The Kotel

Racist State

rjstreets

This September, the opening sessions of the United Nations in New York

are to host “Durban 3” and a Palestinian bid for statehood.

The United Nations seems to have forgotten that,

it voted on November 29, 1947 to partition the British Mandate of Palestine

into two states, one Jewish and one Arab.

Jewish people rolled up their sleeves, collected funds to buy land and built the land.

The Arab nations rejected the partition plan and attacked the new state of Israel.

In May 1948 the Jordanian legion captured and occupied Jerusalem,

the land to the east toward the Jordanian border became known as the West Bank.

Most of the land in the West Bank is hilly, rocky and until after 1967 was empty.

In 1964 when the Palestine Liberation Organization was founded,

there were no Jews allowed

to live in “East” Jerusalem,

which includes areas to the north, south and west of Jerusalem.

Mamilla was a no man’s land, needed to protect Israel from Jordanian snipers.

Today Mamilla is a shopping mall,

busy day and night

offering employment to many.

Under Jordanian occupation in 1948, all the Old City’s synagogues were destroyed

and all Jews were forced to flee their homes in the Jewish Quarter.

The recently restored Hurva Synagogue is no longer a hurva, a ruin,

and stands in the center of the re-established ancient Jewish neighborhood.

The Kotel, the Western Wall Plaza is now open to everyone.

 Arab families make use of the new light rail, when trains are working,

or ride the bus which is usually faster.

An Arab woman can walk alone unafraid in the center of Jerusalem.

Young Arab women sit and eat in the center of a main street crowd.

While the Palestinian Authority prepares to go to the UN for a state

which insists that it will not allow Jews and homosexuals,

Arabs live and work freely in Israeli Jerusalem.

At this new UN conference on racism,

will Israel once again be singled out as a racist state ?

Does the UN care at all about the truth?

Two Holidays: Ramadan and Rosh Hashannah

rjstreets

Sitting in the pre-holiday traffic that seem to be everywhere  in Jerusalem,

 it is hard to believe that anyone is home cooking or cleaning for the holidays.

With the long school holiday over and children now in a full day of school,

 working parents are finally a bit less stressed,

unless they were late for pick up time because their car was not moving.

Rosh Hashana, the New Year begins Wednesday at sundown,

 and preparations for the three-day holiday fill the streets.

  Meanwhile, the Ramadan holiday is nearing its end,

for some it was difficult working in the heat and  fasting until sundown.

 For Friday prayers,

 Muslim worshippers

came by way of Mamilla Mall

and from all directions outside the walls of the Old City:

 by way of the Jaffa Gate,

towards the Arab market, the old shuk

some went thru the Jewish Quarter.

Others came alone,

 in groups,

women and children,

young men

and old.

 Over the four Fridays of Ramadan,

hundreds of thousands of Muslims came to pray in Jerusalem.

 A blimp hovered overhead

and extra police were on hand.

   The month of Elul, which precedes Rosh Hashana, the New Year,

is also coming to an end, thousands of Jewish worshipers came to the Kotel,

the Western Wall for selichot, special prayers.

 Thousands and thousands of people were in the Old City for the holidays.

May this example of peaceful co-existence continue

throughout the new year and beyond.

Shana Tova,

a good  New Year

and

 Happy Holidays to all!

Summer Nights in Jerusalem

rjstreets

Spain has won the World Cup, so finally soccer fans 

are freed from their TV sets to enjoy the Jerusalem summer nights.

Playgrounds can be unbearably hot during the day,

 so at night, even little children come out to play.

Not everyone stays inside to avoid the blazing sun,

but streets are quieter than usual.

One busy spot is the tent where the Shalit family is receiving a constant stream of visitors.

 Across the street there has been a small counter protest in the evening,

but the number of yellow ribbons continues to grow.

The usual crowds of visitors are near the Jaffa Gate all day

and at night,

and at the Kotel, the Western Wall, all night long.

Tower of David

Light and Sound Show

is an extremely popular

night attraction.

Ben Yehuda Street Mall

Machane Yehuda, the shuk  and

 Mamilla Mall are popular for shopping, eating out, or just getting out at night.

The fountain in Paris Square takes on a whole new look in its night-time colors,

as did this construction site when it was lit up at night.

A sign of change, a coffee shop is to be open all night long.

A new sign promoting the municipality’s summer cultural events

seems to be everywhere.

 Free summer musical programs attract large crowds.

 However, the Jerusalem Film Festival showing

of “Blazing Saddles’ was free in the park

and did not draw a large, early crowd, eager to get good seats.

 If the movie was not shown during the Nine Days leading up to Tisha B’Av

 there certainly would have been many more people in attendance.

All is not fun after dark, there is often road work being done. 

Judging by the large number of cars with diplomatic license plates

parked near the American Consulate last night, 

 there was plenty of work to be done before today’s arrival of special envoy George Mitchell.

 Too much summer sun or night-life?  Try a mid-afternoon nap.

 

Though not a picture from this week,

 a beautiful night scene from Jerusalem, like a cool summer night’s breeze…

with thanks to M  Hurley.

 Update July 2012: the coffee shop is gone and so are those lions, 

the Olympics are the sports to follow,

amazing how so much of today is the same as two years ago.

The Gilad Shalit tent is becoming a memory.