From Barack to Barkat: A Look Back at the November Elections

November 14, 2008 - 1:13 PM by · 3 Comments
Filed under: Israeliness, Politics 

Barkat at Market

The just concluded Jerusalem election, while certainly not as important on a world stage as last week’s U.S. presidential contest, was in many ways spookily similar to its overseas counterpart. For those who supported Nir Barkat, who beat his main competitor Meir Porush by a commanding 9 points (52 to 43 percent), the sheer jubilance that erupted across the city (though certainly not in all parts of it) reminded me of what I’d heard from so many friends and family in the U.S. after Barack Obama bested John McCain.

That tolerance had triumphed over extremism. That inclusiveness would now prevail, not sectarianism. And most importantly, that hope, pride and patriotism had been restored – in the case of Jerusalem, at a time when many residents were saying, either outright or under their collective breaths, what one Beit Hakerem resident was quoted by Haaretz as lamenting: that this election would “determine whether I’m staying” in the city.

The resemblance between the two races extended beyond just the similarity in the winning candidates names. One candidate preached change, the other more of the same. One ran a relatively clean campaign, while the other (or his supporters, it’s not clear) spent much of his political capital on negative attack ads.

To wit: I took a walk several days before the election. There were posters claiming Barkat was really a closet leftist; that with only five years in politics he “lacked the experience” to manage such a complex city as Jerusalem. Sound familiar?

Barkat, to be sure, didn’t run a flawless campaign the way Obama did. He flip-flopped on political positions and took pot shots at low hanging fruit (the light rail fiasco, the over priced “Bridge of Strings”). Posters appeared on city streets in the waning days of the contest almost messianically proclaiming him “HaTikva,” a play on words: the literal translation is “The Hope” but it’s also the name of the Israeli national anthem.

But Porush had his own Sarah Palin debacle when he was caught on tape boasting that, following his presumed election, “there would be no more secular mayors anywhere in Israel within 10 years.” Once publicized, that statement more than any others did the job of scaring away any remaining voters still on the fence.

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Downtown Jerusalem gridlock

August 17, 2008 - 11:36 AM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: General, Life, Travel 

Jaffa Road last weekGetting to and from work hasn’t been easy lately. Located just off of Zion Square in downtown Jerusalem, it’s been feeling lately like my office is situated in the nerve center of one of the country’s biggest crowd management fiascos.

The entire city center stretch of Jaffa Rd. is currently being dug up in the name of major public transportation improvements, and traffic patterns in the entire area have been disrupted – both for pedestrians and motor vehicles. Downtown’s streets have been rough going since pipeline upgrades began about five years ago (also in the name of the light rail), but the extreme measures being taken now bring a new level to the chaos.

Pedestrian traffic now moves behind cage-like barriers, with few opportunities to cross the street, or even to pass the person walking painfully slowly in front of you. And for the kilometer or so between the Davidka and the corner of Shlomtzion, buses and taxis are now relegated to one meager lane of motion, meaning that certain blocks of Jaffa Rd. move only westward while others move only eastward. Poorly marked bus stops make for a guessing game as to where one can catch which bus, headed in whichever direction, as rerouted lines wait one-by-one to snake up Wallenberg and/or Strauss so they can travel on Neviim St. in order to circumvent the closures.

Sound confusing? Even the bus drivers don’t get it, seemingly permanent shrugs answering off an endless flow of dismayed bus stop searchers, who have been spotted walking the ten minutes from downtown to Machane Yehuda in order to get there faster than the bus they missed back in Zion Square and ride two stops to the Central Bus Station.

Local business owners are up in arms over the situation, recent debates over coordination and compensation becoming heated and emotional at city hall. Some have even opened that the situation may even represent a tipping point in the capitol’s upcoming mayoral race, with Nir Barkat positioning himself as a vocal champion of the merchants, while the incumbent, Uri Lupolianski, refers to them as de facto rabble-rousing opportunists. And the latest polls show that Haredi internal politics might be paving the way for a Barkat victory.

However, all of the parties involved seem to be forgetting a few key points. One, as uncoordinated as the project has been, it’s been talked about as imminently happening for years, and we all could have better prepared ourselves. Two, downtown is far from dead: Walk on any street that’s only indirectly affected by the digging (King George, Ben Yehuda, Bezalel, Hillel), and you’ll see a vibrant scene with healthy circulation. And three, you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs: In seven or so years from now, when the central Jerusalem facelift is complete and the Bridge of Strings actually carries vehicles on a regular basis, the hope is that we’ll all agree that what we dealt with back in 2008 was well worth it.

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Jerusalem bridge may divide Jerusalem, but it looks really cool

June 27, 2008 - 1:50 PM by · 3 Comments
Filed under: Art, design, Travel 

The new Bridge of Strings was dedicated this week in Jerusalem. Designed by famed Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, the construction of the bridge has not been without controversy. Outrageous traffic jams, increasing costs and even cracks (yes, cracks) in the bridge and other problems have made for a PR nightmare for the municipality. On Wednesday the bridge was officially dedicated and a ceremony was held at the outrageous cost of over 2 million shekel. Calatrava Bridge of Strings

On one hand, its incredible that Jerusalem can host such an architectural marvel which is incredibly cool looking. On the other hand the bridge cost over 240 million shekel and won’t even function as it was intended (for the light rail) for at least another two years. 240 million shekel is a hell of a lot of money to spend on something so extravagant in the poorest city in the country.

The ceremony itself was not without controversy either. A girls dance troupe were forced to cover up after their costumes were deemed immodest.

…the girls, who ranged in age from 13 to 16, were informed by production organizers several hours before the event that at the municipality’s instruction they had to don black knitted hats and wear long clothing for the performance, said Shlomi Hoffman, the director of the Jerusalem dance troupe…

…The head of the dance troupe noted that the girls – who were also informed an hour before the event that they could not perform three out of four of their planned dances – had danced in the official state Independence Day ceremony just one month ago on Mount Herzl in virtually the same attire.

“This was not a religious event or an event at the Western Wall, but an event for the public at large for the inauguration of a bridge,” Hoffman said.

Secular and National Religious remain the majority of Jerusalem’s population and the forcing of the modest dress upon the young dance troupe is being touted in the media as a move by haredi forces who do not want to see Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski as the haredi candidate in the upcoming election. No one saw it coming, but the election for Jerusalem’s next mayor apparently started Wednesday night.

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