My brother the priest

Sunset at Ben
Yehuda Mall

The victim of the terrorist stabbing yesterday died of his wounds late last night. It's so horrible. My security friends were passing me messages regarding his name ... but I recognised him when I saw his photo on the newspapers this morning. A 32 yr old father of 4, an archeologist whom I've seen many times walking down El Wad street on the way home ... tall, bespectacled.

The govt.'s response will be sift and relentless. Destruction of the terrorist's house, his family will be homeless and will not have permits to enter Israel. These young killers don't think of the consequences of their acts on their families. The entire village will be collectively punished. And we in the Old City ... our movements are more restricted by security barriers, arbitrary closures of streets and City Gates, passport checks .... we don't want this. Nobody wants this. We just want a normal life. But I think it's way passed that. Everyone is talking about a war this summer. The jews will certainly take revenge, the arabs will continue their senseless violence ... and we will be caught in the middle. Collateral damage.

This morning I and my security friends were messaging each other again ... telling each other to be careful. We never know who will be next. That makes our friendship even more stronger. We watch each other's backs. I bumped into another friend at Ben Yehuda Mall who was once working in security ... a small guy, religious jew with kippah and uncut locks on both sides of the head and wears the tassels. Usually these guys hate christians and spit at us ... but not him ... we're good friends. We hugged and he introduced me to his wife as "my brother the priest". He told me to be careful and I said the same to him. We respect each other, knowing full well our religious differences ... not trying to convert each other ... just accepting our differences and knowing deep inside we're all humans. That's the mystery of this Land ... where differences can lead to murder and killings ... while it can also unite. It's all in the eye of the beholder ... or mind ... or heart.