Another day

Soldiers at Bab Hutta
Arch while muslims
gather in front of St.
Anne's Church

After last night's violence, this evening the demonstration was a lot more under control. The Border Police were still minimal like yesterday but I think after the forceful reaction to the crowds last night, reminded everyone that no one and nothing will be spared if they tried to disrupt the peace in our Quarter. The friars in the Garden of Gethsemani recounted there awful night they had yesterday. The scuffles went on till 2am behind and outside their monastery. And it was very violent. I pity them having to suffer this every night for the past week.

This evening I had to go for a dinner to thank our volunteers of the library. After one month's hard work, they cleared up over 50 boxes of books which I my self could not do alone. On the way home ... and I made sure I came home before the last muslim prayer at 9.20pm. As there were few police in the streets and no blockades I decided to go down to Bab Hutta to take some photos. There were a dozen Border Police under the Arch of Bab Hutta and thereafter were hundreds of muslims lined up in front of St. Anne's Church waiting for prayers. I returned immediately after taking the photos as the crowds' temperament is very unpredictable. But like I said earlier, the prayers ended with relative calm and the crowd went out chanting but not causing any trouble.

Prison of St. Ignatius of Loyola

This morning I took advantage of the calm to go to work in our other library one km away. Then I went to visit some archeologist friends who are working below our parish church ... just 20 meters from the library. They showed me what they had found ... several rooms including one they believed was where St. Ignatius of Loyola was imprisoned by the Franciscans. Ignatius had gone to preach to the muslims in Jerusalem and that caused an uproar among the muslims who threatened to kill all christians. To prevent Ignatius from causing more harm to the status quo, the franciscans imprisoned him in a small room under the monastery till the next ship arrived to bring him back to Spain. That's a little known fact in Church history.