Day after ...

Fresh pipa from the
tree

Nakba Day yesterday passed rather tranquilly here in Jerusalem. There was a small scuffle at Damascus Gate and it was closed for about an hour. Other than that, jerusalem was rather calm. But in the Territories there were violent clashes with Israeli soldiers. It looks like Nakba Day is slowly losing its effect on Jerusalemites who really prefer to live in peace ... and let life go on as usual.    http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Palestinians-mark-annual-Nakba-Day-490767   and   http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Clashes-break-out-in-West-Bank-over-Nakba-Day-demonstrations-490798

Why aren't more christians coming to the Holy Land? A local newspaper interviewed various people to find out why. Well some opinions are quite relevant: poor inflater ... not enough public toilets, visa problems, insistence on local guides instead of religious guides.  http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.789449

Keropok

Meantime the weather continues to be blazing hot. I dread having to walk up to work each morning as it gets up to 34 degrees even by 10am. I get a terrible headache when I arrive in my office. The nights are equally stifling ... 28 degrees. Most of the flowers are whithered and most fruit are ripening before their time. Right now loquats or pipa (called askedinya in arabic) are prolific as the heat ripens the tart pulp of these delicate fruit. I had some freshly picked from the garden of Ratisbonne monastery this morning. Very nice to eat in the hot weather.

And talking about food ... Al our Indonesian student had some friends bring over keropok from Indonesia. Haven't eaten those for a very long time. All the other foreign students didn't like it ... so Al and I had a good time eating it.

Trump's visit to Jerusalem is the talk about town ... but we'll keep that for tomorrow.