On Friday morning, October 17, 2025, the city will be touched by a quiet but powerful shade of pink. What began as a personal initiative by a Jerusalem woman who survived breast cancer has grown into a public event aiming not just to talk about awareness, but to change behavior and encourage preventive screening. The walk will start at 08:30 from the First Station Park parking area and continue toward the Jerusalem Pool — but the movement behind it began long before the first step.
A Personal Journey That Became a Call for Early Detection
Sh’, a Jerusalem resident who battled the disease and recovered, is the driving force behind the initiative. She explains that she made sure to get checked regularly even before turning 40, without feeling any symptoms. In her words, there are tumors that cannot be detected by touch at all. She recalls meeting women whose cancer was discovered too late, leaving them only with life-prolonging treatments. For her, if even one woman detects the disease early thanks to this event, the mission will be fulfilled.
Her story turned into a public idea when her friends wanted to organize a thanksgiving celebration and she asked them instead to “paint Jerusalem pink.” From that request, the initiative took shape — combining emotional resonance with medical urgency. Every year, around 5,500 women in Israel are diagnosed with breast cancer, yet early detection offers a recovery rate of over 90 percent. The message is clear: pause, get checked, and act before the disease advances.
The event is held in cooperation with the Jerusalem Municipality, the Sports Division and the Department for the Promotion of Women. Alongside the walk itself, fitness trainers, personal development therapists and medical professionals will take part. Information booths will be available, a DJ will play music, light refreshments will be offered and various activities will take place. Any woman over the age of 25 will be able to fill out a risk assessment questionnaire and follow up with her doctor.
(After a night out – Jerusalem’s deadliest driving hours)
Jerusalem Puts Breast Cancer on the Public Agenda
Ariela Rejwan, Director General of the Jerusalem Municipality, said:
“‘Jerusalem in Pink’ is more than an event — it is a call for the women of Jerusalem, and beyond, to take responsibility for their health and initiate early detection exams. All are invited: mothers, daughters, sisters, friends and neighbors — come, walk and choose life.”
The human layer behind the initiative is not lost in the statistics. Women who have lived through diagnosis, shared the news with their families and endured treatment — turn the event into a compass pointing not only to a challenge, but to action. It is where medicine meets community, and where data becomes deeply personal. A city that has known many struggles is choosing to bring one of the most silent battles into the open.
What begins in pink may lead to lives saved. For many, this is not just a walk — it is a reminder that getting checked can be the difference between a personal crisis and a story of hope.
