Talpiot
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- Talpiot program is an elite technology unit in the IDF (Israeli Defence Force)
Talpiot (Hebrew: תלפיות), is a neighbourhood in southeastern Jerusalem that was established in the 1922 by Zionist Jews. The neighbourhood was evacuated following the 1929 Hebron massacre. Following the Israeli War of Independence, Talpiot became almost completely surrounded by Jordanian-controlled East Jerusalem for 19 years, but it remained settled under Israeli control. The neighbourhood expanded significantly only after the 1967 Six-Day War, mainly over lands near and beyond the old separation line between Israel and Jordan, including lands formerly administrated by the UN. It also includes an important industrial area.
;The Nobel prize winner Shmuel Yosef Agnon lived in this neighbourhood for most of his life, near Joseph Gedalja Klausner the brilliant scholar. According to Amos Oz's autobiographical novel A Tale of Love and Darkness (2003) the two men disliked and shunned each other. The founder of Modern Hebrew, Eliezer Ben Yehuda, built a home in Talpiot, but died before having the opportunity to live there.
Talpiot is divided into several sub-neighbourhoods today. "Old Talpiot" is the historic and well-established residential neighborhood founded in 1922. North Talpiot -- also known as Arnona -- has been regentrified since the area is no longer a border zone (post-1967) and has become a more exclusive area, with panoramic views of Jerusalem's Old City. Across Derech Hevron to the west is the Talpiot Industrial Zone which has become one of Jerusalem's main shopping districts and a popular nightspot. To the east is the neighbouring neighbourhood of East Talpiot.
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[edit] Attractions
Talpiot is today one of the main popular places for nightlife in Jerusalem. It includes shopping malls, a large cinema, a bowling facility, and dozens of night clubs and discos. One of the most famous night clubs in Israel, Haoman 17, resides in Talpiot.
[edit] The Haas Promenade
Connecting East Talpiot and Talpiot is the Haas Promenade Hebrew: הטיילת (ha-Tayelet). From this vantage point atop a ridge overlooking Jerusalem's Old City and the Dead Sea, Abraham was shown Mount Moriah as the site for the binding of Isaac as recorded in the Bible. This area was No Man's Land between the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 and the reunification of Jerusalem as a result of the Six-Day War in 1967. At one end of the Promenade is the United Nations Middle East Headquarters which was formerly the home of the British high commissioner during the British Mandate of Palestine -- on a hill also known as the Hill of Evil Counsel. Hidden under this ridge are the remains of an aqueduct built by Herod the Great to bring water from the south, by way of his summer palace Herodian, to the Second Temple. Today the Promenade is a frequent stopping place for tourists and Israelis alike. The Jerusalem Peace Forest, connecting East Jerusalem and West Jerusalem is below the Promenade. The Jerusalem municipality plants a tree in this forest for every child born in Jerusalem, representing the eternal hope of peace bridging the Arab and Jewish populations.
[edit] Versailles wedding hall
The May 24, 2001, collapse of the Versailles wedding hall in the Talpiot area of Jerusalem killed 23 and injured more than 200. The collapse was blamed on poor construction practices. The disaster is considered Israel's worst civil disaster.