Peaceful Sunday

Ice cream and grapes

Today was very peaceful by recent standards. Police presence was still heavy but there were no mass demonstrations in the Al Aqsa compound nor marches in our streets. Perhaps the weather had a role in this ... it was over 30 degrees and the sun was relentless.

We felt a lot less tension too in the house. We could eat lunch and dinner without hearing protest chants, tear gas exploding behind our house .... It felt so peaceful we treated ourselves to ice cream ... and I added chilled grapes to it. It tasted so nice in this heat ... and this new lull in the neighbourhood.

East Jerusalem's
main artery
Salahadin Street is
peaceful

I spent most of the day cleaning up room. There's lots of books to pack and move to the other library ... and the dust from the summer sandstorms needed to be removed from everywhere ... from window sills to shelves. I also changed a bit of the aquarium water ... haven't done it in several month now but the water is still very clear. It's well stabilised and self-sustaining so it doesn't need much care.

As tensions in the Al Aqsa clear, leftwing newspapers now focus on the injustices in the villages. See this report and video about Hebron:  https://www.facebook.com/btselem/videos/10154746383076570/?hc_ref=ART1jjK12bfM41u5iI88-JbX8aTzA4RFS_6Htli0QyVy5rRHFgrRy3sfe9kjSeTbQfU&pnref=story

The violence in Jaffa seems to have also died down ... or at least the newspapers are not reporting anything today. Instead all have focussed on the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate's response to the rising criticism by Israelis over its sale of land. They offer the other side of the story.  http://www.timesofisrael.com/church-land-sales-to-anonymous-buyers-set-homeowners-on-edge/
http://www.timesofisrael.com/amid-outcry-church-defends-its-sales-of-land-in-jerusalem-jaffa-caesarea/

And a horror story straight out from sci-fi ... Facebook's A1 programme began to dialogue with each other when no one commanded it. It had taken a life of its own ... Facebook was said to have immediately shut down the programme. Is artificial intelligence taking over the world? Not sure if it's fake news but read it  http://www.jerusalemonline.com/high-tech/facebook-ai-program-shut-down-after-bots-invent-a-language-of-their-own-30054