'Rikudegalim' - not just in Jerusalem
'Rikudegalim' - not just in JerusalemPublic relations

Jerusalem Day, celebrated on Wednesday, saw celebrations, not just in Israel's capital of Jerusalem but all over the country, not just teens and adults but kindergarten children as well.

On Wednesday, May 24, 2017, Israel celebrates 50 years since Jerusalem's liberation and reunification.

In honor of Jerusalem Day, students living in Gush Etzion danced together with Israeli flags in the traditional "rikudegalim" (literally: flag dance), and marched from the "yellow hill" near Alon Shvut to Gush Etzion Junction.

At the end of the parade, the students participated in the annual bike race, held in honor of Yitzhak Boanish, a 46-year-old father of five who was killed by Muslim terrorists in 2002.

The bike race started in Kiryat Arba, and ended at the Gush Etzion Junction, where dancing and singing prevailed.

Gush Etzion Council Head Shlomo Neeman said, "Jerusalem and Gush Etzion are woven tightly together. As David Ben Gurion said in 1948, 'If a Hebrew Jerusalem exists....then Israeli history and the entire nation must first of all thank the fighters of Gush Etzion.'"

"Together with our celebration of our capital's unification, we are celebrating a holiday for Judea and Gush Etzion."

At about the same time, police stopped traffic in the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood of Jerusalem, as hundreds of kindergarten aged tykes marched in the streets, waving little Israeli flags and dressed in blue and white. A sound truck accompanied the childfren and their teachers in the mini "rikudegalim" parade - bystanders wiped away happy tears.

Kiryat Moshe kindergartners
Kiryat Moshe kindergartnersצילום: Rochel Sylvetstky