Eve of Pentecost

Waraq Dawali for lunch

While yesterday there was calm despite the massive crowds of muslims entering the Old City, violence came from a different front -- the ultra-orthodox jews. Following the news i blogged 2 days ago, police posed as soldiers walking through the ultra-orthodox neighbourhood and were attacked. This set up led on a police raid and the arrest of 11 ultra-orthodox jews.  http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4970520,00.html

And there was more violence by the ultra-orthodox jews when they demonstrated along Porphets' Street leading pass the Municipal Police Station. This lot were against the breaking of the Sabbath Law - meaning there should be no work i.e. driving of cars, opening of shops etc. It happens every Friday evening at the onset of the Sabbath, or on the Sabbath itself. Apparently throwing stones, fighting and spitting is not against the Sabbath Law. Well it was quite violent. So the Israeli police really should worry more of violence from their own kind than from the muslims.

In summary, the ultra-orthodox jewish community is flexing its power over Jerusalem, enforcing its way of life on all the other residents. No wonder the jewish youth and secular jews are leaving Jerusalem by the droves.

Fruit for sale

Tomorrow is Pentecost. There will be solemn Vespers at the Last Supper Room this evening and tomorrow. Then the Easter season ends and we're back in Ordinary Time. There's the Feast of St. Anthony on June 13th and Corpus Christi on June 15th and then the summer holidays begin. It'll be fun ... as I plan to eat a lot of fruit this holidays. Even now in early summer we have grapes and plums and apricots. The heatwave has ripened these fruit quickly so they're now being sold in the markets. There's so much vine leaves on sale, today for lunch we had waraq dawali which is rice and minced meat wrapped in vine leaves. It's one of my favourite summer dishes.