China rules

Early yesterday morning (2am to be exact ... arab youths don't sleep till about 3 or 4am here) my arab friend called me to chat. Halfway through our conversation, there was a series of explosions from the street where he was ... and that's only about 20 meters from my room ... so I not only saw the flashes from my window but also the explosions that seem to be directed my way. He shouted "trouble! trouble!" and cut the line. Well the streets at that hour are filled with jews going and coming from the Wailing Wall for the all night Selichot prayers (penitential) in preparation for Yom Kippur. Apparently someone shot fireworks at them. The melee was incredible ... jewish crowds running and screaming down the street while soldiers pushed through the crowd to search for the culprit. I'm just lucky the explosives did not enter through my window. It was that close! Now I can imagine what the next few days will be like when the feastdays are actually celebrated. How I wish to get out of the City this weekend. My nerves are frayed from bronchitis, stress and work. I don't need running battles under my window for 48 hours non-stop.

Chinese goods arrive at
Damascus Gate every morning

But despite the occasional flare-ups and wars, one thing that's different from the Hong Kong demonstrations is - our economy doesn't stop. Police may be shooting tear gas and crowds running everywhere but you can be sure the shops and stalls continue to open and people still go about shopping amidst the gas and confusion. Every morning trucks loaded with China made goods arrive at Damascus Gate and men with pushcarts transfer the wares into the Old City's innumerable shops. China is big here. Everyone - jew and arab - acknowledges it. If China were to stop exporting to us ... we'll crumble. And that's a daily fact. No wonder more and more arabs and jews are learning "ni hao ma?" which is heard in the streets.