Jerusalem outskirts bombed

Today 4.50pm the sirens sounded in Jerusalem. We got out to see what happened and realised we were being fired upon by rockets. One fell near Tekoa (the village of the prophet Amos) south of Jerusalem. It's certainly unexpected because Gaza never had the capability to fire rockets beyond 25km. Now they reached Jerusalem which is 120 km away. Someone is providing the Gazans with new and powerful rockets. It's the first time in 20 years that rockets have been fired into Jerusalem - a foolish move since the Al Aqsa mosque is right in the centre of the city and any damage to the mosque (the 3rd holiest in Islam) will be unforgiveable by the rest of the muslim world. We're certain this was just a once off shot to frighten the Israeli govt. and will not occur again.

But believe me, even with this scare, life went on as usual. In fact more people were in the streets, sharing stories about previous wars over a cup of coffee and cigarette. Shops continue to do brisk business. Military presence was high but not anymore than the usual Jewish holidays.

Sr, Vincenta at work

And just to show you how usual life is, we have Sr. Vincenta sorting and washing the olives before pickling them. Couldn't resist taking a photo.

Later in the evening Giuseppe, our volunteer archaeologist, invited me to a home cooked dinner. His fiancee Chiara (also an archaeologist) arrived a week ago and she wanted to meet me as she heard alot about me from Giuseppe. It was a lovely simple dinner - mushroom soup, smoked salmon and fresh bread, fruit and cake. Chiara and I chatted alot while Giuseppe was busy in the kitchen. Chiara leaves for Italy on Monday morning.

So it's war and peace ... rockets may be fired all over the country but the people will not let it destroy their lives; they will live life as usual ... it's the only way to win a war ... by not fighting it.