50 days of war

An iconic shot of the Old
City - arches, ivy, churches

50 days of war. Missiles from Gaza are alot fewer these days ... and though Israel continues to bomb Gaza, it is more precise and calculated to avoid civilian casualties than when it first started. However as the south seems to quieten down, problems flare up in the north. Rockets from Syria land in the Golan Heights while missiles from Lebanon land into Israel. I think I speak for everyone - both jew and arab - when I say "We're tired of this .... STOP! and let us continue our lives". But internally racial and religious tit-for-tat scuffles continue. A local paper carried an article on recent statistics showing Israeli jewish teenagers are openly racist and proud. And the education system is supporting this. And the arab side fares no better.

To top it all there is this incredible heatwave over the country. Relentlessly hot ... and unusually humid. I sure hope there will be rain  this year. Last year was a disaster. We hardly had any rain ... only 3 days of snow. One thing that enjoys this humidity is the creeping ivy. They're flourishing like crazy. Couldn't resist taking this photo which is typical of an Old City view: stone arches covered with ivy.

With the ice-bucket challenge going viral ... an iraqi bishop posted another challenge which is far more meaningful for christians ... half hour silent prayer in solidarity with Iraq's persecuted christians. The gruesome videos of James Foley's beheading, the killing of christians in Iraq ... headless torsos of christian children, a heap of human heads .... this calls for immediate action, prayer and solidarity. Christianity is dead in Iraq ... christians are dead in Iraq. The Christian genocide is well underway. First in Iraq and Syria ... next in your own country. Won't you take up the challenge ... for you own sake?