24 HOURS JERUSALEM – 26’ - PART 2: 9-9:30 am
02:00:02
… 9:30 am in Jerusalem… Itzig Gil is on his way to his restaurant, the Rachmo… it is in Mahane Yehuda, the largest market in the West of the city… it was opened over 50 years ago by Itzig’s father in law, a Jewish immigrant from Iraq… the Rachmo is famous for its Kurdish-Iraqi specialities, but mainly for hummus… every day, he puts on a large pot of chick peas to puree them later… many guests only come for their hummus and Itzig has a reputation to protect…
02:01:11
… 31 min. past 9, 12 degrees… the first rush hour in Jerusalem is over, adults are at work, kids at school… they live in a city of uncertainty…
02:01:31
…Up until WWI, Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire... afterwards, it became a British mandated territory... at the centre of the mandate: Jerusalem... after Israeli independence, the city was divided in 1948 – The East became part of Jordan, the West became the capital of Israel ... During the 6 day war in 1967, Israel conquered the Eastern side of the town as well, extended its borders, and declared the whole of Jerusalem to be the capital of the country ... this status is not internationally recognized. According to the UN East-Jerusalem is an occupied territory and claimed by the Palestinians as their capital…
02:02:31
… together with his colleagues Ofer Yagan disposes of rubbish from 6 am… it’s always the same spiel… collect the rubbish, throw it into the skip, empty the skip, move on… next skip…
02:03:52
… business is still slow in Mahane Yehuda, many customers only come towards the evening, on their way home from work… lunch is being prepared on 14 kerosene cookers at the Rachmo… moussaka, kubbe or hummus…
02:04:43
… the Yad Vashem memorial site opens every morning at 9am, except on the Sabbath… at Yad Vashem the memory of the Holocaust is being preserved… the killing of the European Jews… Esther Shimberg works in the archive… the child of Russian Jews, born in Berlin, emigrated to Israel…
02:07:01
… the exhibition at Yad Vashem leads into the heart of darkness… from Berlin to Auschwitz… very few returned… and those, who did return brought the memories back with them…
02:07:54
… 9: 37 ...
02:08:01
… Itzig Gil is awaiting the first customers at the Rachmo…
02:08:10
… Imad Hoshiyah cleans room after room and at the Franciscan convent Father Armando Pierruci wants to make use of the time to compose… Ofer Yagan and both his colleagues are looking forward to their breakfast break…
02:09:50
…for 800 years now, Franciscans have been in Jerusalem… they are the guardians of the holy sites of the Catholic church … Father Armando Pierucci set up the music school… it is open to every student, irrespective of their denomination … at first he was the only teacher, nowadays he supports and finds time to compose (whilst having to provide support and fine time to compose?) … even if it is sometimes hard to focus, when rehearsals start in the room next door…
02:14:13
… 9:44 in Jerusalem
02:14:25
… falafel are deep fried in the Old City… in the alleyways traders are waiting for customers… around lunchtime, the area will get crowded but for now there is time to exchange news…
02:14:47
… Ofer Yagan and his colleagues are taking a break for breakfast, with bread, cucumber, tomatoes, tuna and coke…
02:15:16
… in Mahane Yehuda, Itzig Gil is solving crosswords… most of his regulars work in the market nearby…
02:15:56
… a few streets down from Mahane Yehuda Mea Shearim begins… the Jewish orthodox district.. at the entrance visitors are reminded to show respect for the neighbourhood… no naked skin, no short skirts or women in trousers, no cameras…
02:16:32
… Rabbi Shmuel Stern is a Chassidic scholar… he studies scripture with his students… his lectures are recorded and streamed online… there is one camera, which looks down from the heavens…
02:23:14
9 o’clock and 53 min…. the breakfast classic at the Rachmo is hummus with a hard boiled egg… or rice with beans and pickled cucumber… some regulars have been coming here for 30 or 40 years nearly every day… they still remember the founder well…
02:25:23
… in the next episode of 24h Jerusalem a photographer searches for a Chinese movie star in the maze of the Old City… memories of Europe before the Great War are pondered… and police patrol the Holy Sepulchre… they’re looking for suspicious people – and suspicious objects…