, was lit up.

Musical performances were scheduled from 6-11:00pm;

sorry, I only got a program on the way out and missed the shows in the Rova.

Musicians performed inside the Cardo

and out, two of many dramatic backdrop locations.

Shows were also performed in the Christian and Muslim Quarters

and along many of the Old City streets.

Comfortable seats were impossible to find,

but the food for sale near Jaffa Gate was hard to miss.

The crowds grew larger as the night went on.

On the way home, this drum circle near Jaffa Gate caught my attention.

One boy got up and started to dance

to an audience which gathered to watch and included smiling Arab families.

The sounds of music from the Old City went unnoticed by the media,

drowned out by the noise of a few trouble makers.

There was no violence during the festival…so it is not news.

The “Sounds of the Old City” was happening in Jerusalem last week.

What did you hear?

15 Real Photos of Arab Girls

15 Real Photos of Arab Girls

March 13, 2012May 14, 2020rjstreets

As southern Israel is being pounded with hundreds of rockets launched

by terrorists in Gaza, the world is silent.

A few anti-Israel photos have been circulating for years.

The photo of a man holding a dead girl,

tweeted by a UN media employee that received so much attention,

is the same photo that I saw in 2008 under the caption,

“Israelis kill a lot of Arab children.”

This was the Google search top result for images of “people who smile a lot.”

I was not smiling and later began to take pictures of real Arab girls.

First, on the hot topic of Israeli soldiers and Arab girls,

only in a Bahrain street theater photo will you see a girl lying under a boot.

Israeli apartheid supporters might find it shocking that in Jerusalem,

Israeli soldiers walk on the same streets as Arab girls,

by the Walls of the Old City near the Jaffa Gate

and in the city center. Often they seem to not even notice one another.

Arab girls can be found on the ground,

sitting and enjoying public performances,

or just relaxing

in Jerusalem’s public parks.

Of course…the same goes for boys too.

Where else would a Muslim girl be seen alone in the park with boys?

And famlies enjoyed posing with this snowman last week.

An Arab girl might be dragged along by her mother,

but in Mamilla Mall, most girls can be found happily shopping, both day

and night with no sign of BDS, Boycott, Divest or Sanctions.

Sitting on the steps in Mamilla Mall while texting on their phones,

or sitting at a table alone,

shopping late at night at the Rami Levi supermarket,

or selling Rav Kav cards for the Jerusalem light rail trains…

these are real photos of Arab girls and young women in Jerusalem.

The world is ready to accept faked captions,

how about the truth?