No words

Damascus Gate empty

Jerusalem is calm. Life is almost like normal ... during the day. Shops continue to open. People need to buy food and necessities, pharmacies and clinics work on as usual. Schools have reopened. A schedule of normalcy helps to alleviate the tension and fear.

But in the nights the streets are empty. Nobody goes out unless necessary. Police stop everyone at the City Gates. Even cars are stopped in the streets. There is a palpable fear in the air. Aggression and frustration are just beneath the veneer of normalcy.

I have friends on both sides. All are wounded, shocked emotionally and psychologically. We don't speak to each other because there are no words. We meet, we nod, we hug, we try to smile ... but there are no words. They are not needed. We all know and we all don't know. We all hope and we all lost hope. We live in a zone between night and day, black and white, life and death.