Game of Stones
So there I was, just minding my own business, watching a recent episode of Game of Thrones. [NOTE: as someone who detests spoilers, – an especially egregious crime in the age of the DVR/Tivo where many people don’t watch a particular show until days after the air date – I’ll avoid specifics, so I’m being purposefully vague here.]
Anyhoo, toward the end of the episode, as a random group of people were exiting a random walled city after a random awesome thing happened, I noticed that said walls appeared to be not quite so random after all.
I checked various websites, and none of them mentioned anything about filming in Jerusalem, but I thought the main city gate bore a striking resemblance to the Old City’s Jaffa Gate.
Game of Thrones screencaps on the left, Jaffa Gate pics on the right.
I’m convinced.
Name of Thrones
Since we’re already on the subject of Jerusalem and the Jaffa Gate, I wanted to share one of my favorite little stories of the million that are seemingly waiting around each and every corner of Jerusalem. I showed this to my kids on their first ever trip to Israel.
Once you make the Jaffa Gate’s iconic 90-degree left turn and enter the Old City, if you look over your right shoulder, you will see the following 2 signs (actually, 3 signs – but more on that in a minute):
Each sign tells a story of the priorities of the group that was ruling the Old City at the time.
The top sign is from the British Mandate period of 1917 – 1948. Which is why it should surprise no one that English is on top, Arabic in the middle, and Hebrew at the bottom of the linguistic heap. Whether white signs or White Papers, the interests of the Jews always came last.
The bottom sign is actually 2 signs in one. When the Jordanians began their 19-year illegal occupation in 1948, they installed the bottom 2/3 of the above sign, with Arabic on top, English on the bottom, and Hebrew nowhere to be found.
In 1967, 46 years ago today on the Hebrew calendar…after Motta Gur said those magical words that the Temple Mount was finally back in our hands…after 3 young soldiers took a moment to reflect upon the enormity of what they had just accomplished…after Rav Shlomo Goren blew the shofar at the kotel – the same exact spot where a Jew blowing a shofar was a criminal offense during the British Mandate…after all of that, the Jews corrected what I’m sure was an accidental oversight, and added the Hebrew above the other two. Hence the line between the Hebrew and Arabic.
And while the Arabs spent their 19 years in control of the mythical “East” Jerusalem denying freedom of worship to the Jews and using the Jewish gravestones of the Mount of Olives as pavers for Jordanian Army latrines, the person the Israelis honored in Hebrew was a 7th Century Muslim Caliph. Just one of countless examples of how only the Jews can be trusted to safeguard ALL of the holy places in this holy, eternal, undivided capital city of the Jewish State of Israel.
Happy Jerusalem Day! ! ??? ??????? ???
Update: Since the last photo in this post has an AllAboutJerusalem watermark in the bottom left corner, and is so sharp and clear, I checked out some of their videos on YouTube. Well, wouldn’t you know it, here’s that same story, in handy-dandy video form. Enjoy!
Aussie Dave adds: This is not the first time a resemblance has been noticed in Game of Thrones.
