Tree Museum anyone?

If you take a point on the Jerusalem map, roughly where Keren Hayesod and King David split, and draw a big X, the arms of that X should be on green areas; to the South West, Gan Hapa'amon; to the South East the patch which runs from the Cinematheque along under the Old City walls; to the North East Yemin Moshe's promenade and to the North West a small cut through which widens as it crosses Shalom Aleichem and Mendele Mocher Sefarim into the park surrounded by Sokolov St.

My walk to town, rather than walking with the traffic, usually takes in two of these branches; Gan Hapa'amon and the route up to Sokolov. The Gan Hapa'amon green space has until now extended further, across an overgrown open space known as Mit'cham Omriya, across into the space bounded by Dubnov and Gedalyahu Alon and across into the forested area opposite the Jerusalem Theatre.

This route, roads notwithstanding, meant that it's been possible to walk, effectively from the Old City and the Centre of Town, on green spaces all the way down to Rechov Hapalmach - no more I fear. The Omriya complex is in the process of being developed and will cut this strip in two. Fears have been voiced that the development will change the nature of the German Colony and Emek Refaim, if sensitivity to local building styles is not taken into consideration. Whilst concurring with this sentiment, I think that it's even more of a shame that the capital's already limited green spaces are being further encroached upon. Leisure spaces where kids can get out and play with a ball are seriously limited in Jerusalem - there are literally no public football pitches in the city, so why build on the little available land?

Get out and enjoy our parks while you can - who knows when they'll be paved over and made into a parking lot.

Gilly