Quiet Saturday

Dark clouds overcast
the afternoon sky

I think it was an uneventful day today ... I didn't have time to check the news. Was at work very early in the morning and didn't know what was happening till 2pm when I completed what I set myself up to do. Been a very tiring day.

The weather continues to cool and it's been very cloudy and windy. Just right for the high Holy Days which begin 2 weeks. It's a series of jewish holidays beginning with Yom Kippur, then Rosh haShana and 8 days of Sukkot ending with Simchat Torah. The whole month is practically a holiday as no work is allowed on the Holy Days. Universities here only start after these feasts. Primary and secondary schools that have already started will go on holiday mode again.

No tensions or scuffles today. Just checked the news. Pretty boring by our standards. By now we're so used to trouble, when things calm down we feel uneasy. Very weird.

Healthwise feet are still hurting. Maybe I should change my shoes. But am very happy I had the operation done on my nasal problem. Can breathe so easily now. Many who have done it say it didn't work for them and they still suffer from blocked noses. Mine doesn't, so I'm very lucky. I'm getting so much oxygen in my head, I get dizzy.And the removal of that thing from under and inside the eye made my left eye see much better .... except that I now caught an infection.

Friday troubles

Today saw minor skirmishes in the outskirts of the Old City. The usual stone-throwing at passing israeli cars especially the one car that took a wrong turn and entered a muslim village. Other scuffles included throwing molotov cocktails at the Wailing Wall. Nothing serious. The usual Friday scene.

Morticia Addams at the
Via Dolorosa

But things could now flare up as the Israeli autopsy has confirmed the arab autopsy that the 16 yr old boy killed last week was indeed by a bullet in the head. Shot at close range, like 10 meters away. The Isreali police continue to deny shooting him in the head ... but for sure there'll be riots in Wadi Joz (Kidron valley) and possibly spreading up to East Jerusalem.

The weather has cooled down by some 5 degrees during the day. it's still hot though but humid. The nights get quite chilly. In fact the mornings see the streets wet with dew ... strange for this time of the year. But stranger still ... yesterday a tourist came by our place ... dressed oddly like Morticia Addams: black long dress with frilly sleeves and long black hair. And in this heat! We laughed (discreetly of course) but she was pretty serious. Oh well, you get all kinds of people coming to Jerusalem ... assorted nuts.

Healthwise it's a disaster. Now that my right eye is healed, my left eye is infected. Another round of antibiotics, cream and washes. And my right foot still hurts. Haven't seen the podiatrist yet. Too busy with work to do anything else. 

Riots

Riotous cortege passing
below our house

The last 2 days have seen lots of rioting and violence on the Mt. of Olives, the Kidron Valley and eventually up into the Muslim part of the Old City. Apparently it all started when a 16 yr old boy was shot by police in the Valley for throwing stones last Thursday but died on Sunday. The cause of death is still disputed: arabs say he was shot in the head, providing photos of the autopsy as proof, while Israeli police insist they only shot the guy on the leg and he fell and injured his head. Throughout Sunday and into Monday riots flared up all over East Jerusalem. At 6pm the body was carried into the Al Aqsa Mosque for prayers and then the cortege moved out to the cemetary, passing next to our house. We had prior warning and shut our doors. So did the security guys opposite us guarding the Western Wall Tunnel. The angry cortege passed next to our house, shouting slogans, smashing security cameras and finally rioting as police fired tear gas and stun grenades. The body was finally buried though.

Grapes in abundance

The weather has cooled down alot ... which is one factor for rise of violence. The night temperature goes down quite alot so that a pullover is necessary. It also makes walking up and down to work less difficult. I've managed to do quite alot of work this weekend, correcting 93 pages of a draft and another 46 pages for another publication. I'm sort of an unofficial editor now. No extra salary though. My infected eye is alot better but not totally healed. Correcting tiny footnotes become very difficult with this eye problem. It tires me out quickly.

The walk to and from work is nice as I get to pass by the open Bedouin market and see the seasonal fruit on sale. There's lots of guava ... an introduced fruit which is locally grown. Figs are in the final season, and grapes are plentiful. Among the herbs are mint and sage which are profusely harvested now.

Quiet Friday

Today was very eventless. There was no rioting, no demonstrations ... it was like a normal day ... which can be eerie when you're used to violence in the streets on Fridays. And as usual for the month following Ramadan, muslim weddings are taking place every week especially on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Lots of fireworks ... dreadful explosions this evening from behind our house as one of the boys was married. At 5pm flocks of friends and relatives arrive, wearing their absolute best, walking up the hill under 36 degree sun. Nightmare. Women in high heels navigate carefully the uneven stone road with cracks large enough to twist your ankles.

Our empty gate

The security guys in front of our house are missing Mohammed Siam. He was the gruff, rude guy who sold postcards and Via Dolorosa pamphlets, cursing, swearing, threatening everyone especially the tourist guides. They're afraid of him. The security guys had their share of scuffles with him: throwing chairs, spitting, even fist-fights. But now that he's dead, our gate is very quiet ... so quiet that we're not used to it. We laugh about the pranks we used to pull on him, and he on us. After knowing him for 25 years, I know that despite his aggressive behaviour, he was a good man inside. He would give his little earnings to the poor, clean the little mosque he cared for down the road, prayed faithfully 5 times a day. And whenever I was sick or in hospital, he would ask after me.

My eye is recovering well though I have not yet 100% vision. Still applying medicine whenever I remember or have the time. My feet still hurt. Will have to see the podiatrist soon otherwise walking will become too painful.

Stromata

Passing time playing games

Early morning scuffles yesterday when soldiers forcibly moved a group of chanting muslim women from Bab Ghawarmina (in front of Ecce Homo) down to Bab Hutta. But things returned to normal soon after. Some of the muslim women hackled my israeli security friends ... but the guys just laughed it off. Later in the afternoon when it was cooler and no one in the streets ... hence boring ... they got into a game of paper-scissors-stone but local version. Losers get slapped in the hands ... and that hurts very much because these guys are all ex-soldiers and they have large hard hands. I just watched and laughed.

Now that the ceasefire enters its 3 week, we see how people react when they have no enemy to fight. First we saw arabs attacking arabs. These few days its jews attacking jews - ultra orthodox against the rest of jewry. They actually raised a separation wall in the middle of a school yard to isolated their children from other non ultra orthodox children. Now the separation no longer divides Jews from arabs but jews from jews. Like I always said: Israel is imploding on itself.

Separation wall in school yard

Healthwise my eye is much better though it hurt alot when I had to walk home from work in the hot sun. Never had enough time to apply the medicine regularly. And with the workers returning to work installing electrical and internet cables .... it's a miracle I'm not back in hospital.

Hospital again

At the Eye Hospital

Yesterday was awful. I was rushed to St. John's Eye Hospital in the morning after developing a severe allergic reaction. Was cleaning out the bird cages when bird mites got into my eyes. Rubbed them with my unclean hands and voila! the right eye was so swollen it looked as if it popped out of my head. Everyone panicked, including my israeli security friends who insisted I go to hospital immediately. So someone accompanied me to the Eye Hospital in Sheikh Jarrah. The nurses washed the eye, disinfected it, then the doc came to diagnose, made more tests, more cleansing, anesthesia, medicine. Took a whole 2 hours.

But I must say I was very impressed by the hospital. The staff are very professional, efficient, speak in a normal calm tone (the usual is shouting at the top of your lungs) and give information to all questions, even directing patients to places they need to go. It's so very unlike all the other hospitals I've been and seen. Anyway my eye is alot better now, still a little swollen and not 100% vision yet. To clean the bird cages, I must wear goggles and face mask now. It's like encountering Ebola.

And I couldn't rest ... much as I wanted to. The workers who promised to come and didn't (3 times already) finally showed up. Had to watch them so they don't bungle up on the job. As expected, they didn't finish the job today as they had promised. Tomorrow will be another tough supervision again ... and ensuring that they finish everything.

Gaza update

The weather has suddenly changed. It's gone all cloudy and humid ... very. It's like it'll rain anytime ... but doesn't. And the nights get down to 18 degrees and very windy.

Yesterday saw skirmishes between arabs and israeli military in several villages around Jerusalem. Nothing serious but it disturbed the opening of the school year. Ultra-orthodox jews were also demonstrating against the govt. for arresting several of their kind for not reporting when called up for military service. But since the High Holy Days (Yom Kippur, Rosh haShana and Sukkot) are round the corner, most ultra-orthodox avoid causing trouble.

Sisters from Gaza come to visit

The sisters of Mother Teresa from Gaza managed to come out to Jerusalem yesterday and immediately came to visit me. They recounted the horror of moving 28 handicap children in pitch darkness at midnight while neighbours were running for their lives after receiving warnings that their neighbourhood would be bombed by Israeli planes. As their convent is quite far from the parish church, the sisters did not think they could carry all the children out in time so they carried the children, one in each arm, and left them under a tree near the church while they ran back to save more children. There were only 4 sisters at that time. The parish priest also came out to help the sisters. Everyone sheltered inside the church compound for several days. The sisters also care for bedridden elderly in another house situated across the road. They also had to carry these elderly to safety. This run to safety took place 3 times during the 50 day war. Fortunately Israeli authorities telephoned them to assure them that their convent and church will not be bombed. Now that the ceasefire is holding up. three of the sisters have come to Jerusalem to rest from the stressful situation. Your kind offering of US$20,000 was donated to the sisters so they can buy medicines and food for their people under their care.