Sandstorm

Al Aqsa mosque empty at noon prayer

It's the 1st Day of Ramadan and an enormous sandstorm has struck the country. Jerusalem is yellow ... fine desert sand ... almost like power is everywhere. It gets into your mouth and nose and eyes. I just put my laptop on the terrace for 10 minutes and it was covered by a coat of yellow powdery sand. I guess that's not good for my asthma. The weather forecast is for a thunder storm tonight till tomorrow. I certainly hope so ... it will wash away all the sand. And I want our plants to be watered ... it's difficult for me to go and water the plants in this sandstorm. They are all withering in the heat.

View of Mt of Olives in sandstorm

The Al Aqsa mosque was very quiet during noonday prayers. The muezzin called for prayers and the imam led the prayers and gave a sermon broadcast very very loudly over the PA system so that all the muslims around could hear it. The mosque is closed and muslims have to pray at home and listen to the sermon. Strangely the morning was bright and sunny and I could see clearly the entire mosque compound from my roof. But within an hour the sandstorm broke and visibility was reduced greatly.

Tomorrow is Genocide memorial Day for armenians. Over a million armenians (all christians) and thousands of syrian christians were slaughtered by the Ottomans 100 years ago. But this has never been acknowledged by the world as a genocide ... the 1st in the 20th century. Having served the amrneian catholic community here, I know how much it all means to them. I've spoken to some elderly parishioners who fled as refugees int he aftermath of the genocide ... horrific stories they retold. I can feel their trauma and pain ... especially when it is not acknowledged. In a sense I share their pain. They call me half-armenian.