Take a walk

The global initiative Jane’s Walk, in memory of activist Jane Jacobs who encouraged local residents to have their say, aims to get people out and strolling around their hometowns.

By BARRY DAVIS
The global initiative Jane’s Walk. (photo credit: DIFFERENT VIEW)
The global initiative Jane’s Walk.
(photo credit: DIFFERENT VIEW)
The capital’s transportation system has undergone changes of seismic proportions in recent years, with the long-awaited completion of the light rail and the installation of increasing numbers of cycling-oriented routes around the city. But now Einat Gomel and her pals from the Young Adult Authority are encouraging residents to head around Jerusalem on foot.
The pretext for the pedestrian program is the annual Jane’s Walk event, a global phenomenon that urges people to get out of the house and pound some urban beat or other for a weekend. The event’s namesake is late urban activist and writer Jane Jacobs, who caused quite a sociopolitical stir in New York in the early and mid-1960s when she instigated a series of activities and protests aimed at ensuring local residents had a say in how their neighborhoods panned out. Jacobs died in 2006 at the age of 89, and the first Jane’s Walk took place the following year.
The Jerusalem version of the weekend walkabout, which will take place April 30 to May 2, includes a wide range of tours and some surprising, informative and fun themes.
The Prizma ensemble’s “On the Spectrum” slot in the three-day program certainly falls into that last category, with around 20 people donning brightly colored full-body suits that completely obscure the wearer’s facial features and, in fact, any distinguishing marks other than their body shape.
Gomel explains that the slot has a paradoxical element to it. “Jerusalem, in particular, incorporates so many identities – religious and secular, Jews and Arabs, all kinds of people – and the people who take part in this walk will be indistinguishable from each other, other than their gender.”
Prizma is an offshoot of the Muslala group, which devises arts- and creativity- based vehicles to “alter ways of thinking and the conduct of society and individuals,” as the group’s website has it.
“The idea is for each participant in the walk to adopt an anonymous identity,” continues Gomel. “That simply doesn’t exist in Jerusalem.”
The brightly adorned walkers will follow a route through downtown Jerusalem and generate an interactive dynamic with members of the public who come to view to the weird- but inviting- looking bunch.
“The members of the group will be able to take on some sort of persona, and that will generate a sort of pingpong with Jerusalemites on the street, who are accustomed to being pigeonholed with this or that identity,” Gomel says. “I am sure this is going to be an interesting experience for everyone.”
Jane’s Walk is a truly global phenomenon with, according to Nisan Almog, events taking place in 150 cities worldwide.
Almog is the artistic director of all the walks taking around the country April 30 to May 2, other than in Jerusalem.
It also appears to be a pretty nationwide phenomenon, with guided tours and all kinds of walks scheduled for Tel Aviv, Beersheba, Haifa, Acre and even Mazkeret Batya.
Almog says that, in addition to the fact of getting people out and about, the Jane’s Walk “festival,” as he calls it, has all sorts of far-reaching implications.
“The walks don’t last so long, some are only an hour or an hour and a half, but it is amazing to see how relationships are forged within the very intense ambiance that develops. I know people who have made new friends on walks in past years, and have stayed in touch.”
The Israeli version of Jane’s Walk has been with us for five years now, and Almog says we are doing exceedingly well in the international popularity stakes.
“We are second, after Toronto, in terms of the number and depth of the activities we organize,” he says proudly, adding that he wouldn’t mind taking the whole venture to other regional climes.
“Maybe in the future we can expand to places like Amman and Aqaba,” he muses.
“Taking part in these walks is also about breaking barriers and finding a common denominator, so I see no reason why we can’t branch out to other parts of the Middle East.”
Sociopolitical themes, and community, feature strongly in many of the walks, one of which will take place in the Beduin city of Rahat, which will focus on culture and community.
One of the more intriguing slots is a historical walk in Haifa that will look at the shared struggles of Jewish and Arab workers during the time of the British Mandate.
“Jews and Arabs went on strike together,” says Almog. “I think that is fascinating, and it shows the common ground we all share.”
Weather is something else we all share and, in this part of the world, finding shelter from the sun offers benefits for one and all. This year’s Tel Aviv walks agenda includes The Shadow Game, which entails the participants looking for shady places in Habima Square.
Apparently, there are consistent issues wherever you look. “I think you will find that walks in Tel Aviv, or Mumbai or Ljubljana have common themes,” Almog continues.
“People are people wherever you go.
We have walks that focus on conflict. But they are not designed to stir up trouble. It’s about saying: ‘We are different, we have gripes, let’s talk about it.’ There is something about doing things together in public that allows for healthy debate.”
IT IS safe to say that Jerusalemites who take part in the walks will gain a greater insight into what makes the city tick, and get a look at some places that may normally slip by their everyday radar. As a testament to Jacobs’s work, quite a few items on both the local and worldwide Jane’s Walk agendas are designed to highlight issues that generally don’t get too much press coverage. The aim is to get locals to think about what goes on in their cities and, possibly, whether they should be doing something about it.
Roi Offenbacher, for example, will lead a guided tour of the military cemetery at Mount Herzl, which starts at 4:30 p.m.
on Thursday. Quite a few of the walks require advance registration, and you can get yourself onto the Mount Herzl walkwith- a-difference by emailing Offenbacher at roeyoff@gmail.com. The Offenbacher graveside foray will look into the sensitive issues of memory, alienation and political consideration that worm their way into bereavement.
If you don’t get a place on the tour, worry not; there will be a repeat performance on May 2 at 11 a.m.
Jerusalem is apparently the No. 1 city in the country in terms of immigrant absorption, which makes Thursday’s 5:30 p.m.
Russian Walk a natural fit for the capital.
The route covers intriguing spots in the Russian Compound, Russian-run stores near the Mahaneh Yehuda market, and other relevant business concerns and institutions on the way. Genia Frumin will lead the Russian walk, which does not require prior registration.
In recent years, the annual “Houses from Within” event has proven to be a popular slot, as the interior exploratory spirit features strongly in the Jane’s Walk lineup.
Jerusalemites, for example, can get a sneak preview of what the grandly proportioned Museum of Tolerance, near Nahalat Shiva, will look like when it is eventually complete, with architects Or Albag and Yigal Levy providing expert insight. The pair will also enlighten locals about various residential construction projects under way in the downtown area.
Meanwhile, the “Four Houses and Yearning” walk will incorporate visits to domiciles in each of the Old City’s quarters. The activity starts off at the Jaffa Gate at 3 p.m.
on Saturday and requires prior registration.
The event is suitable for observant Jews, and modest attire is a must.
One way of getting a handle on local vibes is by checking out the graffiti that adorns a city’s buildings and walls, and Jerusalem has plenty to offer in that regard.
Nurit Basel will take members of the public for a fun and eye-opening tour of thought-provoking, aesthetically appealing and thoroughly entertaining wall art and literary gems on May 2. The “Wall Tales” tour starts at Safra Square at 10 a.m.
on May 2 and will wend its way over to Mahaneh Yehuda, to the Tabula Rasa outdoor art site.
Other enticing Jane’s Walk items include “Pride and Prejudice,” a Friday evening (9 p.m.) glimpse of some of the city’s main gay community hotspots; the “Demographic Devil and Urban Space” tour of some of the capital’s community flashpoint areas, and there will be a rare opportunity to learn something about the local branch of the ancient Freemasons organization.
For registration and more information about the Jerusalem events: http://janeswalk.org/index.php/israel/jerusalem/walks or facebook.com/janeswalkJerusalem.
For general information: http://janeswalk.org/


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