{"id":314276,"date":"2026-02-28T06:34:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T06:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/314276\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T06:34:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T06:34:07","slug":"grapevine-shira-bankis-way-the-jerusalem-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/314276\/","title":{"rendered":"Grapevine: Shira Banki’s Way | The Jerusalem Post"},"content":{"rendered":"

The wheels of justice move slowly in Israel<\/a>. After more than a decade of appeals to officially memorialize 16-year-old Shira Banki, the municipality\u2019s naming committee finally acquiesced. Banki was stabbed to death by Yishai Schlissel, a fanatic who just weeks before was released after serving a decade for attempted murder.<\/p>\n

Banki had joined the Jerusalem March for Pride and Tolerance in 2015 as a gesture to her gay friends.<\/p>\n

Following her death, her parents, Uri and Mika Banki, established Shira Banki\u2019s Way, which has expanded beyond Jerusalem and is dedicated to promoting a more balanced and moral society. Together with the active involvement of various institutions, the organization has taken up projects struggling against hatred in the public domain and teaching the value of good rather than simply condemning evil.<\/p>\n

Now, people who may never have heard of Shira Banki\u2019s Way have the opportunity to adopt the example of accepting the other \u2013 the living legacy of so young and vital a human being.<\/p>\n

Due to several haredi<\/a> members on the naming committee \u2013 opposed to anything related to homosexuality \u2013 a street will not be named for Shira, but a plaque will be prominently displayed.<\/p>\n

\"ININ THE German Colony: The struggle is changing course. (credit: MIRIAM ALSTER\/FLASH90)Construction in Jerusalem<\/p>\n

If local Jerusalemites are inconvenienced by all the city construction projects, especially the light rail, imagine what it means for returning tourists.<\/p>\n

Stephen M. Flatow, president of the Religious Zionists of America, sent the note published below (edited for space), following something he witnessed on Emek Refaim Street, which traffic-wise has become a one-way street since light rail infrastructure excavations began.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I was walking southerly on the east side of Emek Refaim near the Orient [Hotel], I was behind a young mother pushing a twin stroller. She comes to a stop because there was not enough room for the stroller to pass by a tree and the stone wall bordering the sidewalk. Luckily, there was a cyclist (on the sidewalk) in front, so the two of us lifted the stroller (with passenger) up and past the tree and wall. We did that three more times.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe the mayor can send one of his staffers to man a position to help other stroller-pushing pedestrians stuck behind a tree.\u201d<\/p>\n

For those who don\u2019t know, if you want to get from Emek Refaim to Rehavia or the city center, you can walk along the sidewalk mentioned by Flatow until reaching the stop from where most buses travel through Keren Hayesod Street and King George Avenue to Ben-Yehuda. From there, to the shuk or Central Bus Station, take buses 75 or 78.<\/p>\n

Nurse saves passenger mid-flight<\/p>\n

There are countless stories about people suddenly collapsing in a theater or on board a plane in flight, followed by cries of \u201cIs there a doctor in the house?\u201d or \u201cIs there a doctor on board?\u201d<\/p>\n

When a doctor is not available, a nurse can also save a life \u2013 which is what veteran Hadassah Medical Center, Mount Scopus, nurse Avivit Eliyahu did when a fellow passenger collapsed during a flight from Ethiopia to Israel.<\/p>\n

Midway through the flight, shortly after the meal was served, one of the passengers noticed that a man of about 75, seated a row ahead, was slumped in his seat with his head tilted at an unnatural angle. He was unresponsive, and strange sounds were coming out of his mouth. Two young passengers sitting next to him were asleep and didn\u2019t sense that anything was wrong.<\/p>\n

When a voice on the plane\u2019s intercom asked \u201cIs there a doctor or nurse on board?\u201d Eliyahu did not hesitate. \u201cI got up right away. It\u2019s instinct. I\u2019m a nurse everywhere, even on vacation. When you hear the call, you\u2019re already there.\u201d<\/p>\n

When she reached the passenger, the situation was clear to her. In all probability, the man had partially choked on food which had entered his air passage. It was right after the meal, and he was unresponsive. Checking his pulse, she found it was extremely weak, almost imperceptible. Time, she knew, was working against him, and every minute was critical. Without medical equipment and without proper conditions but with experience and determination, she began to act.<\/p>\n

She asked the two young passengers sitting alongside him to help to lay him down on as firm a surface as possible, and she began checking secretions from his mouth, checking his pulse, and assessing his condition. It was truly a field situation.<\/p>\n

The flight attendants gathered around her, alert and anxious. Questions were raised: Should the plane make an emergency landing? Would it have to land in Saudi Arabia<\/a>? Should they wait? \u201cThese are split-second decisions,\u201d Eliyahu said. \u201cI focused on the task at hand. First and foremost, you have to decide how to save a life.\u201d<\/p>\n

She asked those around what they knew about the man. According to the people near him, he was traveling alone.<\/p>\n

His son had put him on the outbound flight from Israel to Ethiopia<\/a> to visit family and was apparently waiting for him in Israel on the return.<\/p>\n

As the man was unconscious, Eliyahu began chest compressions, suspecting partial choking and attempting to dislodge food that may have been stuck in his airway. The action was precise and calculated, procedures learned and reinforced time and again in CPR and resuscitation courses.<\/p>\n

After minutes that felt like an eternity, the man suddenly opened his eyes. There were signs of life. \u201cIt\u2019s a moment of immense relief but also of great responsibility because it\u2019s not over yet,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Eliyahu mobilized those around her and began to closely monitor the passenger. Everyone was given a task.<\/p>\n

Everyone wanted to help. The man began to move his lips but appeared very confused. Eliyahu suggested that people speak to him gently in Amharic, which might help orient him. But he was disoriented and didn\u2019t really understand where he was.<\/p>\n

Throughout the incident, Eliyahu did not leave the passenger\u2019s side, in case his situation deteriorated. She updated the captain, who decided to continue the flight. The passenger remained under observation until landing. Fellow passengers and the captain thanked Eliyahu and praised her actions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just did what I had to do,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m a nurse.\u201d<\/p>\n

greerfc@gmail.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The wheels of justice move slowly in Israel. After more than a decade of appeals to officially memorialize…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":314277,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43944,971,157160,41075,77317,12184,85,46,3794,43,28448,62374,78],"class_list":["post-314276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-culture-in-israel","tag-doctor","tag-emek-refaim","tag-ethiopia","tag-grapevine","tag-haredi","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-jerusalem","tag-news","tag-nurse","tag-religious-zionists","tag-saudi-arabia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/314277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}