The 65th birthday of the Israeli Knesset was yesterday.
Happy birthday Knesset,
here’s hoping for a really good year and many, many more!
Shabbat shalom
Israeli Knesset
Tu B’Shvat, Jerusalem Transitions
This week was one of transition in Jerusalem, Israel.
It started with the funeral of a former Prime Minister.
The blue and white draped casket of Ariel Sharon was
surrounded by floral wreathes in the plaza of the Knesset.
The gates were opened allowing the public inside.
As it got dark,
the crowd lingered after the announced closing time.
Holding an Israeli flag was a good way to get attention.
A few familiar faces were in the crowd.
This woman insisted on lighting a candle and looked so sad.
While this man became very emotional after he saluted the casket.
What impressed me most was how different it was
to the memorial of Yitzhak Shamir.
There was very little Jewish about this event.
The Knesset honor guard was in step when they changed shifts,
but no one was saying Tehilim, Psalms, out loud.
Thousands of Jewish Ethiopians came to farewell Shamir.
Here a colorful wreath was on display from an Ethiopian church.
Outside at night, in winter, with memorial candles spelling Arik Sharon,
but there were no family members present to accept condolences.
Shamir’s memorial was run to the minute,
while this one dragged quietly into the night.
For two days traffic was a mess.
A security blimp hovered over the Knesset.
Jerusalem was on high alert with dignitaries arriving from all over the world.
Meanwhile, this woman sat in a park not far away,
but that is a whole other blog post for Israellycool.
And then,
there was an amazing sunset,
some of it seen here over the Israel Museum.
The 65 birthday of the Knesset was celebrated,
with the public invited to a slew of activities.
The African protesters of last week went back to Tel Aviv.
The snow storm clean up will be going on for some time,
but it was warm enough today to go without a coat.
The lemons are looking ready to pick.
Fancy fruit baskets are ready to deliver.
In the flower shop I was asked to take a date to eat
in honor of Tu B’Shvat, The New Year for Trees.
The transition from the funeral at the beginning of the week,
can really be felt today
on the Jerusalem, Israel streets.
Spring, renewal, rebirth are in the air.
Tu B’shvat is coming.
Only Some Israelis Vote for Knesset 19
Today is Election Day in Israel for the 19th Knesset
and some are calling it a celebration of democracy.
For a hi-tech country voting is decidedly low-tech,
with a cardboard ballot box and voting booth in a school classroom.
Inside the booth, write-in votes are possible with a pen on white paper.
The nice workers in our polling place were happy to pose for a photo.
Across the hall the scene was similar,
and though the turnout is described as heavy,
the lines were short at midday.
BUT,
in order to get to the voting place you had to climb stairs, lots of stairs.
While I was trying to get a good angle to show a serious problem,
a friend who had moved to Haifa came up the stairs to vote.
However, for the disabled and many elderly in the neighborhood,
there was nothing to smile about.
Outside, to get in the building there were more stairs,
and for some getting down could be as hard as going up to vote.
As I left, this woman with two walking sticks tried to vote,
and I do not know how long it took her to do all those stairs.
The situation for access of the disabled and elderly
is terrible in many of the old buildings in Jerusalem, Israel.
One thing no one could complain about was the weather.
Even though many sidewalks are still blocked by trees downed by the snow,
today was a day to get outside and enjoy the spring-like weather.
The temperatures certainly added to a party atmosphere,
but access for disabled must become a priority.
I still think it is outrageous that someone in a wheel chair
has a hard time to vote in a democracy.
There are locations for wheel chair access,
but isn’t it time to make public buildings accessible?