#0202_A_View_From_West_Jerusalem
Celebratory Fireworks in Arab Neighborhoods, West Jerusalemites Comment
"How much longer will we have to suffer through nightly fireworks in the Pat neighborhood [1] ? Fireworks, explosions and gunshots! An [exhibition] of the helplessness of the Israeli police!
A real jungle!"
– Jerusalemites FB Group
[Selected Comments:]
– "Happened again last night."
– "You’re so helpless, Israel Police."
– "Let them celebrate."
– "Try to be positive about it. You’ve got a celebration outside your houses each night."
– [In response:] "This happens a couple of times day. You’re invited to come and watch."
– "I don’t understand why it bothers you so much. I understand that the muezzin’s call [2] at 4 in the morning bothers you, but fireworks at 8 in the evening? Why does that bother you?"
– [In response:] "You're right…When you’ll have babies at home you’ll get it."
– [In response:] "There are elderly people who are bothered by the sudden bangs, small children sleeping, people suffering from PTSD. Do I really have to explain this?!"
– "There are fireworks at our weddings too, not only at theirs."
– [In response:] "So we’re in the wrong too, and the police should handle it."
– "Their muezzin doesn’t bother me, as a Jew, I pray quietly alongside them. It’s actually beautiful, like the Persians’ songs."
– [In response:] "The muezzin doesn’t sound like fireworks, explosions and gunshots. The muezzin is legal, fireworks aren’t."
– [A Palestinian member of the group:] "You should congratulate your neighbors."
– [In response:] "Congratulations, I wish them all the best, but this is a daily thing and it bothers us. […]"
– [In response:] "I suffer from it too from time to time, especially late at night."
– [In response:] "So talk to whoever needs to be talked to. It’s unbearable."
– [A Palestinian member of the group:] "We suffer from this more than you do. The police should do their job, and make sure they stop."
—
0202 Editor's Notes:
[1] Pat is a neighborhood in southwestern Jerusalem that is located near the Green line between the Jewish Katamon neighborhood, and Beit Safafa, a predominantly Arab Palestinian neighborhood. Pat was was one of the last Katamonim neighborhoods built in the 1950s to accommodate a large wave of Jewish immigration from Arab countries.
[2] The Islamic call to prayer.
#Katamonim #Police #Prayer #Culture
https://bit.ly/2tTKOKP
https://www.facebook.com/1675349376080655/posts/2144323362516585
