Driving into Jerusalem from the coast, just before the gates of the city lies a ghost village: Lifta. For thousands of years, many different people inhabited these steep slopes and many armies have passed through them on their way to Jerusalem, whose old city is but a few hills away, often not with the best of intentions.
In many cultures, the beginning of winter is marked with a religious holiday dedicated to light. Northern Europeans have Saint Lucia, Hindus have Diwali, and Jews have Hanukkah, an eight-day festival in which candles are lit every evening to remember a miracle which blessed the rededication of the Beit HaMikdash (the Holy Temple) of Jerusalem, around the year 170 BCE.
Jerusalem, Israel – 9th of June, 2013: The womens’ prayer group Women of the Wall held their monthly prayers at the Kotel. After the previous month’s events, which saw thousands of religious seminary girls gather in a counter-prayer and a few hundreds of angry haredi youth causing lots of trouble, this month’s prayer tool place peacefully, also thanks to a massive deployment of Israeli policemen which physically escorted the Women of the Wall to and out of the women’s section of the Kotel, and established several barriers to protect them.
Jerusalem, Israel – 26th of May, 2013: Soldiers of the Nahal Haredi battalion, a religiously observant unit of the IDF, take part in their swearing-in ceremony at the Givat Hatachmoshet (Ammunition Hill) museum.
Jerusalem, Israel – 15th of May, 2013: Tens of thousands of haredim (ultra-orthodox Jews) gathered outside one of Jerusalem’s army induction centers to protest against the government’s plan to begin drafting them into the IDF.