Latest news with #Jerusalemites
Saba Yemen
6 days ago
- Politics
- Saba Yemen
Enemy demolishes car wash, garage in Bethlehem
Bethlehem/Occupied Quds - Saba: Israeli enemy forces demolished a car wash and a garage in the village of Al-Jab'a, south of Bethlehem, while Israeli settlers attacked an agricultural facility southeast of occupied Quds. The head of the Al-Jab'a Village Council, Diab Masha'la, said that an Israeli army force, accompanied by a bulldozer, stormed the village and took up positions at the western entrance to the village. They demolished a car wash and a garage for car repair (painting and mechanics) belonging to him, under the pretext that they were unlicensed. He noted that the enemy notified him of the demolition about two months ago. Masha'la added that there are fears that the enemy forces will demolish a kindergarten and a park belonging to the village council under false pretenses. In a related development, Israeli settlers attacked an agricultural facility in the town of Al-Sawahra, southeast of occupied Quds, on Wednesday. The Quds Governorate reported that settlers stormed an agricultural facility belonging to the Salama Shakirat family and assaulted the sheep, leaving them homeless. They also smashed an agricultural tractor, broke windows, and damaged the contents of rooms. They also destroyed solar panels, surveillance cameras, and a fence surrounding the facility, as well as quantities of fodder. The Governorate stated that this attack is not the first of its kind, but rather part of a series of escalating violations against Jerusalemites in the area. Settlers had previously assaulted a farmer a few days earlier, amid the Zionist enemy's continued harassment of residents, prosecuting them for violations, and detaining some of them while on their land. The governorate held the Israeli enemy fully responsible for these crimes, citing its support for the settlers, its provision of protection, and its cover-up of their attacks. It noted that the Quds desert is being targeted by systematic settlement plans aimed at displacing its residents, but that the residents remain steadfast and cling to their lands despite ongoing displacement attempts. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print
Saba Yemen
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Saba Yemen
Jerusalemites begin evacuating residential building in Beit Hanina
Al-Quds - Saba: Jerusalemites have begun evacuating a residential building containing six apartments, preparing to self-demolish it under pressure from the Israeli municipality in occupied Al-Quds. Local sources reported to the Palestinian News Agency (WAFA) that the Halawani family in Jerusalem emptied their residential building in the town of Beit Hanina in occupied Al-Quds, in preparation for its self-demolition, under a decision and compulsion from the Israeli municipality, they noted that 25 people, most of them children, live in these apartments. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
A city in transit: Muddling through Jerusalem's light rail construction
This isn't just about inconvenience. It's about how an entire city's population – that of the capital, no less – has had to fundamentally restructure their lives overnight. I love living in Jerusalem. For six months, I've spent my days wandering through the shuk, haggling with vendors, and enjoying fresh coffee on my morning walks. I've made shopping on Ben-Yehuda a weekly ritual, watching street performers from outdoor cafés, and relishing finally living in a city with proper delivery services. But most of all, when I moved out of my small town – a place where the closest thing to public transportation was hitching a ride with your neighbor – I was so excited to live somewhere with real public transportation. An actual train station with electronic boards displaying arrival times, buses every few minutes running on schedule, and, of course, the crown jewel that makes Jerusalem feel like a real metropolitan city: the light rail. With such easy access to all my favorite spots and a train never more than a few minutes away, the light rail was such a selling point when I moved here that I didn't even blink at the absolutely insane property tax I was charged for my apartment. Because surely, this was the amenity to end all amenities. And it was. Until it wasn't. Last week, I, like many others, was shocked to learn that some of the most heavily used stops along the light rail would be shut down for 14 weeks to connect a new line. Fourteen weeks. That's nearly four months of summer heat, tourist crowds, and construction chaos. That first day was absolutely terrible. Picture this: Thousands of commuters who had built their entire daily routines around the light rail suddenly finding themselves stranded. The sidewalk was packed with confused people, all shoving to get through narrow passages that were never designed to handle pedestrian traffic at this volume. And you couldn't even cross the street because they've walled off the tracks in between intersections with metal fencing, making what used to be a quick hop across Jaffa Road a maze of detours. But don't worry, they said! In an effort to calm the masses and prevent a full-scale urban revolt, the city promised they had added more buses to compensate for the lost rail service, so now the roads can be packed with traffic, too! When a bus ride from Ben-Yehuda to the Haturim station – a journey that used to take a pleasant 12 minutes on the light rail – now takes 40 minutes (yes, really, I timed it), sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic while the air conditioning struggles against the summer heat, I'd rather just stay home. So now, many Jerusalemites have been left without their main form of transportation and with near-constant drilling as the new soundtrack to their daily lives – and our nights, as the jackhammers never actually seem to stop. 'I've been trying to sleep for days, and I can't. They drill all day long. It's just the worst,' one person told me. 'It's just goddamn loud, and it's constant, and it's everywhere. My whole life was based on the light rail. That was my main public transport, and now it's gone, and instead it's replaced with constant drilling for 24 hours a day,' another resident said. This isn't just about inconvenience. It's about how an entire city's population – that of the capital, no less – has had to fundamentally restructure their lives overnight. Elderly residents who relied on the accessible light rail stations now struggle with crowded bus stops and high steps. Parents who used to easily navigate the city with strollers now find themselves trapped in their neighborhoods, cut off by construction barriers and overwhelmed by the logistics of urban mobility without their primary transportation lifeline. Many people claim that the municipality is not taking its residents into consideration by choosing to shut down the light rail during the hottest time of year; and with peak tourist season looming just around the corner, Jerusalem is about to be overrun by sweaty, upset individuals – both locals and visitors who had planned their Jerusalem experience around efficient public transportation. The timing feels particularly cruel. Summer in Jerusalem means temperatures regularly climbing above 30°C (86°F), making any extended time outdoors genuinely uncomfortable. Add to that the dust and noise from construction, the exhaust fumes from increased bus traffic, and the stress of navigating a city in chaos, and you have a recipe for widespread misery. While people understand this infrastructure expansion is something that needs to happen for the city's long-term development, Jerusalemites are frustrated and disappointed with how everything is being handled – especially the nighttime construction noise that violates basic quality of life standards, and the traffic congestion that has turned simple errands into half-day ordeals. In addition, there's the economic aspect. Residents have paid a significant amount to live in areas with direct access to the light rail, making housing decisions and financial commitments based on the promise of convenient public transportation; now they're still paying those same inflated rents and property taxes but no longer have the option to use the service they're paying for. This is particularly upsetting considering the fact that Transportation Minister Miri Regev raised public transport prices just before the shutdown, meaning you can now pay NIS 8 to sit in traffic and contemplate your life's mistakes. 'I think they'd better give us some sort of discount on our property tax.' This sentiment echoes through the streets of Jerusalem; but with no word from the city administration about compensation or relief measures, residents are stuck grumbling as they walk along the walled-off remains of what used to be our peaceful city. The impact on daily life cannot be overstated. 'As soon as Shavuot ended, they started ripping up the concrete again outside my apartment. So I literally went to sleep today hearing them smashing up the road. I woke up today – they've been smashing up the road. I've come to work – I hear them smashing up the road. It's just unbearable. And then the fact that it's just everywhere in the city, it just adds to it.' That resident's experience captures the pervasive nature of the construction. It's not confined to a single area or limited to business hours. The work sites stretch across multiple neighborhoods, creating a city-wide construction zone where escape from the noise and disruption seems impossible. With week one of 14 down, residents are growing more irritated as time goes on with barely any respite from the noise, and the realization that this is just the beginning, starting to sink in. We're not talking about a quick fix or a minor inconvenience – this is a fundamental disruption to urban life that will define the summer of 2025 for everyone who calls Jerusalem home. You know what they say: Hard now, easy later. (It's funnier in Hebrew, trust me.) While there isn't much to be done about the noise and disruption, assuming the construction company intends to stick to its strict 14-week timeline and doesn't encounter the delays that seem to plague every major infrastructure project in Israel, by early September Jerusalem will be the first city in Israel to have a proper network of interconnected light rails. This could, theoretically, revolutionize urban mobility in Jerusalem. This does, unfortunately, involve creating intersections between the existing and new rail lines, which legitimately explains why the entire existing line needed to be shut down rather than operating on a reduced schedule. With this ambitious plan fully realized, Jerusalemites will enjoy much higher mobility and flexibility throughout the city, able to travel longer distances and reach more destinations without relying on the bus system, which, let's be honest, presents its own set of challenges that deserve their own dedicated article. At least somebody is enjoying the current situation. My kitten, Bear, gets endless entertainment from watching the hours of construction activity outside our window, even if he has to meow extra loudly to be heard over the mechanical symphony. I think he actually likes the challenge of competing with jackhammers for attention. Sign up for the Business & Innovation Newsletter >>
Saba Yemen
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Saba Yemen
Zionist enemy municipality notifies demolition of building in Wadi Qaddum
Al-Quds - Saba: The Zionist enemy municipality in occupied Al-Quds notified the demolition of a residential building in the Wadi Qaddum neighborhood, east of the city. The Al-Quds Governorate stated in a statement that the Zionist municipality crews returned a demolition notice to the residents of the "Al-Waad Building" in Wadi Qaddum within a maximum period of two weeks, the building comprises 12 apartments and is home to approximately 85 Jerusalemites. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print
Jordan Times
15-03-2025
- General
- Jordan Times
New photo book 'Between Moments' highlights Jerusalem's Old City, supports Palestinian Aid
AMMAN — Bashar Tabaah is a photographer based in Amman who spent years documenting archaeological sites and historical monuments in Jordan, Levant and around the world. After publishing "A Map and a Lens Jordan: Sights Unseen Stories Untold", "Unique and Outstanding Jordan's World Heritage Sites", "The Noble Sanctuary "A photographic and historical exploration of Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque, and "Aloft عالياًً-textured landscapes of Jordan", Tabaah began a new photo-project and the book "Between Moments". The book is an art-photography collection of his images showcasing modern life within the context of the old walled city of Jerusalem, it is divided into two parts: the first features images in and around the streets souqs and churches of the Old City; while the second part highlights life within the Al Aqsa Mosque complex, which occupies a large portion of the Old City. "The contents and style of photography in the book were selected from my archive of images to reflect the humanity and enduring nature in the face of occupation of both the Jerusalemites and the city itself — a current snapshot of the quieter moments in the Old City", Tabaah underlined. The new book will be crown funding and it will be launched as a combination of several factors. "Firstly, after witnessing the endless atrocities perpetrated against the Palestinian people over the last sixteen months, I decided to do something more tangible." "Early on I was invited to donate images to an art fundraiser and its popularity was so outstanding that I was inspired, I then encountered a wonderful photobook that donated a portion of its earnings to Gaza, once I saw the pieces fell into place and I knew what I had to do," Tabaah explained. The photographer added that he formed a development team and delved into his archive of images, selecting photographs that depicted the Old City as he saw it: "A vibrant place filled with history, where people live out their lives despite occupation." Tabaah continued: "A huge point of pride with this project is that everyone involved has gracefully given their time and expertise for free in order to maximise the amount of money for donation. From the designer to the editors and translators, and even the printing press has taken on a portion of the printing cost." After securing the printing cost this has meant that 100 per cent of each book sold after that goes directly to charity. As for the aid organisation to which the funds will be donated too, he reached out to Medical Aid for Palestine and they have gladly welcomed the project and support it. Regarding upcoming plans Tabaah will be preoccupied with exhibition of his photographs and the book launch. "Locally I am exhibiting a collection of my travel photography at Jasmine House till the April 6th, while I plan to do a book launch on the April 26th in collaboration with a number of organisations in Amman," the photographer said. "As for other projects, I have several ongoing regional projects that I plan to carry out but I am currently focusing on a larger more international photography/history project based in East Asia," Tabaah underlined.
