I'm referring to the United States Consulate. As an American citizen, I must go there every few years to renew my passport. This year I don't need a new passport, but I agreed to accompany my daughter and baby grandson for their consular business.
I'll never forget my visit there when she was a baby. We lived in Bayit V'Gan then and took the #12 bus, when then went from right near our house on Rechov Bayit V'Gan until Sha'ar Shechem (Damascus Gate) of the Old City. Then we had to walk through an unpleasant empty lot and an Arab neighborhood, until we got to the consulate, and of course the reverse route when we finished our business there.
Now, there is no longer a #12 bus, and we live in Shiloh, and the empty lot became the wide "number one road" from French Hill to Kikar Tzaha"l, (IDF Square,) between the Jerusalem Municipality and Jaffa Gate.
The Consulate is staffed with Arabs, who are notoriously rude to Jewish visitors. Thirty-four years ago, when I took that daughter in they were particularly nasty. Finally, we finished and I walked her back to the bus. I must have looked as upset as I felt, because the driver got out of the bus and carried her in her stroller and gently and politely placed her in the bus.
I'll let you know if things have changed.
5 comments:
I was just there on Tuesday. My daughters needed their passports renewed and the younger one turns 16 only in August, after her passport expires.
It's still 95% Arab-staffed but I didn't notice them being particularly rude to any one. Of course I also don't speak Arabic, so for all I know the insults were flying fast and furious.
On a plus side, they have a curtained off nursing corner which was a pleasure. AND I got voter registration cards for my husband and myself.
Pesky, I admit that things have gotten better. Of course, my grandson's blue eyes had many totally charmed. The procedure is very different from what I remember, though it's still the same old building. Can't the USA invest in something better?
It ends up being six of one, half dozen of the other... the Embassy in Tel Aviv has a larger waiting room and more Americans and Israelis working there but I didn't see a nursing area.
I was there in Feb. Being in East Jerusalem never makes me feel comfortable, and we had to stand outside the compound until security let us in. Once inside there's another wait. But the consul general seemed like a competent, hard working, ernest woman, and perhaps most important, she came across as nice. The Arab workers were also professional. I had a snafu with my passport, and I got a call the next day and we straightened it all out. I would rather win a lottery, but overall the experience was far better than what I expected, and I think the consulate gets a bum rap. (Anyone able to compare the American consulate to a different consulate in East Jlem?)
pesky and a,
Honestly, if I hadn't had those bad experiences years ago, I wouldn't have the feelings I do now.
About 15 years ago, before the road was built--when you still had to go through a horrid empty lot-- I went with a body guard. Young Russian immigrant armed with a gun. He had to wait outside, of course.
The building is so old and crowded. We had to take a cab from where we parked the car. My daughter nursed the baby before we took the cab. I took the baby in my arms as she did the clerical stuff. He enjoyed the "mirror." I hope the security personel on the other side enjoyed watching him.
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