Friday, July 27, 2018

Clashes

Dawn in Tel Aviv 2 days ago
Fierce clashes inside the Al Aqsa mosque compound this morning. The reason why Israeli police entered the compound is still not clear but it resulted in muslims throwing stones at the police and finally stun grenades were fired and the compound gates were closed. It's the fiercest clash we've had for a year now. Last year 3 Israeli police were murdered at the Mosque's gates and Israel imposed metal detectors at all the Mosque entrances which resulted in muslims rioting for over a week. Today several were injured on both sides and arrests were made. Things will pick up again tomorrow morning I guess. And our streets will be heavily policed and road blocks will be imposed.

Figs galore at the Carmel Market
Meantime the ongoing Friday clashes at the Gaza border today ended with another Gazan dead. Obviously the heat has not deterred the violence ... but then again today is a lot cooler than yesterday ... about 5 degrees lower. These disturbing events just round the corner from where I work and in front of where I live is terrible now when children are on school holidays and families are spending quality time together. The violence and the security measures that follow turn our lives upside down. Just 2 days ago I was watching the beautiful sunrise in Tel Aviv and enjoying the sights and smells of the Carmel Market ... and suddenly we're back into a state of semi-war. However I must say I'm lucky I missed the actual clashes by 10 minutes as I was on my way home for lunch. My painful ankle and right shoulder mean that I cannot run or react quickly when a riot breaks out or stun grenades are fired.

Today 2 volunteers in my library finished their service and returned home. They were a big help as I have no regular staff and am practically alone in dealing with 70,000 books ranging from the 12th century till today, in over 20 languages. The volunteers are essential to my work. So now I am stressed out again ... working without help in the library. What a summer.

Tonight there'll be the century's longest lunar eclipse ... but its nothing compared to the eclipse of peace and harmony in our area.
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