More rain

Debris at the former
US consulate

Shocking news last night, hours after the arab youth stabbed a jewish man outside Damascus Gate. News flooded in that an arab bus driver was found hanged inside his bus. Arabs immediately called it a lynching while Israeli police denied any foul play. No matter what, each side believes in its own version. Riots in the southern villages of Jerusalem where the man came from. The Old City though remained mainly untouched.

The rains continued last night, stopped in the  morning for a couple of hours then came back more heavily. It was good and we need it. However the rest of the country was not prepared and so flooding has caused damage in several areas. The former American Consulate had tree branches snapped off and this morning a crew had to clear the road from its debris and cut back the ancient cypresses.

The new pathway in front
of the Ecce Homo convent

And the rains have not stopped the Municipality crew from re-paving parts of the Via Dolorosa. The old stones worn smooth by time because dreadfully slippery in the rain. The Municipality is paving one side of the road with rough limestone slabs for tourists to walk safely. It starts at the Austrian Hospice and last night they reached the entrance of Ecce Homo convent. Tonight they'll do the section between the Ecce Homo and the Condemnation Chapel. The rain is not making the work any easier but the nightly work that lasts 4 hours is pretty fast by Middle-East standards. Now the road looks weird ... one half with new stone slabs, the other with ancient stones. But then everything else in the Holyland is a hodge-podge of new and old, ancient and modern. Nothing here surprises me anymore.