Hamsiin sandstorm

Flowers planted under the palms 

It was extremely hot today ... 31 degrees during the day. And a hamsiin wind was blowing ... the southerly desert wind which is hot, dry and full of sand. Our terrace was covered with very fine sand. The "hamsiin" in hebrew and arabic means "50" or in greek "pentecost". That explains the strong wind blowing on Pentecost Day which signalled the coming of the Holy Spirit. The weather stations say it's unusual for April. Well for one thing the beaches have been packed with people ... and the shops along the shore are doing great business especially the food and beverage places.   http://www.jpost.com/Not-Just-News/As-the-temperatures-climb-Israelis-across-the-country-flock-to-the-beach-488645

Beautiful flowers at the plaza

The flowers planted under the palms at Palm Plaza have begun to bloom. They come in all colours and are delightful. But the hamsiin today must have scorched many. And there were many others that have been vandalised by local arabs. They cannot leave anything in peace ... once the plants were planted a month ago, overnight many were pulled out, trampled or thrown into a nearby pool. For no reason at all. It's a terrible culture or lack of it ... seething with senseless aggression.

And an example of this aggression is the attack by jewish settlers on arab property yesterday. This violence is seen on both sides of the political, racial and religious divide.  Palestinians were assaulted.  http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4952161,00.html

These attacks have become so frequent and violent that Israeli soldiers have now need to accompany arab children to school to prevent violence by jewish settlers. Usually its the other way round with Israeli soldiers accompanying jewish pupils.  http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4951878,00.html

One reason, perhaps the most significant, that contributes to this culture of violence and intolerance is the education system. Students are taught to hate on others in the school textbooks. And this takes place on both sides of the border.   http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.784788

Well the heatwave certainly is an indication of the political, racial and religious tensions in this country.