Busy

Sabbath calm in Jerusalem

It's a shocking 16 degrees today ... so hot I'm wearing only a T-shirt. And then I read that Singapore is 22 degrees and people there are wearing winter clothes!!! Hahahahaha

Sabbath has come and Jerusalem is very quiet. Few cars in the streets, less people and all shops closed. This is the heart of the ultra-orthodox jews and they are determined to enforce the no-work Sabbath Law ... even throwing stones and attacking people who break it. In Jaffa / Tel Aviv instead where the ultra-orthodox have not yet made a stronghold, the city is alive and vibrant with weekend parties, night excursions and lots of fine dining. What a world apart ... 60 kms to be exact. Lucky for us in Jerusalem we have the arab eastern side of Jerusalem which does not observe the Sabbath. However being Friday evening, muslims do not open their shops as well. It's their day of prayer and rest. Well, you can't win.

Jaffa bustling
with weekenders

I've been very busy with many chinese catholic groups coming to make a pilgrimage. Been rushing from one site to another on foot to meet them (as they requested), present a short talk and welcome them in the name of the Custody or the Patriarchate, since no one else speaks mandarin here. It's great to meet people from all  parts of China but it is also very tiring. Yesterday evening I had to travel 10 kms to meet 2 groups in 2 different parts of Jerusalem. No choice but to go by taxi as I have only 15 mins to travel between them.

Everyone is saying that a war will soon break out: in the northern border with Lebanon and/or the south with Gaza. We have had relatively few violent incidents the last year but now with the almost daily missile attacks from Gaza and the coming of ISIS in the Syrian border and the Iranian Shiite forces in Lebanon, the army thinks the signs are pointing towards a war.  https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.834343

Well one of the tensions we've seen this week is the rioting and deaths of palestinians who are resisting Israeli army raids to arrest the killers of a jewish rabbi. And riots continue over Trump's declaration to move the US embassy to Jerusalem. 47 palestinians have been wounded today in clashes with israeli soldiers. While Jerusalem is very calm, the other towns in the Palestinian Territories are on fire with clashes.  https://www.timesofisrael.com/clashes-break-out-in-nablus-as-soldiers-search-for-rabbis-killers/    and    https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.834551