Of parks and peace

Rockefeller Park upgraded

This morning while walking to the Ivrea convent for Mass, I noticed the streets were more crowded than before. The school year has started of course. Lots of students some as young as 7 yrs old were walking to bus stops and road corners waiting for their transport. It brought me to think back 40 years ago when I too was a primary school student ... the excitement of the new school year, the smell of new books, the routine of studying and homework and exams. It's really amazing how time flies, and I'm very grateful for the opportunities I had in education. Around the streets this morning were also other kids who were selling bread, coffee or doing house chores ... the less fortunate who have no education.

Rockefeller Park

I usually have to stop along the way to the convent because I get very breathless and dizzy. And nicely situated is the Rockefeller Park ... next to the Rockefeller museum. Back in Crusader times this area was the agricultural grounds of the crusaders. Anyway the stop at Rockefeller Park is always great ... smell of the wet grass, the olive trees, the cypress trees ... cats playing in the grass, birds waking up and chirping. It's so different from being cooped up in the stone walls of the Old City.

Since I came over 2 decades ago, the park was in ruins ... the 1st Intifada had destroyed not only the place but also the joy of the East Jerusalemites ... long wild grass, litter, maybe even snakes. It was a no fun place, no hope, no joy ... except for druggies. Then Israel bang to pump money into East Jerusalem to upgrade its facilities and ... we have a new park. Up to the standard of those parks in West Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. Simply amazing. But don't expect gratitude from the east jerusalemites. Just know that it's one step to peace ... when families can come to picnic in a  safe and beautiful place, where young men come to use the gym equipment free of charge ... they don't feel less privileged than the Israelis .... that creates less animosity and jealousy from not having. This is a very smart move by Israel. That's the direction to go. When you create situations where the arabs have less to complain about, you have moved forward in peace.

Well as I said many times, Israel's greatest enemy is not from the outside but from the inside ... the implosion from within, from religious and political factions attacking each other. That was the cause of the 2nd Temple's destruction and the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Somehow we never learn from history and humanity is doomed to repeat the same mistakes.