Calm today (almost)

Metal detector installed at
entry to El Wad street

** Breaking news: stabbing in Prophets Street in front of Damascus Gate, 2 wounded.

Today the soldiers left Via Dolorosa. The street is empty ... and arabs are out walking about now. Some sense of normality ... but who knows how long this will lasts. Metal detectors have been installed in both Jaffa Gate and Damascus Gate with a couple of soldiers in charge. But other than that, the military presence has been very much toned down. Perhaps this is a new tactic ... to lessen the provocation in the streets by their absence.

Yesterday saw another series of attacks ... and rioting in many cities ranging from Nazareth, Umm el Fahm and other northern areas. In the south, Gaza rose up with great violence ... arab youths marching toward the Israeli division wall. 7 were shot dead and many more wounded. From viral videos on the Internet, it was clear Israeli police had sent in plain clothes infiltrators to join the genuine rioters and then arrest them. The videos show some of these infiltrators shooting captured arab youths. Another video going viral is the shooting of an arab woman wielding a knife at the Afula central bus station at close range.

Autumn leaves

No matter what ... we hope things will calm down. The newspapers are at pains to emphasize that this is NOT an Intifada ... for obvious economic reasons. Tourism will definitely collapse, foreign investors will pull out and the economy will slump lower than it already is. War is not good for anyone.

I'm trying to take my mind away from this stressful situation. The brain automatically switches to defense mode when the stress overloads. So I've been admiring the beautiful color changes in the leaves ... it's autumn and the rusty red hues are dotting the trees and fields and gardens. The nights are now chilly and I think soon I'll have to take out the hot-air fans (heaters). During the day, people are beginning to wear jackets and hoodies.