Jerusalem today

As promised – Jerusalem of today.

Yesterday was ‘Jerusalem day’, an event celebrated each year not only in Israel but also by millions of people all over the world. The city, which has been for over 3,000 years the capital of the Jewish people, also celebrated yesterday its 40 years reunification into one city again.

During Israel’s war of Independence in 1948, the old city of Jerusalem fell into the hands of the Jordanians, and was annexed, together with what is termed ‘The west bank’, into the Heshemite kingdom.

40 years ago, in the 6 days war, Israel recaptured the old city, and reunified both part of Israel’s capital into one again.

Today, Jerusalem is a modern city. It houses the Kneset - Israel’s Parliament, the Hebrew University, Yad vaShem – the Shoah museum, and many others.

It is a city that sprawls over its seven hills, with all its buildings covered with sand stones.

When you take the bus from the central bus station to the train station, you see the city from its best aspect: You see buildings that glitter in the sun, built on beautiful shaped rounded hills that sit away from one another in the most design perfect distances which please the eyes no end.

Having said this, I am reminded of another good spot – the lookout from where the British mandate’s high commissioner used to live. It was not very far away from where my boarding school was when I was 13 years old. Today, it is a beautiful public park, overlooking the whole of the old city. By the way, you may be interested in the following statistics: Jerusalem appears in the Jewish Bible 669 times and Zion (which usually means Jerusalem, sometimes the Land of Israel) 154 times, all in all - 823 The Christian Bible mentions Jerusalem 154 times and Zion 7 times. in the Koran - not at all.

Hope you enjoyed the above

Renate
Artist, poet & the Author of
 From the Promised Land to the Lucky Country 
http://www.promisedland-renate.com/