A friend's kindness

Muslim crowds entering Old City

The relative peace was broken this afternoon by a stabbing attempt at the southern suburb of Jerusalem. That's about 4 kms away.  A woman attacker was overcome by passersby before she could do any harm. Suddenly we are brought back to reality ... that peace is so fragile and underlying the calm atmosphere, there is an undercurrent of hatred waiting to explode.   https://www.timesofisrael.com/woman-tries-to-stab-passers-by-in-suspected-jerusalem-terror-incident/

It's Friday ... and the usual crowds of muslims have come from all over the country to pray at the Al Aqsa Mosque. Police presence was not particularly heavy. That was a surprise ... they did not expect an attack in the Old City.

I'm recovering from my cold ... and I've a huge cold sore which I'm treating with the latest medicine. Doesn't seem to be working because it's a lot bigger today. I hate going out looking like that because people would all the more say "corona" and make disapproving gestures. Unfortunately I had to go out and buy some necessities. I kept my head low so no one would see the sore ... which was ok even though the streets in the New City were quite busy with the weekend crowd. But once in the shop I had to raise my head to look for the things I needed to buy and immediately a man said to the shop owner "Corona ... be careful". The owner is my friend Eran, and he ignored the remark but shook my hand and brought me around to see some new stuff he had. That was a very nice gesture. It made me feel less self-conscious. And that everything is fine. No need for exaggeration and baseless panic.

West Jerusalem this morning 

But yes, today Israel received it's first corona-infected victim ... a passenger from the Diamond Princess cruise. All the israeli passengers have been transported immediately to the desert city of Beer Sheva where a hospital has been isolated for quarantine purposes. Now let's see how things develope.  

Meantime riots broke out in Jericho when runners of palestinians returning from China will be quarantined in a busy part of that city. Tires were burned and stones thrown and roads blocked. The mayor assured everyone there was no one coming back from China and no one has the virus ... but the population runs on hearsay and rumours. It's dangerous for asians now to enter palestinian territories as this excitable crowd is unpredictable.