Pedestrian Mall and the Star

On Tuesdays and Fridays, the pedestrian zone of Nachlat Benyamin street in Tel Aviv, turns into a colourful, lively, open mall with artists selling their original handicrafts, with musicians and pantomime entertainers performing their magic shows, with cute cafes and restaurants feeding the visitors, with lots of people wandering among the stands looking for gifts to buy or just contemplating the crafts on display, and absorbing the special atmosphere of the place.

The pedestrian zone of Nachlat Binyamin street is located between Carmel Market and Alenby street. At the meeting point of these three sites , one could watch the singing performance of Miri Aloni (60), a former star with a superb, powerful voice who has become during the last decade a street singer. She accompanies her Hit songs with guitar playing; people watch, listen and put coins and bills into the box placed near her.

Miri Aloni first came to be noticed in the Sixties. She was then the soloist of one of the army regimental bands, The Nachal Band. She had a captivating voice, good looks, great talent, and so, following her success during her army service , she became one of the greatest israeli pop and rock stars. But something happened to her on the way to consolidating her stardom. After a very promising start and a certain period of glory there began a decline in her career. According to the gossip columns in the newspapers it was 'cherchez l'homme'- look for the man in her life. It was said that she was attracted to the wrong type of men who suppressed her personality and damaged her professional carreer.

Anyway, in november 1995 she became well-known abroad too due to a tragic event - the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhac Rabin at a peace gathering held at the Municipality square of Tel Aviv. She was on the stage singing together with Rabin and the foreign minister Peres her famous song Shir La Shalom (Song for Peace); minutes later, Rabin was assassinated. In interviews to the Media during the ensuing years she claimed that she was not happy being associated with tragedy and complained that this association had deteriorated her career and her ability to make a living.

Miri Aloni should be appreciated not only for her vocal performance but also for her tough character. Not everyone in her position would have survived this transition from concert halls to street corners.