Clashes

Arabs in East Jerusalem went on strike yesterday ... which was good because it cleared the streets for thousands of jews to go to the Wailing Wall for the annual blessing by Jewish priests. It made the job of the police alot easier. However in the surrounding villages and towns, clashes and riots took place. Some quite violent. Arab teens continue to be killed by Israeli raids into arab villages and the arabs are protesting these incursions that lead to deaths. The northern town (refugee camp) of Shufat was rocked with violence yesterday and Nablus was locked down by Israeli army as well. The tensions are worsening by the day. 

At Clalit pharmacy

For the past 48 hours I've been travelling between my Clalit insurance clinic and St. Joseph Hospital and Shaarei Zedek hospital to organize the elusive operation that should but didn't happen due to the jewish holidays. Finally this morning Shaarei Zedek called to fix a day a week from now, so I was told to prepare myself for it.  By the way Clalit is a huge insurance entity that runs its own clinics, doctors, pharmacies all over the country. An annual policy for a foreigner costs US$1400, which doesn't sound  much ... unless you're poor. It doesn't cover dental services. Anyway I'm glad I bought the policy because now I need its services. It has links with other specialists and hospitals so I've been assigned to Shaarei Zedek where I've been told has the best cardiovascular dept in the country. Well if I survive the op then I'll testify to that.