Tennis – 45, Temple Mount – love

February 11, 2007 - 8:26 AM by David Brinn

The world’s attention may have been on the Temple Mount on Friday as Jerusalem police had skirmishes with Palestinians who were ridiculously protesting Israeli construction of a ramp to the mount for visitors to replace a the current dangerous, collapsing structure.

But not only wasn’t the average Jerusalemite not affected by the nonsense, save for some backed up traffic around the Old City, even foreign correspondents who are supposed to be covering the story were going about their business enjoying the charms Jerusalem has to offer.

Temple Mount

Two miles away from the clashes and rock throwing on Friday morning – with the police blimp hovering in clear view – a friend and I were engaged in a lively doubles tennis match with the bureau chiefs of two of the top media outlets in the US and England respectively.

tennis ball

Even the occasional ambulance passing us at the Hebrew University Tennis Center on Mount Scopus did nothing to deter our concentration. Of course, our two journalistic colleagues later made their way to the Old City and filed their stories with plenty of time to spare.

But at least on that beautiful spring-like morning in Jerusalem, the allure of a friendly tennis match shut out the shenanigans near the Temple Mount that masqueraded as legitimate protest.

Share with others