Coming together
From the news this week one would think that all of Jerusalem is divided; religious or secular, right or left, east or west. However, on many Jerusalem streets people do come together and not just in traffic accidents.
Outside the walls of the Old City…thousands of people gather and pass peacefully day after day.
At the Kotel, the Western Wall on Monday or Thursday and certain holidays when 13 year old boys are celebrating their Bar Mitzvahs, invited guests and strangers from all over the world can be found enjoying the celebrations.
Shopping in the Machane Yehuda Market, shuk has for years been a important part of life in Jerusalem.
Ben Yehuda Street
is alive again.
King George and Strauss Streets
in the center of town
and its shops are also busy.
But the modern malls are real competition.
Many buses cross the Jerusalem streets, often riders come together like sardines.
The Great Synagogue 
attracts many visitors.
Bus loads of tourists come,
Jews, left, right and center attend
the services.
And finally,
one thing everyone
agrees on…
Yaffo Street
is still a mess…….
Sharing Spaces
Over and over I have been asked why I started doing this photo blog…it was this scene.
The Bell Park in Jerusalem April, 2009
After I took this photo from just outside the Bell Park, I walked the short distance to the Kotel, the Western Wall. I could not get near, as police security barriers were already set up in early afternoon to keep everyone away, even though the Remembrance Day ceremony was not to take place for hours.
The photo I saw published in the newspapers was of one of men (Arabs?) behind yellow police tape. Seems the papers, certainly in Israel, publish what supports their agenda. I decided instead of being angry, to take candid photos, real street scenes and share them. My hope is that people will appreciate seeing the Real Jerusalem Streets, often the other side of the street from the media, and will share with their friends.
With President Peres in Brazil, 
the Prime Minister in United States and France,
and many Israeli officials overseas,
the streets were a bit quieter this week.
The many U.S. congressmen, former President Bill Clinton
and Saban Forum delegates at the King David Hotel
seem to move around in big vans, but with a lot less noise.
The real Jerusalem streets are often traffic nightmares, many of them with the space for donkeys or camels, not the large vehicles of today. Pray you never have a medical emergency in Jerusalem, often even an ambulance cannot get the needed space to move.
Space is always an issue, inside and out. Coming from a ten room house to a four room apartment here was quite an adjustment, utilizing every bit of space is a must. Putting a fish restaurant on top of a garage, what a use of space!
The Ethiopian community’s holiday,
Sigd is now a national holiday.
Thousands of people and buses,
crowded into Jerusalem for Monday’s celebration.
Amazing event!
After the cold and wet weather, we had a few hot days. People came out in droves, even the ants came back from their winter hiding places…and last night more much needed rain.
Security
Security issues are the hot topics of discussion, from Moscow to Texas, from Berlin to Florida, from Washington to Jerusalem.
The Israeli navy’s seizure of the Francop, a ship loaded with hundreds of tons of weapons, should be a positive thing for our security.
For major events security forces fill the Jerusalem streets.
However, on an average day, if you want one,
just try and find a uniformed policeman on the streets of Jerusalem.
During the Pope’s visit in May 2009, 
there were major street closings.
The resulting traffic back ups are still the talk of the real Jerusalem streets.
When the Pope visited the President’s House bystanders were disappointed that he did not use the Popemobile, but arrived by regular limousine.
Security going into the new Gap clothing store
is stronger than the security leaving the store.
Searching of all bags on entering a mall
or public venue is routine all over Israel.
However, in stark contrast, on a regular afternoon small children can be seen going home from school alone,
and in most neighborhoods
women walk alone safely,
day and night.
Faster than a speeding bullet
It is a shame that U. S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton 
was in and out of Jerusalem so quickly this week.
If she had taken a few minutes to visit a local hospital,
she would have seen the real Jerusalem streets.
In Jerusalem, there are two Hadassah Hospitals,
one at Mount Scopus and the other location, Ein Kerem…
home of the Chagall Windows.
The best photos I did not take…privacy reigns over sensationalism. The two great grandmothers sitting so close that the flimsy hospital curtain would not fit between their chairs, and both with their husbands stretched out on beds next to them waiting for surgery, both with their hair covered, one Arab and one Jewish…
Put everyone in hospital gowns, and no one could correctly identify the doctors, the nurses, the Jews, the non Jews, the religious, and the non religious. Patients of many nationalities and religions fly to Israel to have procedures done in Jerusalem. It is reported that 30% of the doctors speak Arabic. Israeli doctors have marvelous, well deserved reputations.
With 5 patients crowded into a room meant for 4, and only one two prong electric outlet for a side of the room, everyone shares. Secretary Clinton could witness real negotiations. Some patients were sleeping in the hallway, the hospital was so crowded. A new building is under construction, let’s hope that Hadassah gets the funds to get this much needed facility up and running soon.
(Full disclosure my mother was a member of Hadassah.)
The weather, as usual, was the focus of most conversations.
Heat wave last week,
then enough rain to make the streets slippery and dangerous.
A few real rain storms and
everyone is hoping for a wet winter…
just not when they have to be outside.
Cold, sunny, rain…
even the sun could not figure…in or out.
Rains came and winter is here.
Presidents
The President’s Conference for Tomorrow
was held October 20-22. 
There were circling helicopters,
flashing blue lights and sirens at times,
but most of the city was not involved,
unless you worked for a top tier hotel or
at the Jerusalem Convention Center,
or had the job to hang the signs.
Last year, when President George Bush was in Jerusalem, street closings were the norm,
there was no way not to notice.
Sunday morning radio reported riots near the Kotel, the Western Wall.
There were reported injuries and arrests, but……..
see for yourself the real Jerusalem streets leading up to and around the Old City early Sunday afternoon.
Thousands of tourists had no idea that there was any reason to be concerned.
People strolled the alleyways.
Passengers on this bus could have been a bit distressed.
It went the wrong way,
had to be backed up and turned around ….
causing all the cars behind it to back up to the street.
More presidents
with the Board of Governors 
of the Jewish Agency also meeting.
and more signs…
At The Hebrew University, the Truman Institute hosted sessions,
“15 Years Since the Peace Treaty Between Israel and Jordan”.
Not open to disagreement,
it has been 15 years,
General Mansour Abu Rashid did offer a glass of water to fellow speaker Israeli Supreme Court Justice Elyakim Rubenstein
and Harry S. Truman was a President.
Summer is Over?
Most of the American visitors have returned to the cold, wet Northeast, 
the winter legislative session in the Knesset began last week,
university students finally have returned to class,
and we have a heat wave!
With no beach nearby, what do people in Jerusalem do to cool off if they cannot get out of town?
1. Since many of these old buildings have no air conditioning, people open their windows, put on a fan and try not to move.
2. If they are lucky enough to have a porch,
no matter how small,
Jerusalemites sit on porches,
talking, eating, maybe reading.
3. Or they go outside, try to find some shade and hope for a breeze.
One of the most popular of Jerusalem’s few open green spaces is Gan Sacher…
pronounced “soccer”, sometimes people even do play the sport,
but as with many places in Jerusalem, it is named for the
family who donated the money to develop it.
Gan Sacher is often crowded,
but not always.
Jerusalem’s parks are free and open to the public.
Family outings and “mangals”, BBQ in the United States,
”barbie” in Australia,
can be elaborate
or extremely simple
Soon all the smoke will fade to a memory, the weather will turn…and we will begin to complain how cold it is!
If there is snow this winter…. most of the country will try to get to Gan Sacher before it melts.
Holiday Crowds
The autumn holiday season is coming to an end. 
This past week “crowd” was the key word.
Temporary dwellings called “sukkot” crowded in every tiny space,
on a little balcony or a small piece of land.
Crowds of people seemed to be everywhere as thousands of visitors gathered in Jerusalem. International groups gathered by the tens of thousands to march in the Jerusalem Parade..
Also this week, all day long thousands of people of all religions arrived to go to the Kotel, the Western Wall.
They lined up at the President’s House
a few people even got to shake the his hand.
Every night large crowds attended musical events. At this annual event, the mayor was speaking, but without a ticket I could not get close enough to get a good photo of him…so these are some of the other poor ticketless folks, having a great time. No seats, they danced or talked all night.
The multitudes came despite and in spite of any threat of terror. There was security out in force, but the feeling of danger was not in the air, just celebration.
A few scenes from the real Jerusalem streets!
Hello world!
Jerusalem has many faces, it abounds with diversity.
With this photo blog, we want to share with you the real Jerusalem, snapshots of daily life. A beautiful little religious boy with long blond side-curls does drink from a water fountain while two Muslim taxi drivers eat their lunch and begin bowing for their afternoon prayers a few meters away in a public park. Every hospital waiting room is full of anxious relatives and friends, Jews and Arabs sitting, pacing, and waiting impatiently. And the patients, lying next to each other in crowded hospital rooms, again Jew and Arab treated together. Scenes like as these somehow never get into the Western press. Perhaps it is not the bad news that sells?
Maybe you’ve been to Israel many times, or you’ve never have come but want to visit… now you can experience life in Jerusalem…the Real Jerusalem Streets!
Have a favorite photo you want to share? Send it to therealjerusalemstreets@gmail.com
