Jerusalem's Visionary

It's amazing to know Jerusalem before and after Kollek. No one has the vision of this city that he had.

By LIA VAN LEER
Teddy Kollek was a very charismatic personality and a very extraordinary man. He managed to make Jerusalem the center of the world. It was thanks to him that I came to live here. We lived in Haifa and had planned to move to Tel Aviv, but after the war in 1967 he brought people from all over the world to Jerusalem. No one could say no to him. He built Jerusalem into something so extraordinary. It is thanks to him that we have so many cultural institutions and the gardens and parks around the whole city. People would come to him and say how much they admired him, and he would say, "I don't need your admiration, I need your check." It's amazing to know Jerusalem before and after Kollek. He made Jerusalem a place for Jews and Arabs. He always said about the Arabs that you don't have to love them, but you had to respect them. This is very important. He used to get up at 5 a.m. to walk in the city and see that everything was clean and taken care of. It's not like today, a different Jerusalem. His contribution is absolutely unbelievable, when you consider Jerusalem with all its cultural institutions, theaters, community centers, health centers... in all the fields. He made Jerusalem an extraordinary city, which unfortunately it is not today. A lot of young people are leaving because of lack of work, and secular people are leaving because they don't feel that it is their city. He was not well lately, but still it's very sad to hear that Teddy is gone. He was such an important part of Jerusalem. We have to hope that his legacy will continue. No one has the vision of this city that he had. The writer is the founder of the Jerusalem Cinematheque.