Mahaneh Yehuda nightlife
Nightlife in the shuk is gradually returning to normal. Earlier this week, some bars in the market reopened after a two-week closure due to the war. The return to normal will be gradual, the Merchants Association says, with the usually loud music turned way down and played only to create an ambience. Bar owners don’t anticipate a large number of clients, since so many young Jerusalemites have been called up, and students from other parts of the country have not yet returned to the capital because the start of the academic year has been postponed.
Shame on us
Two Jews were arrested by the Israel Police following an attack Friday night on an Arab municipal sanitation worker in the Mahaneh Yehuda environs. The police received an emergency call at 2:30 a.m. from a co-worker who reported that, while cleaning the sidewalk, his colleague was violently attacked by two young men who subsequently fled the scene. The victim did not require medical treatment. With the help of observers from the Jerusalem district control center, Lev Habira station officers were able to quickly locate the suspects, who were arrested immediately. One suspect is a resident of Mevo Modi’in; the other is from Pisgat Ze’ev.
Jerusalem, city of shelter
The Jerusalem Emergency Department has established a support system for 25,000 evacuees from other parts of the country, who are being housed at local hotels. Department members also packaged and distributed 14,000 boxes that included civilian equipment, military equipment, and food for the IDF. A free secondhand clothes and toys deposit has been set up and is being stocked continuously with donations from Jerusalem residents. The evacuees can select whatever they need from among thousands of items.
Other steps include a database of volunteer babysitters who are assisting the hundreds of families of city reservists; the Adopt a Family operation in which hundreds of Jerusalem families adopt evacuee families; blood donation campaigns; a pool of professional volunteers who have been giving hundreds of residents mental and emotional support , and a team whose representatives attend every city funeral. Thousands of Israeli flags have also been distributed throughout the capital to raise morale and encourage civil resilience.
This week, refugees from the South who are already in the city were joined by some 7,000 residents of communities evacuated in the North.
The municipality is prepared, if necessary, for a long-term refugee scenario and can cater to up to 40,000 people. Although the city has also come under fire, Jerusalem is considered a relatively quiet place.
“If we reach a situation where it is necessary to absorb a population en masse, we will turn to high schools,” municipal logistics manager Adi Bilbisky said, adding that “We are not there, God forbid.”
“By the end of the week, we will have about 15,000 evacuees in Jerusalem,” says Mayor Moshe Lion. “People come to us from moshavim and kibbutzim in the South, from Sderot...” Asked what the municipality provides the evacuees, Lion said that there is a team of city welfare workers in place, whose primary job is to determine who requires psychological, mental, welfare, or medical assistance. He adds that despite the circumstances, the atmosphere is uplifting. The city also provides evacuees with tours, work, activities, and education.
Jerusalem has greatly strengthened security in the city, in cooperation with officers from the Jerusalem District Police, who work around the clock. Most of the routine work of inspection has been halted or transferred to security forces, and vehicles circulate in the neighborhoods 24/7, especially in those along the city’s seam, increasing the sense of security.
All security matters have been transferred to the Jerusalem Police Department, which can be contacted at 050-444-8108. This line has been set up to help handle calls to the 106 municipal hotline.
Schooling in times of turmoil
Along with the gradual return to schooling in the city, the municipality, in cooperation with the Education Ministry, was required to find a solution for the hundreds of children who were evacuated to 42 Jerusalem hotels. In order to establish the schools, the various needs of the students were first mapped out by representatives from the Education Administration (Manhi) and Community Administration.
At present, schooling takes place only a few hours a day. Regarding Jerusalemite students, Manhi is attempting to return to a normal school routine, but many parents are afraid to send their children, due to the lack of adequate security or protection.
Meanwhile, 60 soldiers have been added to the forces in Jerusalem, to enable security guards to be shifted to kindergartens and schools, with an emphasis on the neighborhoods along the seam in the south of the city. Some schools have decided on one school day per class, some attend school for two days, and some schools and kindergartens have found solutions for a full school week with shorter study hours.
Doctor needed here
Local health fund doctors are voluntarily attending to patients at several hotels, since evacuees cannot currently access medical services in their places of residence. According to one volunteer doctor, physicians are often required to act immediately; in one instance, an elderly couple did not have money to purchase medicines, so the doctors collected money to pay for the pharmaceuticals.
In addition to doctors and nurses, there are therapists and psychologists available to help. Some of the evacuees saw family members murdered in front of them, and/or their homes were burned down; some locked themselves in the safe room while terrorists set fire to their house or tried to break down their door. Some have learned that their missing relatives were abducted.
Bring back Gabriela
People with autism from the Shekel Day Center are calling for the release of their kidnapped director, Gabriela Leimberg. At Eyal’s Farm at Kibbutz Ramat Rachel, where they live, they produced a film requesting the immediate release of the director of the treatment center who was kidnapped together with her daughter Mia.
“Gabriela, where are you?” asks one of the graduates, while another says: “Dad, I really miss Gabriela. I want her to come back already.” At the center, the hosts are shocked, hurt, and don’t know how to digest the news. The video is being widely circulated, also among the foreign press.
Relax my driver
A petition signed by hundreds of Jerusalemites demanding a drastic change in the conduct of Superbus drivers has been sent to the company’s management. Passengers complain that drivers don’t stop at the stations, have an unpleasant attitude, and brake aggressively, endangering elderly passengers.
According to the petition, they demand “Kind, hospitable drivers, who drive safely and respect every passenger.” Despite Superbus’s response that the company handles all inquiries thoroughly and professionally, the negative attitude of bus drivers has continued.
The petition’s organizers hope to collect thousands of additional signatures from members of the public who suffer daily from this situation. While there are new lines with very convenient routes, the experience of traveling on the buses is unacceptable. ❖