By PEGGY CIDORTerrorist attack in Jerusalem(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)Mounting violenceThe agitation among the capital’s Arab residents is a long way from decreasing. Sunday night and Monday morning, there were once again riots on the Temple Mount, preventing visitors from entering for a few hours. By 9 a.m., 22 people had already been arrested.Police sources say that while, generally speaking, the Arab neighborhoods in the city are in the process of returning to normal, two locations remained sensitive and ready to erupt again at any moment: the Temple Mount and the Shuafat-Beit Hanina neighborhood. Police are also busy trying to prevent incidents between young Jewish hooligans and young Arab residents so as to avoid any further violence.Since the beginning of the violence in the city following the murder of three Jewish teenagers and of a young Arab from Beit Hanina, the police have arrested 426 people, both Jewish and Arab.A hand for HU soldiers The Friends of the Hebrew University association has launched an initiative to raise money for special stipends that would help HU students called up for reserve duty in Operation Protective Edge. University president Prof. Menachem Ben-Sasson announced the creation of the fund, which aims to minimize as much as possible the financial damage the students incur while serving. The fund is open for anyone to contribute but has appealed particularly to the university’s alumni and to Friends of the Hebrew University members. Contributions can be made through the Discount Bank on Kanfei Nesharim Street (branch No. 331, account No. 23667); donors should specify that the money is a donation. One can also donate through the university’s site at https://support.huji.ac.il/donate2.A blow to the economy Although the rockets from Gaza have rarely reached Jerusalem, the capital has felt the impact of the IDF operation there, as public events have been called off – or at least postponed – and tourists have increasingly canceled their visits.The list of canceled events is already long and includes the Wine Festival at the Israel Museum (postponed until September) the Gay Pride Parade (already postponed twice) and a lot of outdoor cultural events, mostly for children on vacation. The events cannot take place due to defense guidelines that forbid any large gatherings.The drop in tourists visiting the country from abroad at this time has had a heavy impact on hotels, which have reported 50 percent to 70% fewer bookings for July than during the same period last year. Add to this the significant drop in income for the city’s malls and shopping areas – about 75% since last year, according to the municipal chamber of commerce – and it makes for a sad picture of the city’s economic life. Nobody can say when the situation will improve.“The High Holy Days are the only light we see at the end of this tunnel,” says a restaurant owner in Malha. “Let’s hope that won’t be another disappointment then.”Summer finale One event that hasn’t been canceled is the annual Hutzot Hayotzer festival, which more or less closes the summer’s events, but will take place a little earlier this year – starting Sunday and running until August 23. According to the organizer, the Ariel Auxiliary Organization, there is no particular reason for the early date except to accommodate more young families, which usually leave the city for the last few days of August before the children go back to school.The event combines daily concerts by some of the biggest names in Israeli music with works from 200 local artists, as well as craftsmen from 39 countries.Additionally, the festival boasts culinary tastings.And this year for the first time, there will be a circus in a special children’s compound.Hutzot Hayotzer, which takes place in the Sultan’s Pool and surrounding areas, will mark its 39th year by hosting families from the South as guests of the city. Soldiers serving in the South will also be invited for a short leave.Among the performers at the concerts are Aviv Geffen, Sarit Hadad, Ivri Lider, Amir Benayoun and Hadag Nahash. Tickets cost between NIS 25 and NIS 65.To purchase tickets: *6226 or at the entranceAlone together, Part IWhat happens to young haredi soldiers who are wounded during their army service? While the growing number of ultra-Orthodox men who join the IDF mostly have active support from their families, three young Jerusalemites who enlisted after leaving the yeshiva and haredi community have been less fortunate.According to organizations that provide support to those who have left the haredi community, the family of one such soldier who was wounded in Operation Protective Edge has finally agreed to visit him in the hospital outside Jerusalem and even to take him back home and continue looking after him following his release. But two other soldiers, who are still haredi, have remained isolated from their family members.Quite a few haredi families, especially from Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh, oppose their sons’ decision to join the military and refuse to continue any contact with them, even when they get hurt in battle. Organizations such as Hillel provide a network of support, but for a soldier who has been wounded and is undergoing surgery, it can be difficult when family members remain adamant about severing all ties.Alone together, Part II Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, about 40 severely wounded Gaza residents have been undergoing treatment at two of the Arab hospitals in east Jerusalem. Al-Mokassad Hospital and St.Joseph Hospital were treating the wounded whom the Palestinian Authority had brought over due to the fighting in the South. An Arab resident who was involved in the procedure said that the first concern was to take them out of Gaza, where most of the hospitals were overcrowded and suffered from a lack of medication and equipment. But another main concern was to alleviate their psychological trauma, since most of them had lost most of their family members.“We visit them and bring them sweets and anything else that could help them,” said a local resident. “Some of us even give money if needed.They arrived here with nothing, traumatized and in anguish regarding their relatives, as well as their future – most of them don’t have a home to return to.”DAY OF TERRORJerusalem experienced two terrorist attacks on Monday as a Palestinian man commandeered a construction excavator, mowing down and killing a pedestrian, Avraham Wallace, before overturning a bus in the Shmuel Hanavi neighborhood (pictured). Five people were wounded in the attack. Less than three hours later, a soldier was seriously wounded when he was shot in the stomach at a bus stop near French Hill by a man who fled on a motorbike.
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