This week in Jerusalem 393021

Peggy Cidor’s round-up of city affairs.

By PEGGY CIDOR
From the ‘Vision Fresson’ photo exhibition. (photo credit: Courtesy)
From the ‘Vision Fresson’ photo exhibition.
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Out with the old...
It has taken several years, but one of the largest urban renewal projects in the Katamonim neighborhood has finally received approval.
The project encompasses 300 new housing units, most of them suitable for young couples and families, and will be close to the Pat Junction. This is one of the few new affordable housing projects that the municipality has been promoting, as it is a joint effort between Safra Square and the Housing Ministry. The project consists of several buildings between eight and 11 stories high, as well as playgrounds, public spaces and community facilities, among them a community center and a new road leading to the complex.
A voice in the wilderness
Melabev, a nonprofit specializing in care for the elderly and those with Alzheimer’s, is facing financial difficulties. One of the immediate results of these difficulties could be the shutdown of the hotline for the elderly, which volunteers operate daily. Many senior citizens are lonely, and their solitude sometimes affects them even more than illness. The hotline serves as a sort of replacement companion for many seniors. Now, because of lack of volunteers and of financial support, the line could reach a dead end and stop its crucial aid.
Dancing for the children
The local Kolben Dance Company will be presenting its new show, Who Took My Cheese?, for the children of state schools in the Arab sector next week. The March 9 performance at the Leo Modell Hall in the city center is part of efforts to share cultural events with all the city’s schoolchildren – haredi, Arab and secular alike – thanks to a new budget the municipality has allocated.
The show, originally composed in coordination with the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, has been translated into Arabic to enable the children to enjoy it fully.
Shabbat vs Gazelle Valley
A debate in the city council’s Finance Committee over the budget for developing Gazelle Valley was almost canceled last week.
The new budget of NIS 229 million should enable a festive opening of the area as a park and finance the first stage of its development. Just before the vote to approve the budget, however, one of the haredi representatives on the committee set down the condition that no desecration of Shabbat be allowed in the park.
Committee member Tamir Nir (Yerushalmim), one of the central promoters of the project, objected and declared that he would rather cancel it than accept such a condition.
The decision finally did receive approval by a margin of one vote, meaning that the project, which started more than 10 years ago as a local neighborhood endeavor, will soon be open to the public.
Are you going to the Bezalel fair?
Some may have noticed that as of last week, the Bezalel craft fair in the center of town is not there anymore; nor is the RetroShalayim fair. The two popular fairs had become part of the city’s landscape on Thursdays and Fridays, but they shut down recently for bureaucratic reasons.
The initial explanation for the closure was the organizers’ failure to request the necessary permits for 2015. However, it seems that there is another reason, at least in the case of the Bezalel fair: The neighbors on Shatz Street have complained to the municipality about the noise, the lack of parking, and the mess the fair leaves behind after the stalls close for Shabbat.
Whatever the reason behind the Bezalel fair’s closure, Deputy Mayor Ofer Berkovitch (Hitorerut) admits that it was a mistake and has pledged to ensure it reopens soon, perhaps with a change in location.
Vive la France
The Romain Gary French Cultural Center has lots of events this month, and not only for French-speakers.
For starters, a French film festival, in collaboration with the Jerusalem Cinematheque, will run until the end of this month. Among other films, the festival will feature some of the recent movies that won the Cesar award – the French equivalent of the Oscars.
The center – located on the Safra Square compound – will also host an exhibition of photos called “Vision Fresson,” which will run until the end of the month as well.