1/6/16

Today is 1/6/16 ... nice coincidence of numbers. And a day with some major surprises here in our country. Firstly the off-duty police who beat up an arab supermarket worker for no reason have been reported to be under criminal investigation for their unwarranted violence. It's a little good news .... something we did not expect as these police usually enjoy impunity and are beyond reproach. Anyway it's just investigations and it might (or will) end in nothing. http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.722553

Secondly last week's uproar among Israelis calling for arab blood over the alleged rape of a mentally retarded jewish woman by 3 arab youths has suddenly taken a twist: the woman today has admitted that there was no rape, that her family fabricated the story to stop her affair with one of the youths. The original accusations were dreadful, that the rape was nationalistically motivated (meaning arab attack on jews) which included racial slurs, spitting and battering. Now it's all reversed .... and there is a great silence on the jewish side. http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.722592

On the negative side we learn from the newspapers that police have been undertaking night raids in jerusalem villages, arresting people. Possibly it's a deterrent move ahead of Ramadan?Jerusalem Day celebrations when we expect major clashes. And Israel's top jewish terrorist, a 23 yr old extremist associated with attacks on non-jews and arabs (burning of the Dawabsheh family house killing both parents and the 1 yr old baby) has been released from detention. Scot free.

Jaffa Street and the tramway
packed with people

Anyway away from the contentious front, the nights here in Jerusalem continue to be packed with thousands of visitors to the Festival of Lights. It was like former years. I went to see the Pink route which is in the New City. Jaffa Street was so packed the trams had difficulty passing as people occupied the tracks. Buskers took opportunity to perform and earn a little something. The usual Thursday night market (= pasar malam) was opened last night as well. And I returned to Zedekiah's Cave on the way home because it was so fascinating. I needed to see it again .... also because entry is free of charge during the Festival.