Feast of the Prophet's birthday

Yesterday was the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed. Prayers had began the evening before and continued throughout the day into last evening. Thousands of muslims had gathered at the Haram es Sharif (the huge esplanade containing the Mosque of Al Aksa and the Dome of the Rock), literally stopping all traffic at the 3 City Gates leading into the Muslim Quarter. A one minute walk out through Damascus Gate took 25 mins. in a human crush that miraculously saw no injuries. When I asked several muslims in the street what feastday it was, they said "muslim christmas".

There were thousands of children in the streets, eating sweets and carrying presents. Busloads of muslim pilgrims were brought into the City from all parts of the country. Hawkers made brisk trade in make-shift stalls at the City Gates, creating more obstacles for the human crush getting in and out of the City. Fairy-lights were strung all along the Gates and streets. The mosque near Ecce Homo convent/basilica held an all night koran recitation session. One notable observation - no Israeli soldiers were seen in the Muslim Quarter. They might have kept a discreet presence behind road corners and doors.

The day was extremely fine for the feast - sunny and breezy. It made everything enjoyable. But later in the evening a hamsin blew - pretty powerful, dry and cold with lots of sand from the desert. That didn't dampen the crowd's festive spirit.

And yesterday was Praveen's birthday as well. His sister-in-law who works in Tel Aviv came to cook Indian food for dinner; and Prav invited me over. But I declined as I had other things to do. Hope he had a nice celebration.