Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Life and death on King David street

From The Jerusalem Post
Thursday Jul 24, 2008
Reform Reflections: Life and death on King David street
Posted by Rabbi Michael Marmur
For much of my adult life I have studied, taught and worked on King
David Street in Jerusalem. It is certainly no ordinary work address.
World leaders stay there - in recent months we have played host to
Bush, Blair, then Bush again, Blair, Rice, Blair Carter, Sarkozy,
Blair (I'm beginning to think that man has nothing better to do),
Brown, Mc Cain, Obama - and that doesn't do justice to the tens of
less famous officials - Fishing Ministers from Ruritania and Tax
Inspectors from Uzbekhistan.
Then there are the Life Cycle Events. Families compete with each other
to hold the most opulent and often gaudy events: barmy Bar Mitzvahs,
wild weddings, and far from circumspect circumcisions. And let's not
forget the welcome crush of tourists, staying in comfort and often
returning home with some expensive artifacts purchased at one of our
street's many upscale emporia. More hotels are on the way, along with
a plethora of swanky apartment buildings aimed at visionaries and
speculators.
It is perhaps a surprise that one of the street's most famous and
significant landmarks is the YMCA, an oasis of  dialogue and culture
and encounter and health. If you've never been, you owe it to yourself
to drink in the architectural attractions, climb to the top of the
tower, and stop off for a Pilates class at the same time. Jews and
Arabs (both Muslim and Christian) feel at home at the YMCA.
Over the last years King David Street has also played host to the
Annual Gay Pride parade. Visitors to similar events might mistake the
throng of men dressed in police uniform walking by the YMCA as some
kind of hommage to the Village People, but in our city's parade they
are actually policemen, on hand in order to protect the crowd from the
taunts of those who combine theological certainty with personal
insecurity.
A variety of Jewish institutions grace the street: on avenues nearby
some of the most important foundations and philanthropic agencies are
to be found. AIPAC is across the street. The Gesher Institute is
opposite my own institution, the Hebrew Union College, and our campus
plays host to Merkaz Shimshon and Bet Shmuel - the world headquarters
of the Reform Movement. In recent years an Ultra-Orthodox Yeshiva has
opened up in close proximity. With the international center of
Conservative Judaism a couple of blocks away, we are arguably situated
in the most denominationally diverse address in the Jewish world. It
is truly the High Street of the Jewish People.
The street is no stranger to acts of violence. The most spectacular
and deadly event took place back in 1946, with the notorious attack on
the street's most famous eponymous hotel. 45 years later, a planned
suicide bombing succeeded in killing the man with the explosive
jacket, but no innocent victims. And now, earlier this week, King
David Street saw the second example in as many weeks of Tractor
Terror. A man driving a construction vehicle started ramming and
squashing vehicles, although he was killed before he managed to kill
anyone else.
Five of my students were in close proximity to the attack this week.
Four of the College's Israeli students were enjoying a break at a
local café, and were afforded a grandstand view of the grim and swift
proceedings. More directly still, one woman recently arrived from the
US on our Year in Israel Program found herself directly behind the
tractor. As soon as the gunshots began to ring out she took cover
behind a tree. Once the emergency was over, she dusted herself off and
went to her apartment. When I saw her soon after she was shaken but
not stirred, and we spent some time talking about her road to the
Rabbinate. For her and hundreds of others, the first Road to the
Rabbinate is King David Street.
When I passed the scene of the attack a couple of hours later, an
assortment of characters had shown up - a Government Minister in
search of a photo opportunity, and some Kahanist crazies in search of
a hatred opportunity. Chabad were also there for some reason, with a
large banner promising Messianic days. Somehow the bizarre nature of
the scene seemed natural in a road in which the incongruous is
inevitable.
Those who try to bring death to this place of life will not succeed,
even if (Heaven forbid) a future attack yields casualties. Somehow the
untidy yet intense drama being played out in the street - Jews and
Arabs, locals and tourists, Liberals and Traditionalists, wealthy and
modest - must not be curtailed. It may have its tractors and its
detractors, but the spirit of King David Street cannot be bulldozed.

 Blair (I'm beginning to think that man has nothing better to do),
a proposito, il leader della parte più sionista del parlamento
italiano, che è oggi anche PdC, ancora deve venire a Gerusalemme, dico
bene?