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| Quiet corner of the cemetery |
It's the last weekend before Christmas. Last minute preparations. I went out to the cemetery 1.5 km away at 3.30am to gather the berries for our refectory and church decorations. It's an unearthly hour ... extremely cold. I thought I could cut the berries freely as no one would be around ... but I made one fatal mistake .... last night was Sabbath. Hoards of secular jews, arabs and foreign tourists were out in the streets partying and drinking .... yea even at 3am. I could not gather the berries at the street corners because it was crowded with people, so I went deeper into the cemetery which was also not that quiet. At least half a dozen people walked passed. But once the coast was clear, I cut a bag full of the berries and went straight home.
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| Bag full of berries |
But Damascus Gate was anything but quiet at 4.30am. Muslims from all over the country had already arrived and were entering the Gate to the Al Aqsa Mosque for dawn prayers. The City is as busy at night as it is in the day. Anyway got home and now I caught bronchitis. Coughing and difficulty in breathing. Christmas will not be pleasant.
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Berries, pine branches
and cones in use |
Bad news for 2019 as prices of every daily necessity will spike .... from water and electricity to food and diapers. Protests continued yesterday in Tel Aviv over these rising prices but it's unlikely it'll have any effect .... until the elections of course.
The story has emerged that last week 2 jewish men beat up an arab bus driver. Such anti-arab assaults are on the rise as part of the national revenge on arab terrorists' attacks the past month. There's no rule of law here .... it's eye for an eye meted out in kangaroo courts and such criminals are seldom caught or charged. Jews can spit at christians and it's ok ... but if it were vice-versa, it'll be an antisemitic crime.
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/bus-driver-says-two-israeli-teens-beat-him-after-making-sure-he-was-arab-1.6745180?fbclid=IwAR0ymjvaIJc_P3FkmzvCMAd8vgy8KdGuAEk8UkPVMbc7JeDonwnq9SnfsHI
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