Sugarcane juice

Finally all the violence in the streets have stopped. Friday's clashes was to commemorate the anniversary of the 2nd Intifada. But it's all over and hopefully we can all continue with our lives.

On a happy note, the local-made film "Bethlehem" has won some international acclaim. I'd really like to see it but there're no cinemas in our area - actually there're only 2 and they're very exclusive  - so we'll have to wait for version to be uploaded on Youtube. As usual the film is about the Jewish-Arab tension reflected in the relationship between an Israeli intelligence agent and his arab spy. Complex. And if you haven't yet watched some local-made films, I'd recommend Ajami and Lemon Tree. Both powerful films with the same themes on the political-social world of this country. Both are available on Youtube. I wish local film-makers would make films that are happier and funnier ... but art reflects life ... and life here is not easy.

Sugarcane juice on sale

I found my favourite fruit juice shop selling fresh sugarcane juice! What a surprise! It felt like back home in the food markets ... and the juice was not only sweet and refreshing .... it was like a nostalgic trip back to the homeland and the past. Only thing missing was the char kway teow and mee siam and rojak to go with it ...... Felt a little homesick at that moment. Anyway the sugarcane juice made all the tensions of last week's violence and work disappear ... for a while. It was really a timely surprise. By the way, a medium sized cup of juice (see photo) costs 25 shekels or US$7. Not cheap!

Violent Friday

Soldiers blocking off the
street below our house

Last night saw more stun grenades being fired in the Herod's Gate area. This afternoon after the Friday prayers, groups of youths started causing trouble in front of our school. Soldiers charged and fired stun grenades, tear gas and rubber bullets. Lasted for over an hour. The violence enveloped the whole Bab Hutta area and the periphery of St Anne's Church was surrounded by border police and soldiers. At 5pm the soldiers began to call off the attack after several arrests were made. I guess the Imam's fiery sermon had a part to play ... but I was told some guys are actually being paid by outside forces to cause trouble. Sad. Anyway violence also broke out at Damascus Gate.

All this will probably blow away tomorrow ... the tensions have waned and people just want to get on with their daily lives. We're sick of all this senseless violence that's doing no one any good.

Violent 2 days

Damascus Gate dyed blue by riot-
dispersing water canons

The last 3 nights saw alot of clashes between muslims and jews in our area. Tuesday evening saw massive protests and demonstrations at Damascus Gate around 5pm. The govt. had closed off the Dome of the Rock esplanade to everyone - muslims for prayers and jews for the feast of Sukkot. The muslims were not happy of course and expressed it violently. 5 charges by police and soldiers were made at the muslim crowd within 2 hours. Stun grenades and tear gas also fired. Helicopters flew very low overhead. And lots of blue-dyed water was sprayed from water-canons. Now the stones of Damascus Gate are stained blue.

Later at 10pm stone throwing began at the 5th Station of the Cross. Soldiers charged inside the City and chased began ... reaching up to even the Christian Quarter. Stun grenades were fired inside the narrow streets and the area was blacked-out to impede rioters from running ... a fact everyone knows who lives here: it's impossible to run in the dark when the streets are filled with steps and potholes. Everything calmed down by midnight.

But next morning saw groups of agitators starting trouble again at the 5th Station and lower down at Bab Hutta opposite St. Anne's Church. Police reinforcements were called in again. Street chase in front of our house .... By lunchtime calm was restored. We're told maybe today or tomorrow (Friday) more trouble is expected.

I stay out of trouble ... well sort of. I go out into the streets to see and ask what's happening. My security friends were with me so I sort of get some protection. But I worry for some of my arab friends. Have called them to stay out of trouble and remain at home. Luckily they heeded and none of them were involved in the violence. For now at least.

Trouble?

I missed the jewish Priestly Blessing at the Wailing Wall on Sunday. It takes place twice a year when most of the jewish priests come to bless the nation. It's an awesome experience. I was too sick to go. Ate some cornflakes with milk on Saturday morning but the milk was off. Dreadful stomach cramps and diarrhea, vomiting and fainting spells from Saturday till Monday night. Luckily I managed to get someone buy me a liter of Coca Cola and drank the whole bottle last night. Now everything is settled.

The usually bustling Damascus Gate
is unusally quiet and empty at 11am

Tensions throughout the City as some jewish groups have called for a million men march into the AlAqsa Mosque today. High security throughout the City. Thousands of jews flocking around the Muslim Quarter. Most arab shops are closed. Even the usually crowded Damascus Gate market is empty of shops and people. Eerily quiet like a lull before a storm. We really don't know what to expect. The day has passed relatively quiet though. Let's see what this evening brings.

Rains ... on Saturday evening a heavy shower blanketed most of the country. Then again this morning. The temperature has dropped some 9 degrees and the nights are chilly. Everyone is saying we have not had a Sukkot so cold as 20 years back.

Sukkot

2 days back, scuffles broke out below our house. It was the vigil of Sukkot or Feast of Tents. Muslims were locked out of the Al Aqsa Mosque and a group at Bab  Hutta began protesting and throwing bottles at soldiers. The soldiers charged and the group ran up the street to our gate. The street is narrow and parked with cars, so the crowd clambered over the cars, soldiers did the same. Several muslims were beaten with batons by the soldiers. The day after on Sukkot morning, we heard a woman in her 60s was beaten by the soldiers for insisting on entering the Mosque. A small riot broke out in retaliation. That night stun grenades were fired inside the Mosque area. Then this morning another riot inside the Mosque esplanade ... shots fired and the imam was arrested for inciting violence. The situation is tense in our area, that's for sure. We hear the jews have called for a million men march into the Mosque on next Tuesday, the last day of Sukkot. We're expecting a strong muslim reaction.

Majd in the newspapers

On a happy note, the son of our porter - 13 yr old Majd won the Best Young Footballer prize and was interviewed by the newspapers. Very proud of him. Ah Ling from Mandarin Restaurant called me over for dinner a couple of days back ... she made dumplings and Tang Yuan and gingko nut/date soup. A small Mid-autumn festival meal. It was very nice. At last ... some warm fresh food. I've been eating leftovers from the fridge the past few months as I've been too busy at work and too tired to warm it up. Lost 3 kgs during this stressful period. But the work is finally done. Am looking forward to a rest ... but from the looks of it, it'll be in hospital. Got to have my long overdue operation done ... but not all at once.

Stromata

A heart-shaped mango
at a fruit-juice stall in
Jerusalem

It probably escaped most of you but Saturday Sept 14th was the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross and which coincided with the Jewish feast of Atonement (Yom Kippur). A wonderful coincidence and reminder of God's merciful forgiveness .... the scapegoat who bore the sins of Israel away (Yom Kippur) is for christians Christ the Lamb of God who bore our sins on the cross. Saw a heart-shaped mango at a juice stall at the Mall : God's love expressed in nature!

Sunday passed like a zombie. It was usual work for me ... moving 1000 books to the new premises alone. My twisted ankle got swollen as a result, my back hurts and my tennis elbow is back. But I managed to complete the transfer by 5pm. This morning Elisa a student and myself moved a small section and completed it - from 2nd floor to 4th floor. Now remains the section Judaica ... the final stage before the library reopens to students and professors.

We're under a dreadful heatwave right now - 38 degrees in the day. But the nights get so chilly I have to use a hoodie to stay warm. Luckily we have aircons in the library ... and they're on at 19 degrees because the electricians came to work and the place got pretty hot. The next few days will be equally hot and filled with hectic last-minute polishing up of minor details before the big opening.

Yom Kippur

The solemn day of Atonement ... where once the sins of Israel were cast onto the scapegoat and it was driven out into the wilderness. Nowadays a chicken substitutes the scapegoat .... and eve more commonly, a stack of money. The chicken is cooked and given to the poor to eat, and the money is similarly donated to the poor.

Herod's Gate is closed off

For us, its quite an inconvenient day ... the eastern part of the City is closed off. Blockades everywhere, heavy military presence. Youths below 45 years may not enter the City nor the Al Aqsa Mosque. The jews fear the arabs may cause violence on this day when jews are not allowed to work or kill. The entire West Bank (Palestine) has been closed off - meaning the checkpoints have been closed so no one can come out into Israel. Yom Kippur is definitely also a day of penance for the arabs who cannot travel or pray in the Al Aqsa mosque.

I'm working as usual in the library. Moving thousands of books alone today. Yesterday some students (3 actually) came to help ... which was great! And another student Elisa has been helping most of the days as well. But for the majority of the time, I'm alone. Yesterday was bad as I was very sick. The students and workers kept telling me to go and rest but I couldn't leave them alone to work. Was very nauseous and finally vomited ... nothing .... as I didn't eat anything. Extremely giddy and with a fever. Fell asleep at 6pm and woke up several times in the night before it was daybreak. It was a good sleep I guess. The heatwave is awful though ... 30 degrees in the night.

Vigil of Yom Kippur

Tensions are rising as Yom Kippur approaches. It begins tomorrow night. This morning at 5.30am soldiers closed off the eastern part of the City ... towards Bab Hutta and St Anne's Church. Then at 9am school children and youths marched down Herod's Gate to Lions' Gate through Bab Hutta chanting slogans against Israel. 2 days back, arab youths threw stones and smashed the windows of a tour coach carrying jews on the Mt. of Olives. No guesses how bad tomorrow will be.

As Yom Kippur requires everyone to repent from the past year's sins and the asking for forgiveness, the Israel papers today have focussed on the jewish exploitation of foreign worker. The study showed 90% of Tel Aviv businesses exploit foreign workers. Really bad record. http://www.haaretz.com/business/.premium-1.546449  And there is also the report of the bad treatment the Israeli govt gave to arab christians supporters. Shameful. http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.546014     Repent and atone for your sins, Israel!!!!

Then we have reports of ultra-orthodox jewish rabbis banning jewish women from organising zumba classes. The rabbis have more power and control than the police or govt. or law courts. Not much fun the New Year .... http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.546014   It's unlikely the rabbis think they need repentance .. rather its women who need it.

And the Iron Dome anti-missile system is for the first time being deployed in the Jerusalem area. Fears of an attack from Damascus is real .. and the Yom Kippur holiday conjures specters of the Yom Kippur War 40 years back. And the warning of hackers attacking Israeli websites on Sept.11 went pretty hollow. We didn't see much damage done.

Little Cafe - new, perky in
an old part of town

The bigger chaos came just after Rosh haShana on Monday when all computers and handphones n Israel switched to solar time. Officially the Israeli govt. has rejected this switch so early in autumn and has declared Oct 27th as the official switch ... following the rest of Europe. But telecom companies did not catch up on this and so we woke up an hour earlier on handphones and computers but battery run clcoks still kept daylight saving. The whole day was eventually settled as everyone switched back to daylight saving or adjusting the timezone to that of Athens instead of jerusalem.

And the happy note today - "Little Cafe" opened round the corner of Rusul Street just behind the Rockefeller Museum. Looks nice and friendly from the outside ...

Fast and prayer

So the New Year weekend is over ... and I survived the absolutely awful illness that pulled me down during Rosh haShana. Am recovering well ... though the pain in the back and leg still remains albeit slight. No longer limping but there is an occasional sharp pain in the ankle that I sprained.

Sfiha by Firas' mum

Yesterday was the world fast for peace. I did my part. Actually fasting began by Friday evening as I did not eat anything from tthen. Went to sleep and woke up on Saturday, had half a cup of coffee and some cornflakes and then it was no food throughout till 8pm. Nothing extraordinary ... it's my usual routine. I hardly eat nowadays anyway. Ended the fast with some lovely sfiha (mini-meat pizzas) that my friend Firas' mum baked. Later in the night there was a prayer vigil in the Garden of Gethsemani. Lots and lots of people showed up to pray with the church leaders. At about 10.30pm crowds began to file homewards, passing by my house. As usual there was an electric cut - one of the almost daily cuts we've been experiencing this month - so the roads were pitch black. Nuns and laity ussed their mobile phones to light their way home. Looked like twinkling stars all along the Way of the Cross. Hopefully our prayers are heard.

Yesterday my ancient iPhone 3's clock switched back an hour. Caused some confusion for me. Our switch to solar time is only on Oct 27th. Asking around I was told there was some glitch in the carrier's system. Then this morning, all other cellphone carriers also switched clocks back by an hour ... including computers. What utter chaos! And everyone else's seem to have been affected as well. Now this is really crazy. We were not sure if it was time for Mass or not. The conspiracy theory floating around that I heard is that this is meant to confuse the region in order to facilitate America's bombing of Syria very soon. Don't know if it's true ... but it's annoying everyone on ground zero.

Rosh haShana 2

First day of Rosh haShana ... relative quiet after yesterday's riots in the mosque. Military presence remains heavy but people continue with their lives. Like me ... still with renovation works despite me being very sick today. Again it's fever, nausea, dizziness ... tried to rest but phone calls continue to call me downstairs to open this door, that door, work in 3 different parts of the building. I just don't have the energy left. Today is really bad. Lousy start of the New Year.

Halva the naughty pup

Tensions again in the air as Obama continues to incite an attack on Damascus. But all the religious leaders in Syria are stating again and again that the persecutions and destruction is done by the rebels and not the govt. troops. Mercenaries and extremists from foreign countries are flooding Syria to help destroy christianity. But America is determined to help them. That is evil incarnate. But my jewish friend has another interpretation for evil - the German Shepherd pup he saved a month ago from the streets. The pup demands alot of attention and exercise which my friend cannot give, so Halva (that's the pup's name) tears up the whole apartment. Frightful ... the sofa is gone. We sit on the floor now. Wallpaper gone. Shoes socks and any item of clothing left around is ripped to pieces. Now that's a weapon of mass destruction.

Off on a tangent, archaeologists have discovered vessels containing cinnamon and nutmeg ... spices that grow only in South East Asia ... but the vessels date back 3000 years! The new theory is Israel and South East Asia (through many intermediary countries) had indirect trade relations since the earliest times. Interesting theory.

Rosh HaShana

The past few days was traumatic for everyone here (not that we're many) ... the Internet was cut off because of mis-wiring the entire school and house. Total chaos. The problem is partially fixed ... but we're expecting more ruts and crashes in the next few days.

Thanks for the mooncakes! It marks the coming of the Feats of Sukkot or Tabernacles for the jews. Healthwise I'm recovering slowly from the twisted ankle. Most of the fever, nausea and dizziness have gone. But the ankle still hurts when I'm standing for too long. But right now, its the sheer exhaustion that is weighing on me. Work continues 7 days a week. Renovation is 4 days in delay. I woke up at 3am from nightmares that I cannot get the project finished ... wandered around the library, planning what to do .. all the early morning to 7am. I can't continue like this anymore. I need a holiday to recuperate.

Mooncakes mean Feast of
Tabernacles is near

The Jewish New Year - Rosh haShana - begins this evening. Burt tis not the holiday I need. The morning began with riots in the Al Aqsa Mosque. The Muslim Quarter was closed off by the military. Stun grenades and tear gas fired. Some people were arrested. Military presence has since been extremely heavy throughout the Old and New Cities. Border police and mounted police are also everywhere. It's a bit terrifying. It brings back memories of the Intifada. A bomb attack in busy Mamilla Mall was foiled just 3 days ago.

And this Rosh haShana tensions take place in the background of impending American bombing of Syria. Everyone is expecting Syria to retaliate by bombing Israel ... perhaps with poison gas. Thousands of Israelis have been rushing to collect their free gas masks ... unfortunately foreigners like us do not have one. You need an israeli ID to get a gas mask. Anyway those people living in the north near Syria have begun moving south to Jerusalem. As Yom Kippur is in 8 days time, memories of the Yom Kippur war floods the national conscientiousness and fears of an attack on this Holy Day when jews are not allowed to fight or kill is getting more real.