Even the BBC could not fail to report how Formula 1 racing hit Jerusalem for the first time earlier this month. The municipality closed off streets around the walls of the ancient holy city, as cars whirled past. “All we have all the time is fighting, fighting and  fighting, but everyone is here together and happy – Muslims, Christians and  Orthodox Jews,” quoted one local resident. “There are no fights.”

And that really is the point. Reach for any mainstream international media and you cannot be blamed for thinking that Jerusalem is all about three conflicting religions. From being a city, which represents peace, the reports seem to imply that all sides are physically attacking each other and even within their own groupings – all day, every day.

Yes, maybe that happens at the fringes, sometimes. And we all know that bad news makes for excellent copy. If you just scratch that surface ever so gently, you will find a very different world.

At the same time that screeching cars could be seen from the rooftops of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre or the Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem was hosting a Festival of Light. Holograms of classical music, tango dancers, priests, flying fish and more were beamed onto the walls of historic buildings in the Old City. All four quarters, Muslim, Christian, Armenian and Jewish, were exposed to tens of thousands of local visitors and tourists every night. Phenomenal experience.

I could mention the annual Israel Arts Festival or the final of the European Under 21 football competition. Neil Tennant of pop band ‘Pet Shop Boys’ , which is due to play in Tel Aviv this week, summed it up when he wrote recently that “in Israel anyone who buys a ticket can attend a concert”.

For the record, my favourite event is the latest exhibition by my good friend Shoshana Meerkin. Aptly entitled “Touches of Transparency“, her ever- beautiful and delicate works can be seen at the Jerusalem Theatre for the next month. Open to all, free, easy access for physically impaired.

Now that is my Jerusalem 2013.