Women Wage Peace

.

(Photos can be enlarged with two separate clicks.)

Meet two delightful new friends, Faheema and Maya.
Our banner says "Women Wage Peace.  We vote for [or: choose] a negotiated diplomatic peace agreement."

We met yesterday at the women's peace march in Jerusalem organized by the new non-political  NGO Women Wage Peace / Nashim Osot Shalom.
Thousands of women, both Jews and Arabs, came from all over Israel to make their voice heard.
We gathered at the memorial pillar in the square next to Israel's Supreme Court building. 

The warm-up on a cold Jerusalem day: circle dancing, music!

We set out on the march, pausing for photos at the Japanese bonsho peace bell.

 Down the hill and through the big Sacher Park.

Women Wage Peace SOUTH.
Two of the organization's guiding lights from Meitar and our neighbor from the Bedouin town Hura.

Facing the Knesset building, singing in the rain, and hoping our speeches, cheers, and applause would be heard and taken to heart by the country's lawmakers, policy makers, and voters.
Start talking peace so we can stop fighting wars, that is the message of many mothers, grandmothers, and wives of soldiers. 

After hours of walking, circling the Knesset, and standing to hear speeches, we returned to the Supreme Court, where our buses waited to take us home, whether south to the Negev or north to the Golan.

The message one sees when driving out of Jerusalem was especially poignant and hopeful yesterday.
Written in stone, the Hebrew says "Tsetchem la-shalom," literally, May your going out be toward peace.
.
A news video about our demonstration: http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/politics/63184-150304-israeli-women-protest-for-peace-ahead-of-election

Newspaper reports:
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Thousands-of-mothers-gather-at-Knesset-to-demand-Israeli-Palestinian-peace-accord-392948   The best expert quote here is " “Israel as a state is going through a kind of collective PTSD post traumatic stress disorder … and it’s time to help our people heal.”

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/1.645360

And one in French: http://www.afp.com/fr/info/israel-un-mouvement-de-femmes-veut-reveiller-le-camp-de-la-paix

More photos of the march and more info at Women Wage Peace on Facebook.
Shalom!
.

Invoking peace -- live now

.
Starting now, live coverage of the Invocation for Peace.
President Peres just arrived at the Vatican gardens. 

Watch it on
https://www.facebook.com/ShimonPeresInt?sk=app_205521576149308&ref=woobox   
original sound

or
http://www.vatican.va/video/index.html   with commentary (for what it's worth. Not the most accurate.)

Texts are here:  http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2014/06/07/0415/00948.html#Testi%20in%20lingua%20inglese

Let's hope for the very best!
.

Prop up the peace pole

.

 
I was glad to find a peace pole at the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens.

But unfortunately, it was uprooted, toppled over, lying by the side of the path.
A sign, maybe, that the peace pole is waiting to be replanted.
.
President Peres was in Jordan today for the World Economic Forum, which was dedicated to breaking the stalemate in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
U.S. Secretary of State Kerry proposed a $4 billion economic plan to boost the Palestinian economy.

Our President Peres said Israelis and Palestinians “must depart from the skepticism that claims that war is inevitable.  War is not inevitable. Peace is inevitable.”
.
More about world peace poles, begun in 1955:

http://www.worldpeace.org/
http://www.peacepoleproject.org/
http://www.peacepoles.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_pole
.

Shabbat tranquility

.
One day a week we hyper Israeli Jews detach and enter into the tranquility of a sanctuary in time.

All because of what Genesis says: "And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy."
In the creation, in the beginning, time was the first thing that God made holy.

The Sabbath has its own architecture of holiness and Jews feel secure inside.

It is said that for the 25 hours of the Sabbath we receive a "neshama yetera," an added soul.

In a few hours the sun will set here in Jerusalem, just after we have lit the candles, and life will slow down.
Wishing you all Shabbat shalom, Sabbath peace.
.
City Daily Photo group's theme day today is tranquility.
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.
.

WALK ABOUT LOVE

.

While buying fresh fruits and vegetables at Jerusalem's big market, I heard drums out on Jaffa Street.
Pulling the camera out of my pocket, I rushed over to see.
What is this?! Dozens of young people dressed like hippies "parading" down the middle of Jaffa Street?
Some were juggling, some dancing, a few were barefoot.
All of them, both Israelis and internationals, looked like happy flower children.
.

Enlarge this and you will spot their flag.
It says WALK ABOUT LOVE.
.

Back home, I found their website and Facebook page.
.
Apparently people are walking together from Eilat to Dan, from the bottom to the top of Israel, mostly on the Israel Trail, some 1,000 kilometers, in 3 months.
All are welcome and you can drop in or drop out whenever you want.
.
The idea was inspired by the Aboriginal custom of going walkabout.
.
There is a lot more at the website, in several languages and with great photos, but I will quote just part:

On this walk we will use constructive, non-violent, and safe actions to spread the seeds of co-existence, peace, brotherly love, joy, and ecology.

This is not a protest journey against any war in particular: it is a particular action against the idea of war, aimed at changing the sociological and environmental situation in which war is fostered.

It is a practical action to deepen and spread the awareness of love in ourselves and in our brothers and sisters that we will meet along the way.
. . .

The journey is composed from many days of walking the Israeli national trail, food circles, live spontaneous music in the evening, shared accommodation camp, initiatives of the people, colorful parades through towns, celebrations and anything else that we will create.

The change starts within you!

.
Their weekend camp is going to be nearby, in the Jerusalem Forest.
Surely I will hear drumming in the night.
.
It transports me to my university days in the USA in the mid 1960s, the dawning of the hippie revolution. I too was once an idealist dreaming of peace in my life and in the world.
I wish these kids the best on their journey!
.

Through the looking glass

.

A peace pole in Arabic and Hebrew in the outdoor cafe garden courtyard of the Pilgrim Guesthouse.
With reflections for James' Weekend Reflections.

.

Offering hospitality since 1923, the guesthouse is attached to St. George's Cathedral, which was dedicated in 1899.
The cathedral, on Nablus Road in east Jerusalem, is the seat of the Bishop of the Anglican (Episcopal) Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East.
.

And from the inside you can look out the window through a mirror (or something like that).
Enlarge it to see the birds carved in the old frame of the mirror.
.
Shabbat shalom.
.

Speak softly

.
I took a tour myself yesterday and for That's My World I'll pass it on to you.
.
The subject of the 3-hour tour was "The People of Jerusalem's Old City."
It was sponsored by the Interfaith Encounter Association.
Our guide, shown in the photo above, was educator Jared Goldfarb.
.
A large group showed up for the English-speaking tour.
From Jaffa Gate we walked to the Armenian Quarter, then to the Jewish Quarter (pictured above).
The wooden hut you see is a sukkah for the coming holiday of Sukkot.

After hearing Jared's explanation of the situation of Muslims in the Muslim Quarter, we entered the Christian Quarter.
We ended up on the roof of the Holy Sepulchre for the final presentation, about the Christian minority.
Jared (here with hand in the air) lowered his teaching voice out of respect for the Ethiopian monks who live in tiny cells on the roof.
.
See the dark figure above looking down on us?
.
The monk seemed amused and curious.
I suspect he sees many many tour groups there every day but not many that sit on the ground and speak softly.
.
Happy International Day of Peace!
.

The new year dove

.
The dove of peace climbs upward into the sky.

The banner on this building at Ben-Gurion Airport proclaims that --
El Al announces "This is going to be a good year."
.
Shana tova, may it be so!

We are now near the conclusion of the Days of Awe, those awesome ten days between Rosh Hashana (New Year's day) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) when fateful decisions are made above and below.
.
.
The blue skies, both real and painted, are offered for SkyWatch Friday.
.

Jerusalem Day

.

May the white dove of peace come to nest and rest in Jerusalem.

.

Happy 43rd Jerusalem Day today.

.

Chicken to bring peace

.

.
Homer Simpson and family have just toured the Holy Land, having been invited by their Christian neighor Ned Flanders, who is always trying to redeem Homer.
The episode of their visit in Jerusalem will be televised tomorrow, Palm Sunday, all across America on Fox.
(We in Israel will have to wait for it to come here. )
.
"The Greatest Story Ever D'ohed" --great title, eh?
.
An average of 100 tourists per year fall under the sway of Jerusalem Syndrome. Some 40% even need hospitalization.
And sure enough, Homer starts believing he is the messiah.
.
If you see it on TV please tell me the funny things I missed, OK?
At least I get to read the article http://www.jta.org/news/article/2010/03/21/1011264/holy-homer-sacha-baron-cohen-guides-simpsons-through-jerusalem.
.
Executive producer Al Jean says that in the end, “Homer tries to unite the faiths through a message of peace and chicken because everybody eats chicken, no matter what religion they’re in.”
.
To which I add the advice of Frank Lloyd Wright:
"Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral.”
.

Wishing peace

.
In the new year 2010 -- our hope and wish for the world:
PAX . . . peace . . . shalom .

For James' "Weekend Reflections" --
stained glass windows reflected in the door of a confession booth.

And our hope and wish for Jerusalem and the Holy Land.
.

International Day of Peace

.
International Day of Peace is marked every year on September 21.
I saw it on several American blogs today, otherwise I would not have known.
More about it at IDP Vigil and at Wiki.

This dove of peace

sits atop a eucalyptus tree that was a hundred years old when a storm blew it over.

The Peace Tree was designed and sculpted by 25 Jewish and Arab teenagers.

It stands tall at the center of the 37-acre campus of Givat Haviva.

Located in a kibbutz by the same name, Givat Haviva, founded in 1949, is Israel's oldest and largest organization working for peace, pluralism, tolerance, democracy, and justice. Givat Haviva's Jewish-Arab Center for Peace in Israel won the 2001 UNESCO Prize for Peace Education for its "exceptional efforts in the areas of peace education, promotion of peace and non-violence" and work done for the resolution of conflicts through dialogue.

Artist Amir Baumfeld explains the Peace Tree's symbols:

The dove of peace -- always finds its home
Dolphin -- happiness, playfulness, intelligence
The sun shining on the dove's chicks
Hands that emerge from the roots and reach towards the golden-heart flower [perach lev hazahav] located in the center of the sun.

.

Let us all give a hand to support peace!

.

This is my contribution to That's My World Tuesday, in hopes that my world in and around Israel will one day be a peaceful world.

.

Gilad Awareness Day

Exactly three years ago our soldier Gilad Schalit was kidnapped when Hamas made a cross-border raid from Gaza into southern Israel. He was 19 then.

Support for his family and public pressure for his release take many forms, like this motorcyclist's banner.
For the story on the protest tent in Jerusalem please see my earlier post.

At the tender age of eleven, Gilad wrote a story in Hebrew about a shark and a fish who strike up an unlikely friendship and learn to live together despite their differences. When the Shark and the Fish First Met has been published as a book.
Do you have three minutes? Then you can hear the whole book, with its message of peace, being read by children around the world, in many languages. On YouTube.
And please hope and/or pray that Gilad will soon be returned, alive, to his family, before another year passes . . . .
.

Romancing the stones

Several hundred Jerusalem-lovers congregated along the outside of the Old City wall yesterday, joined hands, and gave the city a big hug.
I missed the event, but I was at the first annual Jerusalem Hug in 2007 so here you have those photos.

(All photos can be enlarged with a click)

The warm-up started at a park across from the Jaffa Gate. Dancing in the drum circle.
Hmm, yesterday was the summer solstice too, wasn't it.
It was hippie heaven.
You heard many languages, but not much Hebrew or Arabic.
One lone didgeridoo attracted the camera people.

This nice donkey and his owner ply the tourist route every day. Here, at the New Gate, a happy blond lady sat on the donkey and sang the Christian hymn "Jerusalem, Jerusalem."

As the fife and drums played, folks joined hands and made their way down to the Damascus Gate.

A few of the peacenik organizers gave some words of blessing.

Here's the top of the beautiful Damascus Gate (missing in the previous shot).

Then it was over. But many lingered for just a bit more of the drum beat and to savor a few more minutes of a feeling of solidarity, brotherhood, and peace. Until next May. . .
.

To see an article with pictures of this year's Jerusalem Hug, please see Ynet.

.

Other bloggers are posting views of their world today at That's My World Tuesday. You are welcome to participate or to visit.

Conflict transformation

.
For full impact click on the photo and read the writing on the wall.

It's a good thing that the inscription on this building is safely hidden behind a tall stone wall, a sliding metal gate, and a security guard. An ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood is just a block away.

What the historical building plaque posted outside the wall says is rather tame and lackluster in comparison, pointedly.

The English Mission Hospital was completed in 1897 and the doctors served all the different peoples of Jerusalem. The rabbis were dead-set against any Jew entering the doors of a Christian hospital.

But since the early 1960s the Anglican International School Jerusalem is housed here.

The school cat who came right over for a cuddle shows just how friendly the atmosphere is.

The place is old and beautiful. For their 100th anniversary the stones were cleaned with sandblasting.

The school has grades K-12, all taught in English. The student body is made up of 20-25% Palestinians, a handful of Jews, and the rest from the consular corps.

Speaking of foreign diplomatic families . . . this is especially for blog-buddy Catherine Mark-Beasant who writes about her years at the Anglican School decades ago in this interesting and touching post.
.

The sundial quotes the Song of Songs in the Bible: "Until the day break and the shadows flee away."

And some shadows did flee away during the ten weeks I participated in a weekly Slim Peace group in this classroom behind the arch. All women. A few Arabs, a few Jews, a nun, a nutritionist, a facilitator, and a film-maker. Ostensibly coming together to discuss better nutrition and healthier living, but much more than that.

.

What's your world like? You too can share it every Monday night with the bloggers at That's My World , or just come for a visit. Shalom!

.

A young city by the sea

Tel Aviv is 100 years old [the Jerusalemite snickers] .
I just came home from a weekend in Tel Aviv. The weather was the wildest this country has had all winter. Notice the palms all bending eastward in the 50mph wind.
In the photo above we are looking down Hayarkon Street, which runs along the seashore. Most of the big hotels and embassies are located there.

Nearer to the water, the Tayelet promenade parallels the sea for several kilometers, all the way to Jaffa (which you can see at the top of this photo, jutting into the sea). Because of the cold wind and rain, almost no one was strolling; quite rare for this popular place.

The old salt-water Gordon swimming pool is being rebuilt. Behind it is the marina.

When peace activist Abie Nathan died last year I posted a tribute to him. I was SO happy to find that the Tel Aviv Municipality had erected this plaque about him. Please click on the photo and read it. You press the button in the rocks and it broadcasts the words from the pirate peace ship radio station that we listened to 1973-1993: "This is the Voice of Peace broadcasting from somewhere in the Mediterranean." So cool!!

And look at this playground only for those over age 14. All the exercise equipment you would find in an expensive gym!

The best part of the city of Tel Aviv is the sea.

.

With thanks to friend and relative Niva, who adores Tel Aviv, for her home hospitality and guided walking tours last weekend.

Blogger-guided tours around the world will be posted tonight at That's My World Tuesday.