Complaints

This is the way the old and disused Jerusalem railway station looks from the western edge of Bible Hill. The neglect of this venerable and beautiful monument is, at least metaphorically, criminal. About half a year ago, somebody set a fire in the upper floor. You can see the stains left by the smoke over the windows. The official response to this arson was to place some police barriers (which soon fell down) and warnings that the building was now "dangerous," meaning that it might fall down onto passers by.
The railroad station is not the only derelict public structure nearby. Obviously real estate developers have their eye on it, but until someone decides what to do and receives permission to do it, the building sits in neglect.
A few years ago somebody commissioned murals on metal panels that were placed over the doors and windows, pictures the evoked the building's past as a center of transportation between Jerusalem and Jaffo during the mandate period. It was built at the end of the nineteenth century by the Ottomans. The railroad connection between Jerusalem and the Mediterranean coast changed the character of the city.
I am upset by the neglect of this lovely building, which has so much potential, and, on a larger scale, I am upset because this kind of thoughtless neglect is typical of life here in Israel. Why isn't anyone taking on the mission of saving the railroad station and turning it into an attractive cultural and commercial center?