In downtown Jerusalem, a place to party without politics

Jerusalem’s Shushan Street is a short walk from the light rail stop that was the scene of Wednesday’s terror attack, but Haggai Hirshman hopes that the proximity and tensions won’t stop Arabs and Jews from partying together at a Shushan Street fair this Thursday night.

Known as Simply Singing, Dancing and Eating, the free event is the first of Made in the City 2, a month-long cultural festival sponsored by the municipality that begins Thursday, November 6. The idea is for Arabs and Jews to get to know each other outside of politics.

“It will be amazing,” said Haggai Hirshman, who organized the event. “You will see Arabs and Jews in the middle of the Middle East, in Israel, come together into a bubble for three, four hours and everything is okay; the politics and debates are gone. It’s just people having fun.”

Hirshman is hoping that the combination of Arab and Jewish musicians — Lubna Salame and Yemen Blues — playing at the three bars on Shushan street in downtown Jerusalem — Mazkeka, Cactus 9 and Tuvia — with a food truck parked curbside, serving pita stuffed with lamb, as well as gefilte fish and matzah ball soup, will help ease tensions.

He was expecting a good turnout for this event, after the full house for Simply Singing, a previous program that brought together young Arabs and Jews for an open mike night of music and poetry. Simply Singing was held in East Jerusalem, and drew more than 300 people.

“They thought there would be 50 or 100 people tops, but 300 people came to the event,” he said. “That’s when you know that these projects must go on.”

The Shushan Street Party opens the month-long festival, which is largely geared for Jerusalem’s younger, student population. Made in the City 2 includes dozens of events ranging from concerts and lectures to parties and performances to celebrate the presence of culture in the capital.

Now in its second year, the overall aim of Made in the City is to “establish that Jerusalem is the home to artistic innovation,” said Yonatan Strier, one of the municipality staffers who is organizing the events. It also helps improve the lives of young Jerusalemites, he said, giving them an easy way to view just what the city has to offer.

More than 300 musicians, painters, sculptors, graffiti artists and dancers will participate in the festival, said Strier. After the Shushan Street Fair, the events will continue on Friday, November 7 with Einstein on Aza Street in Rehavia — an event that offers lectures by Hebrew University professors at local bookstores, shops, restaurants, cafes and homes in the neighborhood. There will be also be an interlude of live music performed by local bands along the street, during the late morning and early afternoon.

Wednesday, November 12 brings Indie City, an all-night party of alternative music on the downtown triangle of Havatzelet, Heleni Hamalka and Horkanos streets. There was supposed to be a party on Thursday, November 20 at the Clal Building, the hulking complex situated between Jaffa and Agrippas streets, but organizers said those plans are on hold for now.

Listening to the good word during Einstein on Aza (photo credit: Miriam Alster/Flash 90)

Other cultural organizations, such as the Nissan Nativ Acting Studio, fringe theater Hazira, the Jerusalem International Dance Week, the Yellow Submarine music studio and the Confederation House’s Oud Festival, are part of the month-long cultural binge and are offering special events and performances.

Strier said similar events have had great turnouts. In 2013, there were over 75,000 people who attended Jerusalem’s Front Stage street parties and Winter Noise events on Monday nights.

“We want to make the lives of young Jerusalemites better,” he said. “The young adults are the engine that could drive this city into the future as one of the best places for young adults to live in Israel, and that’s our goal.”