Kaima Organic Farm is a sustainable model for the future: a win-win-win situation for the planet, the country, the consumers and the dropout kids who work on the farm. It is also a model for renewal of the pinoeer spirit in a new format.
Muslala – Roof Paradise at Heart of Jerusalem
Muslala's Roof Paradise at the Heart of Jerusalem
Muslala’s roof offers a relaxed, inspiring space for creativity and work
Muslala? What’s that?; Muslala – name and origin; Binyan Klal – Business slum in Central Jerusalem; Muslala – a roof to save all roofs; The nursery: Saving “everything”; Muslala – more than just the roof; Bzz – on peacemaking and bees; Muslala and Musrara; What Muslala’s roof offers to Jerusalemites; Muslala’s temple;
Muslala? What's that?
I first heard of Muslala when I was still living and gardening in Jerusalem. I’ve seen ads about classes in sustainable gardening and agriculture that an enthusiastic group of idealists was offering on a rooftop in the city. Interested in learning more, I planned to visit, and perhaps register for one of the classes.
However, my first encounter with Muslala actually took place when my illustrious community choir, Harmonica, performed on Muslala’s roof one summer night in 2022. Excited about everything I saw, I snapped many night pictures of the surroundings, as well as videos of the place and the event.
The realization soon came that Muslala, an ecological roof garden in the center of our bustling city center, was a perfect showcase for the creative Israeli ecological community. That naturally made it a perfect fit for the “Blue and Green Israel’s Back to the Land”,section of my Israel’s Best project
Following the performance, I set up an appointment with the director, Hallel, a very busy man, who nonetheless consented to give me a short interview. Below are some of the highlights:
Pic: Against the backdrop of Jerusalem’s center, Muslala’s roof offers a relaxing green organic space
Muslala - Name and Origin
The name Muslala combines the name of the neighborhood where the project was started at the time, Musrara (see below), with the Hebrew word Maslul, meaning route, track. The original Muslala collective, a group of young, talented artists, created a physical “maslul” in the neighborhood of Musrara, where various art works were exhibited or created on site. Visitors were taken on tours along the “maslul“.
Left: Hallel, Muslala’s manager, enjoying himself at the nursery during the interview with me
Binyan Klal - a Business Slum in Central Jerusalem
The labyrinth
When we wound our way up inside the structure for our performance, I was practically shocked to see that this building, one of the first “skyscrapers” and shopping malls in central Jerusalem, looked like a ramshackle hovel.
The banner on the stairs notifies the visitor of Muslala’s Oasis in the center of Jerusalem
It was even worse when I came in dayime for the interview. Several clerk-looking types went in and out of shabby offices; small, funky-looking businesses were semi-open with the owners lurking in the back, but most were shut tight. It wasn’t the Covid pandemic, I was told, it preceded it. A building out of luck, or perhaps there are other factors at play.
It might be the poor planning – uncomfortable and labyrinthian business and shopping floors; elevators that take you to other elevators, all located behind corners and poorly marked; confounding staircases; spooky, confusing underground parking lots. The location is of no help. Although central, the building is in close proximity to the folksy and beloved Mahane Yehuda Open Market, where generations of Jerusalemites have been shopping since forever, so the competition is strong. I wouldn’t fall off my feet with surprise if told that some dubious elements of society were involved in the building’s demise as well.
Bottom line, the building seemed a sorrowful shadow of its original promise, unless and until you succeeded, against all odds, to reach…
…the Roof
Once you have figured out how to get here, though, using the Hogwartian last flight of stairs, you are transported into another universe – plain, beautiful, simple, green. A place where a Jerusalem miracle has taken place..
Over the steps a hanging banner announces Muslala, Urban Oasis. Leaving the dreariness behind, you walk into a small paradise, complete with plants, flowers, herbs, trees and greenery popping at you from all kinds of transformed receptacles – old barrels, shoes, plastic bottles, tables. There are composters, worm farms, a nursery, watering and solar systems and a workman’s shop, The visitor can enjoy the use of a kitchen, a serve-yourself tea and coffee lounge (with planters hanging over the sinks…), a free library, and even a camping site…. And if all that wasn’t enough, there is also an interesting art exhibit (see below), a shop selling related environmental products and an office to manage it all…
Muslala - A Roof to Save All Roofs
Roofs are an overlooked resource
To inhabit humans, buildings steal land surface from other planetary beings and use much dear land. It is a sad state of affairs, especially as cities get larger and larger. Living in buildings, humans are detached not only from Nature, but also from their own natures. At our source, we are inextricably tied in with birds, bees, butterflies, plants, insects and animals of all sorts and sizes, as well as with Earth herself. No wonder clerks, salespeople, executives and students, who work and study in central Jerusalem, find Muslala‘s “urban park” so inviting and refreshing.
To summarize, roof spaces can be used to redeem what buildings took away from us – the green, the living earth – and also serve as meeting places for neighbors and residents. Roofs can be used for a variety of functions, from solar electricity to performance halls. Solar panels could shade plants that would grow underneath.
And specifically for the holy land
Most roofs in Israel are flat, and hence easy to use. The weather in summer can be hot, but there are ways to deal with that.
It has even been shown that green roofs and balconies can improve interior climates, reducing the need for air conditioning.
More and more people nowadays realize the multiple blessings roofs can offer. Israel is part of a world-wide movement, and its roofs have even hosted two international festivals so far.
The Gag Eden (roof paradise) festival
Gag Eden Festival at Muslala. (Gag=roof)
The Gag Eden Festival at Muslala was actually a part of a country-wide “roof festival”, which in turn was part of the World Green Roof Day, in which 70 cities world-wide were participating! The motto for all these events is that
“Green roofs provide vital wildlife habitat and make life better for everyone.”
Our choir’s performance took place here as part of that event.
After the performance, people gathered around tables, where long chains of fruit and vegetables, all grown on the roof, were hung or set in clusters to be picked and tasted….
Yossi Fine’s show on Muslala’s roof at the Gag Eden Festival
Later on, Yossi Fine, a renowned Israeli musician with international notoriety, who worked with David Bowie while in NY, performed original songs to an enthusiastic audience. He was accompanied by his drummer son, Liam. People danced to the music or strolled around the urban park under the moon and stars.
Other festival events I missed included lectures, practical workshops and guided roof tours.
The Nursery
Hallel greeted me warmly, and led me to the nursery, where he showed me to a seat at a low table, as he seated himself across. Clearly used to such interviews, he was comfortable with my recording, writing of points and frequent interruptions of his talk to ask questions. He explained that the nursery was a relatively shaded spot on the roof, so the heat was not oppressive.
Hallel at the nursery
The nursery was created by Sharon Gretzler, in memory of Yoram Amir, her husband, an illustrious and beloved Jerusalem window artist. The idea was to use whatever you can easily and cheaply find, mostly discarded objects, like old shoes and boxes. Most of the plants are also discards from popular nurseries and greenhouses. Muslala personnel regrows them from cuttings. (see below)
Various plantlings grown at Muslala’s nursery
Muslala - Saving "Everything"
Muslala’s green kitchenette
Talking with Hallel, I realized that humble Muslala was not “just” about saving roofs, but was also busy saving:
Food
Bees
Trees
Discarded plantlings
Cardboard boxes, old shoes, boxes, barrels, crates and other rejects
The Klal building
Jerusalem’s Center
Jerusalem
Israeli Society
The Israeli-Palestinian rift
Women, especially Palestinian women
THE WORLD
Pictures above: You can see that every old thing in every odd corner on the roof serves to grow plants.
Muslala - More Than Just the Roof
Hallel told me there is more to Muslala than the roof. In addition to the roof, the project has three more centers and foci:
Muslala’s roof is a cozy, natural space to encourage socializing
- A community carpentry shop on 155 Yafo st., which runs various courses in woodwork and upholstery. The place is equipped with all necessary tools, and everybody is invited to “build their dreams”.
- The Food Saving Project, with an office at the wholesale market at Giv’at Sha’ul. The idea is to save discarded food, especially fruit and vegetables, which are still perfectly adequate for human consumption. The center saves hundreds of tons of food, offers food-related trainings, runs a catering service with 80% rescued ingredients, and mostly operates on a volunteer basis.
- AND the flag project, Sinsilla, located in the eastern city. This initiative gives occupation and an income source to about a 100 Palestinian women, who got a training and apprenticeship in growing bees on their balconies and extracting the honey. Jars of their honey are sold at the Klal Roof Center.
BZZ...- On Peacemaking and Bees
This particular project merits a special section here.. .
With Muslala’s Sinsilla project the “Honey ladies” learning to grow bees on roofst
Sinsilla is a project unmatched anywhere in the world, a unique initiative of the Muslala group, with some support from authorities, foundations, donors and proper clients. The main spirit and mover of the enterprise is Yossi Oud, an expert in bee growing and biodynamic agriculture. Oud, who personally teaches the classes, is running a country-wide project to bring bees back to the urban environment.
Sinsilla means “terraces” in Arabic, and that was the name given to a project taking place on roofs, balconies and yards in East Jerusalem. The goal is first of all to give Palestinian women a much-needed extra income in a dignified and useful way, but also to green their roofs and balconies, increase bee populations around the city, improve Jewish-Palestinian relations and enhance the urban ecology.
Suddenly a woman who never made a penny in her life has a respectable occupation
Initially the concept was meant for women from several sectors, like Haredi, Ethiopian and Arabic, trapped in poverty in households with little opportunities for them to make a financial contribution and expand themselves due to religious, cultural and social factors. The roofs could be turned into a resource. In the Western city, people are interested more in learning about agriculture and gardening. In the Eastern parts it is more about income. “The story of the honey is that it is a premium product you can grow on the roof, and suddenly a woman who never made a penny in her life has a respectable occupation and makes an income.”, Matan Israeli, Muslala’s CEO explains.
Not only that, but the bees are grown biodynamically and sustainably, meaning only about a third of the honey is harvested from the beehives, to make sure the bees themselves have the food they need. Having learned about the bees increased the women’s interest in gardening flowers for them to harvest as well, and thus greening and coloring their dwellings.
The original professional training costs them a symbolic sum of NIS 500, and at its conclusion they receive two beehives and all the accessory equipment. The price also includes monitoring the process and on-going guidance, and is soon returned when they sell the honey. They get their diplomas as beekeepers only after the first honey harvesting.
Staying at home, going international
Eventually, the women find themselves not only expanding themselves and bringing home an income, all that without getting out of the house, but also going international. People from all over the world come to visit and see their beehives firsthand. Also, once they understand that what they are doing and internalize what they have learned, they become a part of an international sustainability community.
In addition to all that, taking care of animals considered scary, makes these women seem heroic to their relatives and friends, and promotes their status in their society. A total WIN WIN situation…
Muslala and Musrara - Where it All Began
The history is no less interesting than its current physical manifestation.
Musrara and the “Seam Line”
Prior to 1967 and following the Independence War, Jerusalem was divided in two. The border between the Jordanian and the Israeli parts was adjacent to Musrara, a previously Arab neighborhood, which was abandoned during the war. Israel inhabited the buildings with new immigrants from the relatively undeveloped diasporas of the Middle East and North Africa. The neighborhood was neglected and poor until 1967. Following the unification of the city, new blood and energies were divested into Musrara, including four creative schools – Musrara School of Photography and New Music, Ma’ale School for Cinema, Jerusalem Print Workshop and The School for Eastern Music and Dance.
Muslala’s art collective
The art collective was estabvlished in 2009 with the goal to connect people through art. The idea was to have “interventions you can live with” – not grand monuments, but small art pieces in deserted corners, murals on bulletin boards, a community garden and steps which enable people to cross over the old border.
Muslala takes its separate course
The rifts run too deep
According to the book sold on the premises -“Muslala, the First Five Years 2009-2014“, – the original Muslala was primarily focused on mobilizing art for community development. Great efforts were made to get the various communities together – secular students, large religious families, Ashekenazis and Sephardics, Arabs and Jews.
An abandoned lot was used to create “happenings” with music and dance centered around a common beloved food – watermelons. Art projects attempted to conjoin the two parts of the city across the old pre-67 wall.
Despite all good intentions, ultimately the challenge was too big, the conflicts too deep, and the artists were asked to leave the neighborhood, They still succeeded to erect a monument celebrating 40 years to the Israeli Black Panther movement.
Moving on
At that time, Matan Israeli was teaching a class at David Yellin Teachers College in Jerusalem. In that capacity, he gave his students a task to create a project of cooperation. Two female students chose the Klal Building. Initially they were discouraged from their idea, after all the building was a sort of commercial slum in mid city, but they understood that there is an opportunity here for urban renovation.
What Muslala's Roof offers to Jerusalemites
On a day-to-day basis, Muslala’s roof functions as an urban park and is open 9-18 every day. Anybody can come, sit and have a drink, work on their laptops, chat with other visitors. It’s a green oasis in the midst of the ever-expanding grey mass. And as mentioned above, there is also a night camping site on location.
Picturess show how Muslala’s roof is used to get people from all walks of life together in Jerusalem
In addition to festivals, there is a lot of cultural and artistic activity on the roof. People of all walks meet each other and talk, including Arab and Jewish women practicing the two languages with each other. Musmama, a daughter project, offers an opportunity for mothers with children to meet in the mornings. Another project, “Hands of Gold” offers seniors classes in carpentry, food creation and agriculture. People teach acro-balance, contact dancing, food saving, carpentry, natural pharmaceutics and more. Courses in sustainable methods of gardening and agriculture are given routinely, which, as I mentioned above, is how I happened to find about Muslala in the first place..
You can even tent here on the roof. Must be nice in the fresh high air of a summer’s night
Muslala's Temple
There is a cherry at the center of the cake – a Mid-Burn temple, instead of being burned, was transported here, to host a unique artistic installation. Visiting Indian artist, Wibha Galhotra, who fell in love with the Jerusalem “soundtrack”, created a temple for the three religions, where sounds of the city’s various religions emanate from a central altar-like stone she constructed from Jerusalem stones..
That’s enough for this platform about this amazing place. For more, come. visit, buy gifts, donate, participate in the activities, contribute and share the word.
And remember, Israel is not just about wars.
If you want to know more about Israel’s ecological alternative movement, check out my work in progress: Blue and Green – Israel’s Back to the Land, under the rubric of Israel’s Best.
For more topics feel welcome to browse my website Planet’s daughter
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