Earlier tonight...
18:37: I get on the #18 bus at Mahane Yehuda. I have two full bags of groceries. Not plastic bags - my backpack and a messenger satchel -- it's a packhorse of a shopping trip. I just moved into my new place on Saturday and I needed stuff, lots of it. My friend Amit and I shopped together; we parted at the bus stop, he walked home. I chose the bus because (1) I have a lot of stuff today (2) the bus stops just a block from my new place and (3) I have a bus pass. The bus was a no brainer.
18:40: Finally, everyone and their shopping cart has loaded. The bus is packed. To get from Mahane Yehuda to the German Colony (mostly due south) the buses first go northeast to cross Jaffa Road (the tram tracks) and then east, before changing course south east, then south, to head through the city centre, where they cross back over the tracks. If you followed that, it's a bit of a loop. If you walk, you don't have to cross the tracks; you stay on the south-west side.
18:45: There's a bus stop on King George Street just before the tram tracks on Jaffa. We stop to pick some folks up. And, we don't leave the bus stop. There are police vehicles in the intersection. The tram is not running. Police officers are reeling out streamers of red do not enter tape. There are crowds of people on the sidewalks and in the road. People are being evacuated from the shops all around the intersection. It seems the problem is somewhere east of King George, but there is no view down Jaffa unless you are standing on it; the buildings are set right at the corners. I'm sitting on the bus, so my view is limited. I could get down, but there is no where to go. Pedestrians cannot cross the intersection. Gathering crowds of Israelis are waiting, chatting on the phone, smoking.
18:50: The bus driver turns the bus engine off. We sit and wait. Crowds of pedestrians grow. The speculation is that someone left something on the tram or at the tram stop. The bomb robots have been called in to remove the threat.
18:58: The bus driver starts the engine. He's been asked to move the bus. It must be because of the coming explosion. Security wants our bus further out of the way. We back up about 7 metres. The engine idles.
19:25: An explosion. A few screams -- of surprise -- in response to the sound.
Wait. Wait. Wait.
19:28: Another explosion. No screams. The bus continues to idle, the air conditioning blasting away. It's not even hot today, maybe 25C. At this rate we'll run out of fuel before we get to Emek Refaim.
People are still waiting. In the streets there are seculars, Orthodox, Haredim, Arabs...maybe Jerusalem doesn't need the F1 to get people of all sorts to stand in the street amiably.
19:40 A police van enters the intersection and the pedestrians make a break for it, ducking under the red police tape. The bus has a green light, but we don't move -- the intersection is full of pedestrians.
19:43 We are still waiting at the intersection. There's an acrid smell. And several emergency vehicles. Finally, we cross the tracks again.
The event doesn't make the news. No one is hurt. This is life in a country that has been plagued by terror. No chances are taken.
18:37: I get on the #18 bus at Mahane Yehuda. I have two full bags of groceries. Not plastic bags - my backpack and a messenger satchel -- it's a packhorse of a shopping trip. I just moved into my new place on Saturday and I needed stuff, lots of it. My friend Amit and I shopped together; we parted at the bus stop, he walked home. I chose the bus because (1) I have a lot of stuff today (2) the bus stops just a block from my new place and (3) I have a bus pass. The bus was a no brainer.
18:40: Finally, everyone and their shopping cart has loaded. The bus is packed. To get from Mahane Yehuda to the German Colony (mostly due south) the buses first go northeast to cross Jaffa Road (the tram tracks) and then east, before changing course south east, then south, to head through the city centre, where they cross back over the tracks. If you followed that, it's a bit of a loop. If you walk, you don't have to cross the tracks; you stay on the south-west side.
18:45: There's a bus stop on King George Street just before the tram tracks on Jaffa. We stop to pick some folks up. And, we don't leave the bus stop. There are police vehicles in the intersection. The tram is not running. Police officers are reeling out streamers of red do not enter tape. There are crowds of people on the sidewalks and in the road. People are being evacuated from the shops all around the intersection. It seems the problem is somewhere east of King George, but there is no view down Jaffa unless you are standing on it; the buildings are set right at the corners. I'm sitting on the bus, so my view is limited. I could get down, but there is no where to go. Pedestrians cannot cross the intersection. Gathering crowds of Israelis are waiting, chatting on the phone, smoking.
18:50: The bus driver turns the bus engine off. We sit and wait. Crowds of pedestrians grow. The speculation is that someone left something on the tram or at the tram stop. The bomb robots have been called in to remove the threat.
18:58: The bus driver starts the engine. He's been asked to move the bus. It must be because of the coming explosion. Security wants our bus further out of the way. We back up about 7 metres. The engine idles.
19:25: An explosion. A few screams -- of surprise -- in response to the sound.
Wait. Wait. Wait.
19:28: Another explosion. No screams. The bus continues to idle, the air conditioning blasting away. It's not even hot today, maybe 25C. At this rate we'll run out of fuel before we get to Emek Refaim.
People are still waiting. In the streets there are seculars, Orthodox, Haredim, Arabs...maybe Jerusalem doesn't need the F1 to get people of all sorts to stand in the street amiably.
19:40 A police van enters the intersection and the pedestrians make a break for it, ducking under the red police tape. The bus has a green light, but we don't move -- the intersection is full of pedestrians.
19:43 We are still waiting at the intersection. There's an acrid smell. And several emergency vehicles. Finally, we cross the tracks again.
The event doesn't make the news. No one is hurt. This is life in a country that has been plagued by terror. No chances are taken.
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