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.