US Tells Consulate Personnel To Avoid Purim Street Parties

The notice failed to clarify how this set of dangerous behaviors differs from encounters with local culture any other day of the year.

Tel Aviv, March 1 – Notices went out to American diplomats and their families today to the effect that official business may not take place at any venue hosting a Purim party Thursday or Friday, citing safety concerns.

The notice, posted on the consulate’s web site and sent to its email distribution list, cautioned American citizens in general to refrain from visiting the trouble spots indicated, and if one must visit or pass through any of the party locations, to maintain vigilance and always be aware of one’s surroundings.

The message came on the heels of a similar warning Tuesday to the effect that American diplomatic personnel are barred from entering certain areas under Palestinian control as a result of planned violent demonstrations in response to the Trump administration’s expediting of the planned embassy move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Noting similar sensibilities, the latter notice stressed the dangers Americans may face if they encounter an adeloyada, as the event is known in local parlance.

“Purim parties carry multiple dangers for US citizens,” read the message. “Beyond the typical risks associated with binge-drinking, loud music of questionable taste, unnecessarily lewd costumes, and general disregard for norms of behavior, the ‘Adeloyada’ confronts the US citizen with, inter alia, incomprehensible attire, clumsy attempts to strike up conversations in English, weird taste in beverages, and unpleasant smells.” The notice failed to clarify how this set of dangerous behaviors differs from encounters with local culture any other day of the year.

Locations cited in the notice include four Tel Aviv streets that will be closed to vehicular traffic all day Thursday, one in Ramat Gan, two in Modiin, one in Bat Yam, and Nissim Bachar Street in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Nachlaot, where Jerusalem Municipality workers spent the better part of the week installing troughs along the sidewalk for public urination after last year’s attempt to allocate port-a-potties only confused attendees and ended up overturned by drunken revelers halfway through the festivities.

A consular official disclosed that the message in its current form represents a compromise. An earlier draft of the notice placed further restrictions on diplomatic staff such as avoidance of “secret Santa”-type gift games within the office, and a warning against eating the food contents of any Purim gift baskets before checking the sell-by date on the package, given the tendency among basket recipients to repackage the food within for immediate distribution to others.

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