22 March 2019, ---, Jerusalem: Ultra-Orthodox Jews celebrate Purim in the strictly religious Mea Shearim neighbourhood of Jerusalem. The carnival-like Purim holiday is celebrated with parades and costume parties to commemorate the deliverance of the Jewish people from a plot to exterminate them in the ancient Persian empire 2,500 years ago, as described in the Book of Esther. Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa