Old City, New Style

This summer Jerusalem inaugurated two modern additions to this ancient epicenter of holiness.
"Old City, New Style" was the catchy slogan in the advertising campaign for the Mamilla mall, the latest temple of the cult of Israeli shopping, conveniently located directly opposite the Jaffa Gate. This previously slummy street that connects the old and new cities has been transformed into a charming avenue of classic Jerusalem stone facades and painstakingly renovated structures to create a unique environment for spending more money. Jerusalemites are now privileged to shop for the same name brands we previously had to journey to the coast of the Philistines to purchase ( in fact, the tv commercial showed the logos being laboriously hauled, a la the ancient Egyptian pyramids, up a steep incline to the Holy City). Tourists now have a respite from the spiritual and educational exhaustion of the four quarters. After a day of religious and political sensory overload and aching feet, they can easily repair to this quaint yet stylish avenue to enjoy a cappuccino, try on Naot sandals, buy a cocktail dress and view the work of local artists inspired by the diversity of the city's landscapes. Finally, a shopping venue with a touch of class and character - it's almost like having a taste of Fifth Avenue in the city, a refreshing change from the seedy discount stores that line Jaffa Road and the mediocrity of the Malcha Mall. The Mamilla mall's intimate proximity to the Old City serves as a reminder that a vibrant, modern society exists alongside the enthralling strata of five thousand years. The mall's easy access from David Street, the main avenue of the Arab market and the latest incarnation of the Decamanus, a central commercial artery of ancient Jerusalem, hints that despite the fancy innovations nothing much has changed here in two thousand years: tourists love to shop!

The second new attraction in Jerusalem is the wonderous and spectacular Chords Bridge at the entrance to the city. Designed by the world-renown Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, the bridge will transport the trains of the new light rail system over the main intersection at the city's entrance into the central bus station. A suspension bridge, its structure consists of a severe, angled mast rising into the sky for 119 meters and supporting 66 steel cables that wrap around it on one side. Depending on the direction from which it is viewed, it appears as a fantastic bird poised in flight, a space-age aircraft soaring into the sky, a work in progress on a giant weaver's loom or an unabashed middle finger directed at the heavens.
The bridge's exhorbitant cost of 220 million shekels and its location in a congested, unaesthetic section of the city have been relentlessy criticized as wasteful but happily, the naysayers lost this one. Every time I drive past the bridge I am reminded that Jerusalem has been reinvented as a city with a relationship to other cities in the modern world. We are no longer just a metropolis with an ancient wall at its heart, but an urban center with a modern architectural monument as well. In a city that is being slowly strangled by reactionary religious leaders and abandoned by mainstream Israelis, the bridge is a ray of hope that we are not being left behind. Not surprisingly, this light was overshadowed by the scandalous travesty of the bridge's dedication ceremony when teenage girls participating in a dance performance were forced to cover their bodies with long-sleeved garments and their hair with ski caps by ultra-orthodox political hacks from city hall. Jerusalem is tottering on the brink of destruction by Jewish fundamentalists; hopefully, the Chords Bridge is a sign that the future of the city is not yet lost.