It shut critical conduits and sealed hundreds of parking spaces, thereby forcing people to shop elsewhere instead of patronize Jerusalem’s vendors.
By LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters(photo credit: REUTERS)Poor formulaSir, – With regard to “The holy city that roared: Thousands turn out for spectacular Jerusalem Formula road show” (October 7), what were Mayor Nir Barkat and his staff thinking? A car show just before a holiday? Seriously? Sealing off all the major access points to the Old City and Jerusalem’s finest hotels? Tourists were gravely inconvenienced; it made checking in to their hotels impossible. It closed access points for citizens looking to shop and do all the necessary pre-holiday preparations.It shut critical conduits and sealed hundreds of parking spaces, thereby forcing people to shop elsewhere instead of patronize Jerusalem’s vendors.Something has been seriously off with planning.The theme of these days should be convenience for residents and a warm welcome for tourists, with all able to freely meander through this fine city, its holy sites and shopping places.Oh, what a lovely scene (not) – tourists and residents with confused glances, mutterings of what’s going on, and exasperated motorists honking all day as these fancy race cars screeched through the city.Nobody could converse, as the racing was deafening.Time to be honest. Thousands turned out for this show because they had no choice. They were stuck, lost, confused – and, needless to say, perturbed.Mayor Barkat and staff: It’s an interesting idea but it needs real fine-tuning (pun intended.) Rework the venue. Rework the publicity. Rework the goal and the whole idea at a more timely season, when all can enjoy and not be inconvenienced.PHYLLIS HECHTHashmonaimSir, – Watching the elderly Succot tourists and visitors schlepping their luggage as they scurried across Jerusalem’s King David Street before the racing cars could run them over. Sitting in traffic for two hours trying to get from Rehavia to Talpiot.It makes me wonder if all those people who watched the roadshow will be voting for Mayor Barkat when elections come around.YAACOV PETERSEILJerusalemSir, – I wonder how many people noticed the irony in your October 6 issue. On Page 6 we read, “Air pollution plunges 99% in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv over Yom Kippur,” due to no road traffic. On Page 7 we read that with great fanfare, “Formula 1 returns to Jerusalem.” Do we never learn?DVORA WAYSMANJerusalemStick it to ’em Sir, – Regarding “‘How’s my driving?’ stickers up for debate” (October 7), ever since making aliya four years ago I have wanted to market a bumper sticker that genuinely reflects the attitude of Israeli drivers. It would read: “‘How’s my driving? Why should you care?”NORMAN DEROVANMa’aleh AdumimNot about Milky Sir, – One thing not mentioned in your editorial “The Milky way” (October 7) is that these same Israelis here in Berlin who try to persuade more Israelis to leave Israel apparently could not afford a bus ticket to attend a rally in the city center in support of the kidnapped/murdered teens. They could not afford a bus ticket to attend rallies each week in support of Israel during Operation Protective Edge. They could not afford a ticket to attend the big rally a couple of weeks ago in central Berlin addressed by Chancellor Angela Merkel herself to protest anti-Semitism.These 15,000-20,000 Israelis in Berlin are never seen at community events.Many have non-Jewish partners. Some are interviewed by the media and trash their own country.But strangely, Milky is never mentioned! I know Israelis pay more for food and something should be done about it.No question. But to dignify these narcissistic ex-pats who contribute nothing to the Jewish community here and don’t even support their own country by attending rallies in time of need – one can hardly take them seriously.It’s not about Milky. It’s about selfishness and spite.RON JONTOF-HUTTER Berlin
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