The Middle East implodes

Civil war in Yemen, Libya and Bahrain. Growing violence in Jordan's protests. The implosion is a foregone conclusion after years of heavy-handed governance and the spread of social media that gave voice to dissatisfaction in an anonymous way, paving the way from fear to solidarity. Shiite vs Sunni, poor vs rich, progressive vs conservative, plebeian vs aristocracy. Is that necessarily good? Yes and No. I'm worried about the No part. Lawlessness and Islamic fanaticism will rule the streets, spreading more terror than before. Out of the dictator's frying pan into the fire of lawlessness and fanaticism.

Sadly I just received news from the Salesians in Jerusalem that a 33 yr. old Polish Salesian priest Fr Marek Rybinski was murdered in Manouba (Tunisia). His body was found in the school garden with the throat slit.  Earlier the Salesian community had received threatening letters.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2011/02/tunisia-protest.html

This is what I meant when I said earlier that the Church will suffer in these "ousters" of ME regimes. Tunisia's Ben Ali was ousted - now a power vacuum envelopes the country, lawlessness rules throughout the streets as there is no govt. to enforce law and order. And Christians are made to pay the price. The same will happen in Egypt and elsewhere.

Locally the Palestinian Authority is trying to nip this implosion in the bud by initiating changes to the govt.  Israel on the otherhand is watching helplessly as Arab allies and neighbours crumble in the implosion. I think this is one instance when Israel can stand firm as an example of stability and security in a region collapsing from itself. We can only pray that the chaos and violence will not enter our country.

Storm

Yesterday was a wet, grey day throughout the country. The drizzle did not stop and up in the north there were even sporadic storms. The wind was very strong. And it was (still is) very cold.

But the storms we had yesterday can't beat those political ones battering Bahrain and Libya. Last night military moved in to violently break up the protests there. We understand there are many injured. And talk about injured - Gattuso's (AC Milan) headbutting J. Jordan (Tott. asst. man.) is one storm everyone here is talking about.

I was up in Nazareth for my 2nd checkup yesterday. Caught in the storm. It was to finish the ultrasound check that I couldn't have done last week. Well, the sister in charge saw my report and called me to see the superintendent of the hospital - a surgeon. They decided to have two things removed from the liver. Not an urgent case, they said, but better to have them taken out. It should be a keyhole process. So nothing to worry about. I'll be due for the op. in a week's time.

Today's readings present the rainbow covenant of God to his creatures after the flood. All were killed in the deluge as punishment for sin. But in the Gospel we hear Jesus predicting his own death - he has now taken all our sins upon himself and will die for it, so that we need not be punished anymore. What a message of love - God no longer wants to destroy us but save us from ourselves. His Only Son took upon himself the punishment due to us.

Feast of the Prophet's birthday

Yesterday was the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed. Prayers had began the evening before and continued throughout the day into last evening. Thousands of muslims had gathered at the Haram es Sharif (the huge esplanade containing the Mosque of Al Aksa and the Dome of the Rock), literally stopping all traffic at the 3 City Gates leading into the Muslim Quarter. A one minute walk out through Damascus Gate took 25 mins. in a human crush that miraculously saw no injuries. When I asked several muslims in the street what feastday it was, they said "muslim christmas".

There were thousands of children in the streets, eating sweets and carrying presents. Busloads of muslim pilgrims were brought into the City from all parts of the country. Hawkers made brisk trade in make-shift stalls at the City Gates, creating more obstacles for the human crush getting in and out of the City. Fairy-lights were strung all along the Gates and streets. The mosque near Ecce Homo convent/basilica held an all night koran recitation session. One notable observation - no Israeli soldiers were seen in the Muslim Quarter. They might have kept a discreet presence behind road corners and doors.

The day was extremely fine for the feast - sunny and breezy. It made everything enjoyable. But later in the evening a hamsin blew - pretty powerful, dry and cold with lots of sand from the desert. That didn't dampen the crowd's festive spirit.

And yesterday was Praveen's birthday as well. His sister-in-law who works in Tel Aviv came to cook Indian food for dinner; and Prav invited me over. But I declined as I had other things to do. Hope he had a nice celebration.

My brother's keeper

Today we receive news that Yemen, Iran, Bahrain and Algeria saw protest demonstrations. Let's hope there'll be no violence and deaths. There is great unease in our local scene as the unstable situation in Egypt would influence Israel; and now we hear that a liberal Egyptian politician has declared Egypt's 30 yr peace treaty with Israel "is over". Where is this taking us? Meantime the Palestinian cabinet has been dissolved today - an obvious reaction to what's happening regionally - in preparation for "massive changes'. Political earthquakes rocking across the Middle East. Could be a good thing - but nonetheless frightening for the rest of us.

Today's 1st reading is about Cain and Abel - a classical fraticide story. The popular interpretation is that Abel's murder was committed out of jealousy (God preferring Abels' sacrifice to Abel). But some rabbinic scholars claim it was actually a quarrel over women to be taken as wives. In the end, it boils down to religious strife - or rather our perception of religious practice. Both brought sacrifices to God possibly with the idea "My way to God is better than yours".* When "my way" is not better than "your"s, than I want to destroy "your way" so that "my way" remains the only way. Explains alot of the religious strife in our region. And Cain utters his famous words "Am I my brother's keeper?" Well ... are we?

Today we commemorate Ss. Cyril and Methodius, two brothers who went on to be great missionaries in Eastern Europe. They invented the Cyrillic script and made many other contributions in the intellectual and religious worlds. St. Valentine on the otherhand is a rather vague figure with scarce historical facts, but is more remembered today that the great missionaries Cyril and Methodius.

*http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/966629/jewish/When-Religion-Causes-Conflict.htm

God provides

As Cairo is reeling between euphoria and tension, we receive news that the Sinai peninsula is taken over by the bedouin tribes because the police/soldiers have withdrawn. Israelis are warned not to go there ... well, it goes for all tourists as well. We also receive news that protests in Algeria and Yemen are picking up. Here back home, no outward show of support for the Egyptians are expressed but people still talk about in the streets.

The weather has been playing up today - one moment sunny, the next cold and drizzly. In fact there was a heavy storm up in Mehane Yehuda 3 kms away from the Old City while it was sunny down in the Kidron valley. Strange weather. Many people are falling sick, to say the least.

Yesterday's readings were very interesting. The 1st reading deals with Adam and Eve's eating the forbidden fruit, while in the Gospel Jesus gives food freely to the crowds. It seems to say tyhat God knows what is best for us - He provides life-giving food and warns us against food that bring destruction and alienation. But I was thinking also about the theme of  work - in the 1st reading work was imposed almost like a punishment in which humanity would earn its food; in the Gospel, no one works for the food: it was freely given. Makes me think of God's providence in our lives. We have so much to be thankful for, when God freely provides for us: the gift of life, the gift of faith, the gift of friends ... and most of the time we work for things so transient such as money, power and we remain dissatisfied, disillusioned and unthankful.

Anemones

So Mubarak is gone ... now begins the greater persecution of Christians in Egypt. Right now I'm watching BBC and there's a muslim holding an open Koran professing loudly in front of the TV camera. It says everything that I fear. And now BBC is interviewing a "popular muslim preacher". Will the next domino be Yemen or Syria or Jordan? There was alot of jubilation here in our Muslim Quarter, and suddenly Israeli soldiers showed up in large groups at strategic corners. It's the start of the Jewish Passover and many Jews were passing by the street to get to the Wailing Wall, cutting right across the Muslim Quarter.

A fierce storm broke out at 3.30pm and it was very cold. I had to turn on the "hot air fan". I wonder if the Way of the Cross went ahead today despite the storm.

Here are some photos of the anemones blooming in the pots on our terrace. I planted them last autumn.

They were taken before the storm broke out. Now some have already snapped due to the strong rains. So pretty yet so delicate. Let's hope the democracy of Egypt is not like that.

Hospital day

Exhausting day. Got a classmate to drive me to Nazareth for my "regular" checkup which I missed for 3 months. You can't believe the sheer inefficiency of local people here in hiring a car and getting a public carpark to open on time for the car to come out. First we got tricked into believing the carpark was open 24 hours (had to pay a huge fee), only to find out this morning at 6am that the carpark only opens at 7am. At 7am we couldn't get the car out of the carpark because the lady at the toll/barrier came to work only at 7.20am, smoking and drinking her coffee, sauntering slowly. A living nightmare for efficient, customer-service world of Asians.

Anyway we managed to get to Nazareth ... 2 hours late for my appointment. On the way, we stopped at my "secret forest" to see the annual spectacular flowering of wild anemones. Today it was still too early in Spring but many blooms have already emerged albeit small short. They lack the intense colours that they assume later in Spring.

At the hospital, Sr. Marie-Therese was as usual super-efficient. Got my papers all in order and got the lab to prepare for my tests. But with the crowd this morning (our own Fr. Pedro Tome and another priest of the Patriarcate were also there) and because we were late, I only managed to get my blood tested. The ultra-sound will have to wait for next week ... which means another nightmare of hiring a car, get through the carpark .... The superior of the hospital - a John of God friar (fatebene fratelli) also came to see me and invited us for a drink in the moanstery after the tests but I declined. Instead we went to the Annunciation Basilica to say mass, then stayed for lunch at our friary before visiting the Synagogue Church and Mensa Christi Church (see photo), and then spending the rest of the afternoon at the Carmelite nuns' monastery to talk to some of the nuns. It rained cats and dogs there in Nazareth. It was very cold.

Got home at 8.30pm utterly exhausted and sick - dizziness, nausea, chest-pains. Realised I forgot to take my heart pills this morning because I needed to fast for the test.