Quiet Friday

Guy with crutch
overtook me

I've never felt so old as this morning when I was walking uphill 1km to work. A guy on crutches overtook me. Then 2 old ladies (80+) overtook me. And I was huffing and puffing ... stopping twice to catch my breath on my way up. I rarely have asthma attacks now after the witch in medicine ... but my heart is as strong ... and neither my legs.

It's Friday .... but somehow I keep thinking it's Saturday. Got all my appointments and schedules wrong. I guess it's not just my body breaking down .... the brains are too.

Anyway being Friday the muslim crowds flowed into the Old City from all around the country. There was no tension or scuffles despite the slightly higher presence of police. Tourist groups have dropped ... perhaps because of the heat. There were tensions though at the Gaza border. 2 gazans were killed ... one a 13 yr old boy. The silence of arabs in Jerusalem, Ramallah and Nablus ... even Hebron speak very loudly. These usual hotbeds of riots have not reacted. Like we all say ... we're all tired of fighting. Everyone wants only to live a normal life ... no more tragedies, no more violence. This summer might just be the quietest we've had so far. What a surprise. Even our northern borders are quiet ... syrian military pulling away from the Israeli border and Lebanon has been very quiet. Thank God.

Jerusalem Light Festival

However the internal implosion continues as El Al, just a few days backlogged 4 ultra-orthodox men get their way during a flight, now has vowed publicly it will no longer tolerate the ultra-orthodox to highjack flights with their extreme demands and will kick them off the flight. But everyone is criticising El Al that this decision was made only because major companies have threatened to withdraw patronage with discrimination is continued by the airlines. It's more a reaction to monetary losses than a conviction of human rights. Too bad. But money does speak louder than words.  https://www.carbonated.tv/news/israeli-airline-el-al-remove-passengers-refuse-sit-other-passengers?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=paidcontent-june-28-4