Cold wet night

Damascus Gate ... cold and wet

As forecast, it drizzled all night. Even before the drizzles came I was walking home from work at 9pm and the paving stones were all wet from the humidity. It gets very slippery and everyone was walking slowly and holding on to the street railings to avoid an accident. It's been like that for 3 nights now. Unbelievably wet and humid. It started to drizzle again at 11am but now at noon the sun is up. It's still cold though ... not more than 11 degrees. Everyone is wearing thick jackets and hoodies. Winter is finally here. There's a Christmas feel in the air.

Wet streets

The giant Christmas Tree at Manger Square in Bethlehem was lit last Saturday and I think this week it'll be Jerusalem's turn. Ultra-Orthodox jews are repulsed by the sight of Christmas trees which they regard as idolatry. And they have enough influence to get the police to stop us from putting up Christmas Trees in our Christian Quarter.

KFC is back in Israel ... the 4th time. Locals do not take kindly to KFC which is not kosher. And the Colonel has stiff competition because israelis are experts in chicken dishes. Let's see how this time KFC fares. MacDonalds has survived but only because it adopted kosher food and preparation. Wendy's was here 30 years ago and it left just as quickly. So did Buffalo Wings. You should know that restaurants and food-chains who do not observe kosher have to pay a fine though they're allowed to operate. This raises the cost of the food. https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/KFC-officially-returning-to-Israel-in-fourth-but-not-kosher-attempt-609543?fbclid=IwAR2591gGFvBUb1tE_twFNoojjBArekhz_Eh2nxqfczZV_lmPPcH3kvcngnQ

Last week Jordan conducted a military exercise the border with Israel in view of an invasion by Israel. Tensions have been rising because of US recognition of jewish settlements in Palestine and the Israeli PM's plans to annex land from Palestine and Jordan. That's not a nice prospect when there's also tensions with Syria in the north and Gaza in the south.  https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/.premium-why-jordan-conducted-a-major-military-drill-against-an-israeli-invasion-1.8203913?fbclid=IwAR2nOvnrer0PmZ-rNPapP5WA2_PPiY6VEB-BLEaWfEMOIDG3HrDN2sTWYs0