Saturday

Potpourri of muscari and nasturtium

Tensions continue in the streets yesterday evening. Groups of arab men stand in street corners, frantically calling relatives, looking for missing sons, brothers or fathers .... probably arrested by police during the afternoon riots.  http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israeli-police-palestinians-clash-at-al-aqsa-mosque-in-jerusalem-1.508209   and  http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=305755

But it's not all that bad. This is after all Israel. Things blow off within a couple of hours. In fact the number of tourists have suddenly surged. Over a thousand tourists and pilgrims come to our place everyday now. The streets are packed with people making the Way of the Cross. Reminds me of the 2000 Jubilee Year.

My row of flowering pots

I'm enjoying my flowers blooming in my "garden" - actually several flower pots up on the terrace. Freesias, muscari, nasturtium are the first to flower. A couple of anemones have also opened ... striking red against the yellow freesias.

Anyway my flu symptoms are fading away after 5 days of Tamiflu. Only problem is my asthma. Found out it's caused by my nasal problems. Must get that operation done.

Friday riots

Stunt grenades fired in the Al
Aqsa esplanade

Rioting at the Al Aqsa Mosque right now. Youths throwing stones while Israeli Border Police fire stun grenades. Youths dodge the police by seeking cover in the trees near Bab Hutta. Crowds are rushing out from Bab al Asbat toward St. Stephan's Gate to get out but it's jammed with people and cars. Soldiers at St Stephan's Gate are sifting through the crowds for youths hiding among them. Meanwhile in Mosque area, youths play cat and mouse with the police. Inside the Old City streets, the military presence is overwhelming. Roads have also been closed around the Old City.

The locusts are now less of a worry than the several deaths and injuries of arabs these few weeks. A 23 yr old alleged by-stander was shot in the head by Israeli soldiers and died. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/palestinian-23-dies-of-wounds-sustained-in-clashes-with-idf-soldiers.premium-1.507918  An arab woman looking out from her house at clashes below was shot and injured  http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/east-jerusalem-woman-wounded-by-israeli-border-police-fire.premium-1.507786  More clashes over the arab hunger strikers in Israeli jails ... news reports say arab violence has shot up these few months. But of course the other side of the story is israeli attacks on arabs in the streets have also risen. Nobody wins in this game. Why can't everybody see that and come to their senses?

My favourite city - Tel Aviv and
its coastline yesterday

The weather continues to be cold despite the sun shining brightly. I  paid a visit to the community in Jaffa yesterday ... haven't seen them for almost half a year. Had been so busy I didn't have time to rest. The community was asking me to go over and rest so I thought I'd stop by to say hi at least, while on my way from from seeing my doc. It was lovely and sunny but the wind was very cold. But nothing compared to Jerusalem which was alot more colder. Last night it dropped to a low of 5 degrees.

My 2 knees have been very weak lately. Moran my physiotherapist taped them up so they won't buckle and I fall over. Still with the flu. Still on Tamiflu. Slight fever. And very tired. Severe asthma every night. It got so bad I nearly blacked out while walking to the Sisters of Ivrea for Mass. Just couldn't get any air into my lungs, became dizzy, had to hold on to the wall otherwise I'd have collapsed in the alley leading to Herod's Gate. No a good place to collapse at 5.45am. Good thing the sea breeze and sun of Jaffa picked me up later in the afternoon.

More locusts news

Chef with locust delicacy (AP photo)

The plague of locusts may be a curse for farmers but certainly not for restauranteurs. Chefs are grabbing this rare treat and cooking them up ... after all according to Haaretz' report "it's kosher, parve, healthy, affordable and environmentally friendly".  http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/routine-emergencies/when-god-gives-you-locusts-make-locust-stew.premium-1.507666  The locusts overnight had covered 2000 hectares of land!!!

Meantime another plague is proving more threatening - missiles from Syria, Lebanon and Gaza. The Sharon region (coastal plain) will hold a siren drill in a few minutes time in preparation for a missile attack. Actually this threat is more theoretical than real. But no harm being safe than sorry. This can however not be said about the recent findings by Israeli scientists - that cellphone use and thyroid cancer could be linked. And talking about Syria, the kidnap of UN peacekeepers on the Golan Heights by Syrian rebels is very disturbing. As far as I can see, the rebels are guilty of many destructive acts ... no less than what they accuse Assad of doing.

And the weather has turned cold again. It was only 3 degrees last night. That's not helping my sickness; asthma is very bad now, even during the day. And both my knees have become very weak: buckled several times but thank goodness didn't fall .... yet.

Of locusts and cats

Well as I expected, the jewish girls who assaulted the arab woman at the train station were all released without charge.  http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=305343  It's frightening how jewish israelis can get away with literally anything ... it makes the rest of us feel vulnerable and very victimised.

Grouchy cat ....

The swarm of locusts blew into southern Israel yesterday and is expected to remain for a couple more days before the winds change and blow them away. It's almost like a harbinger to Obama's visit to Israel in a few weeks' time. Anyway the Jewish Passover is only a few weeks' away ... immediately after Obama's visit; so this plague of locusts is truly biblical by all standards. Scientists estimate 30-120 million insects invading Israel at this very moment.  http://www.jpost.com/Sci-Tech/Article.aspx?id=305413

Tourists are slowly coming back. Mostly asians since they have the money now. The rest of the western world is just too stuck in its economic problems to consider a trip here.

I'm still down with flu-like symptoms. Still on Tamiflu. Absolutely down ... especially when my workload doesn't stop. I can fully identify with the grouchy cat ....

Plague of locusts

Daffodils 

These 3 days are Bible epic ... a swarm of 30 million locusts are expected to blow into Israel from Egypt. Definitely not good for farmers whose wheat crops are just gathering starch in the grain.  http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/israel-bracing-for-possible-locust-spread-from-egypt.premium-1.507029

Newspapers say there was a rise in attacks by Palestinians against Israel. It could just boil over soon ...  http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/palestinian-attacks-in-west-bank-and-jerusalem-surged-last-month.premium-1.507250  But the papers similarly report that there's a rise also in Israeli attacks on arabs in the streets. http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=305343 

 Weatherwise it was so cold this morning, no one could believe it. And it even drizzled. Only the flowers and trees are enjoying this weather. Some fantastic daffodils bloomed yesterday morning. 

Sick

So I think I caught the flu ... or it may simply be pure exhaustion manifesting itself. I was in Bethlehem and visited a "pet shop" - definitely a euphemism in the Territories. The birds were in poor condition and many were sickly and hanging on to life. I might have caught a bug from them. Then again it could have been that awful person sitting in front of me in the bus, coughing non-stop without using a mask or even hand to cover the mouth. Hope he didn't have swine flu as the epidemic in the Territories is widespread and more than 7 people have already died. I came home with a sore throat, fever and painful breathing. Immediately started on a course of Tamiflu.

Procession around the Empty Tomb

But back on Saturday night, I managed to keep the full Lenten rigours. Didn't sleep the whole night till the following night. Was at the Holy Sepulchre by 11.30pm (Saturday) for Vigils and procession around the Empty Tomb. Finished at 1.30am but since the Masses were fully booked on Mt. Calvary, I decided to go home and waited till 4am when I returned to the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate Mass. It was exhausting but managed to spend the entire night praying for you all.

Racism is so big time now here in Israel ... or rather anti-arabism, it is unbelievable the rest of the world is not saying anything. An arab woman at a train station was attacked by a jewish woman simply because she was arab. Then a new busline has been launched which only serves arabs because some israeli jews refuse to sit in the same bus with an arab.  http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/as-israel-s-separate-bus-lines-start-rolling-some-palestinians-don-t-seem-to-mind.premium-1.507114  and  http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/jewish-teen-detained-over-assault-of-palestinian-woman-in-jerusalem.premium-1.506985  And pictures reveal soldiers abetting extremist Jewish settlers who attack arab shepherds inside Palestine  http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israeli-security-forces-stand-by-while-settlers-harass-palestinian-shepherds-witnesses-say.premium-1.506949   All I can say is, just another event like this again, just another provocation and attack, and the whole situation will explode.

Sabbath

First my computer breaks down ... terrible agony that I might have lost the drafts of my thesis. Panic in fact. Then now my internet is not working. These past two days were awful to say the least. People have stolen my password and use my internet line so I don't get a smooth connection. It's utterly unbelievable.

Irises flowering

The first rocket to be fired after the Gaza war landed in southern Israel a couple of days ago. Though there's no panic, there's certainly an uneasiness as tensions linger across the Territories. Shots continue to be exchanged across the borders  http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/gaza-protesters-shoot-across-israeli-border-three-palestinians-wounded-by-idf-fire.premium-1.506698

Yesterday's Jerusalem Marathon went ahead despite the cold and drizzle. The northern half of Jerusalem was paralysed as roads were closed. They say some 2,000 participants ran the course. But with security helicopters flying overhead and soldiers at every corner ... I preferred to stay at home. And there's so much work to do ... it feels like things have gone out of control.

So it hasn't been a good week. Everyone says I need a break. I do too. Only thing is it remains as elusive as ever. My only relaxing moment is to watch the flowers blooming, the canaries singing ... and hanging around with a couple of my best friends whenever I have a few minutes free. It's Sabbath ... it should be time for rest and quality time with family and friends. But only in my dreams.