The battle for the Jerusalem Municipality may be over (secular candidate Nir Barkat victorious over haredi rival Meir Porush or, in my view at least, a choice between dumb and dumber), but the struggle for the city’s environment is just beginning.
Last week Green Prophet told you that Naomi Tsur, former head of Society of Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) Jerusalem and founder of the Sustainable Jerusalem coalition, was elected to the municipality as part of part of Barkat’s ‘Jerusalem Will Succeed’ list – a move that has inspired optimism among the ranks of the city’s environmentalists.
This Wednesday 26 November, Tsur is giving a lecture on the subject of environmental activism and will no doubt have some interesting post-election insights to share.
Naomi Tsur
The talk will be followed by a screening of the film, Bullshit, previously shown at cities across Israeli during May’s EcoCinema festival. The award-winning film follows Indian activist and physicist, Vandana Shiva, from her organic farm at the foot of the Himalayas to battles against globalisation, patenting and genetic modification of crops.
Starts at 8pm at SPNI Jerusalem, Sergei Courtyard, 13 Helena Hamalka. Entrance NIS 15, call 02-6252357 to reserve a place.
Top Photo by Michael Green
Author: Michael Green
Born into a family of auto mechanics and engineers in east London’s urban sprawl, Michael bucked the trend and chose a bicycle instead of a car. A relative newcomer to Jerusalem, he works as a freelance journalist writing for the Jerusalem Post and other publications. Before moving to Israel, he worked for an environmental NGO in England where he developed a healthy obsession with organic vegetables and an aversion to pesticides and GMOs. Michael’s surname is pure coincidence. Michael can be reached at michael (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
don’t hold back, michael. you know let it out. you sure are equally bitter with the written word as with the verbal spar and for as little provocation. dumb and dumber? that’s ridiculous – look at nir barkat’s picks for his closest comrades. it’s not just naomi tsur, he’s got some good folks. you know, the more we ‘olim’ come to understand about the municipality’s inner workings, my bet is the more we’ll come to realize that part of who a mayor is is who he surrounds himself with (just bc that’s how government works in general?). and barkat gives us the chance to see a jerusalem with naomi tsur as mayor. that ain’t dumb in my book.