Every time I'm on the bus coming back to Jerusalem from Rosh Ha'ayin, as we pass Sha'ar Hagai I think about the armored trucks along the side of the road. These vehicles were part of the effort to break the siege of Jerusalem in 1948. I don't know the exact history, but I think I remember that they used to be arranged in a haphazardly fashion, and at some point recently they were lined up and arranged to appear orderly.
The trucks in this memorial appear to fit our ruin criteria, but I'm not positive they are ruins. I have two qualms:
1) Can vehicles become ruins? These trucks are certainly ruinous, but I don't think they are the type of ruins we intended. Perhaps we need to add a new ruin criteria, that the ruin was once a building. Of course, this can lead to hair-splitting: what about R.V.s? Houseboats? They weren't buildings, but were inhabited. What about really large, yet movable installations? I don't know for sure.
2) The trucks were arranged deliberately. So long as they lay where they fell, they had a more ruinous quality. Now that the vehicles have been arranged, it's more like an art installation than ruins.
I am certainly interested in hearing other opinions on this matter.
An interesting story, as Maoz Azaryahu tells it. See in his article (link below, p.134) that part of an old road was excavated to become a ruin....
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