Sunday

Miss Bird busy with
her pen

Saturday saw 5 stabbing attacks in various cities  around the country ... but none in Jerusalem. Security was less stringent but still substantial in and out of the Old City. Towards the south between the arab village of Jebel Mukkaber and the jewish settlement of Armon HaNatziv a separation wall was erected ... adding to the wall further south in Bethlehem. It was the prefect excuse Israel was looking for to lengthen the wall and cut off southern Palestine from northern Palestine. The arabs, by their rash acts of violence, have only helped to tighten the noose round their own necks.

Right now we're getting news of a shooting and stabbing at Beersheba's central bus station. 5 wounded, assailant killed.

Well, my 2 live-in friends are good diversions from the problems outside in the streets: Miss Bird and Buddy. There's a growing rivalry and jealousy between them, both trying to get my attention. But when I give both some TLC, and free time to roam around my room, they're quiet and happy. Being from the parrot family, their very inquisitive and I need to supply both with lots of toys so they're kept busy.

My flock of finches in
Yossi's petshop

All my finches are gone. Brought them to Yossi's shop for sale. 26 birds in the flock including 5 fledglings. It's too bad I get bullied by some authorities and forced to give up the birds ... because it's not even within their competence or authority. But some people are just born nasty and mean and petty.

My diarrhoea and asthma are better today. I might have to change medication as I seem to be getting used to the ones I'm taking - they're not working in other words.

Weekend

Friday passed without incident despite it being the Muslim New Year. The security measures were draconian ... multiple checkpoints every 10 - 15 metres. All arabs below 50 yrs were forbidden to enter the Old City. But there were fierce clashes in Bethlehem and Ramallah and other parts of the Palestinian Territories. Several people died.

Wonton noodle soup
at Mandarin restaurant

Today all the metal barriers were removed around the Old City. Inside the Old City, metal barriers were stacked on the side. Jerusalem was calm but there were attacks in Hebron and now even in Bat Yam just south of Jaffa.

What I was particularly shocked and angered was witnessing the strip-search of 2 arab young men in the middle of the cross roads of Jaffa Street and New Gate where the tram passes. In front of tourists and locals, they were forced to strip down to their underwear by Israeli soldiers. Utter humiliation ... there is a garden beside the crossroads, the soldiers could have asked them to move into that corner ... but instead they were humiliated in public. Any wonder why even the pacifists feel anger and hatred now? More enemies are made now than during the war.

I was suffering from severe and chronic diarrhoea and nausea for the past 2 days. I ate nothing but one banana and that made me very sick. When I felt better I went to Mandarin's to eat a bowl of wonton noodle soup. It felt good in a very sore tummy.

Relative quiet

Metal detector installed at
5th Station yesterday

After a relatively quiet day, the City was rocked by an attempted stabbing at Damascus Gate and a stabbing at Central Bus Station. The 19 yr old arab assailant at Damascus Gate was shot dead immediately but not before a tourist was also shot in the melee. At Central Bus Station, a jewish lady was stabbed before the assailant was shot dead. The govt has ordered the closure of several arab villages around Jerusalem. More road blocks are set up and jews are permitted to carry firearms for protection.

Meantime there was much more violent clashes in the Palestinian Territories. Bethlehem saw one of the worst clashes this week. Tomorrow begins the Muslim New Year ... let's hope the muslims will decide to celebrate instead of demonstrating and rioting.

And ironically, jews have been making revenge attacks on arabs. The ironical part is the jewish assailants mistook the victims to be arabs ... they were actually dark-skinned jews.

However despite the violence, pilgrims continue to come. They're mostly asian groups.

The family of mynahs

Walking to work nowadays is a risk. You never know if you're caught up in a stabbing ... I've had 4 close calls by now. One day my luck will run out. But walking up to work means passing by the Dmascus Gate park which is very quiet because of people's fears to venture out. That means a lot of birds are feeding in the trees and grass which they normally avoid when people are around. Yesterday I saw a family of Indian Mynahs. There were 2 mynahs last year and now they're almost 7. It's a good sign because it means the crow population is reduced ... the crows eat the eggs of indigenous birds thus wiping out many species during the past 10 years. However mynahs are considered a pest and foreign species that can be equally destructive on local species. We'll have to watch how prolific they'll become.

Another violent day

Saturday's calm was broken by a stabbing at Musrara ... in front of the bakery where I bought bread half an hour earlier. It was shocking. I stayed in the office to work as I thought things would be very tense down in Musrara/Damascus gate area where I need to pass in order to get home.

Some colorful autumn fruit to lighten
the tension in our area.

At 4pm I thought it was late enough and walked down to Damascus Gate to get home, only to encounter another stabbing right at Damascus Gate. The police were vicious ... they kept us out of the way from the Gate ... but 500 meters. Jewish youths gathered and began lynching arabs who passed by. I had to spend several hours back in the office till late evening before we were allowed to re-enter the City.

Today 3 more attacks ... the last one just a couple of minutes ago while I'm writing. First was down in St. Stephen's Gate which is 500 meters from my house. Arab assailant shot dead. 2nd stabber was a woman up in Ammunition Hill near the Central Police Station in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. The 3rd is in Pisgat Zeev, a settlement north of Jerusalem. 

The El Al award

The tension in the country is thick. Now everyone is watching everyone else. Anyone who puts his/her hand in the pocket or handbag, everyone else moves quickly away. I don't know how else to ease the mind except watching the colorful fruit in our makeshift kitchen. The autumn colors are amazingly comforting.

And another comforting news: Duns Scotus Pilgrimage Ltd was awarded by  El Al for outstanding performance in 2014. Not bad for a small agency.

Calm today (almost)

Metal detector installed at
entry to El Wad street

** Breaking news: stabbing in Prophets Street in front of Damascus Gate, 2 wounded.

Today the soldiers left Via Dolorosa. The street is empty ... and arabs are out walking about now. Some sense of normality ... but who knows how long this will lasts. Metal detectors have been installed in both Jaffa Gate and Damascus Gate with a couple of soldiers in charge. But other than that, the military presence has been very much toned down. Perhaps this is a new tactic ... to lessen the provocation in the streets by their absence.

Yesterday saw another series of attacks ... and rioting in many cities ranging from Nazareth, Umm el Fahm and other northern areas. In the south, Gaza rose up with great violence ... arab youths marching toward the Israeli division wall. 7 were shot dead and many more wounded. From viral videos on the Internet, it was clear Israeli police had sent in plain clothes infiltrators to join the genuine rioters and then arrest them. The videos show some of these infiltrators shooting captured arab youths. Another video going viral is the shooting of an arab woman wielding a knife at the Afula central bus station at close range.

Autumn leaves

No matter what ... we hope things will calm down. The newspapers are at pains to emphasize that this is NOT an Intifada ... for obvious economic reasons. Tourism will definitely collapse, foreign investors will pull out and the economy will slump lower than it already is. War is not good for anyone.

I'm trying to take my mind away from this stressful situation. The brain automatically switches to defense mode when the stress overloads. So I've been admiring the beautiful color changes in the leaves ... it's autumn and the rusty red hues are dotting the trees and fields and gardens. The nights are now chilly and I think soon I'll have to take out the hot-air fans (heaters). During the day, people are beginning to wear jackets and hoodies.

Friday

Another stabbing yesterday morning in Jerusalem ... this time near the Police Head Quarters. http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Jerusalem-terror-attack-Palestinian-stabs-Israeli-man-who-suffers-light-wounds-421274 Then followed by a whole series of attacks ... from Tel Aviv to Kiryat Arba to Afula. All unco-ordinated and perpetrated by lone wolves. However Jerusalem was quiet. Nazareth saw an explosion of violent demonstrations as well.

Surprisingly Jaffa saw 2 days of riots as well. Usually its a city that does not bother much with the problems of Jerusalem. This time it sounds serious. But as was acutely noted, the problem isn't about Al Aqsa and the religious struggle in Jerusalem; it's the high cost of living, the rising prices in housing in Jaffa that's igniting these riots ... the Al Aqsa question served as a catalyst.  http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Morning-after-violent-riots-Jaffa-residents-take-stock-421227

Yesterday morning the PM entered the Old City to visit the families of Sharon's House. The streets were blockaded again for an hour. I was just leaving for work but had to stand by our doorway till his motorcade entered and left. To allay further tensions in the Al Aqsa compound, the PM has ordered all ministers barred from entering the compound.

HK pilgrims from the Duns Scotus
Pilgrimage group venerating the
relic of the Holy Cross before begin-
ning the Way of the Cross

The streets are not totally empty though. Pilgrim groups continue to come, though much lesser in number. Notably the groups are all asian: Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnamese, Hong Kong and China. Police stand by the Via Dolorosa to protect the tourists, and if the guides are on their toes, the groups get to visit all the Holy Places in peace and security. The last thing the govt. wants is tourists getting hurt.

Today revenge attacks start: in Dimona south of the country, a jew stabbed 4 arabs, while in Netanya 3 arabs were attacked. The arab attacker in Afula was lynched by an angry jewish mob and had to be protected by police. The vicious cycle of violence gains momentum.

Day of Terror

1st rain of the season

At 11am yesterday morning another stabbing occurred within metres of the killing that took place on Saturday last. This time an arab woman stabbed a jewish man who shot her. This took place at the 5th Station of the Cross. The City was again locked down for several hours. I was stuck exactly at the 5th Station on my way back from work at 11.30am. Then a series of other attacks followed throughout the day ... in Kiryat Gat in the south, Petah Tikva in Central Israel, then Maale Adumim north of Jerusalem and within Jerusalem itself. It was practically the most violent day since the last Intifada 15 years ago. To those who still think there is not an uprising, they should think again. The govt. appears to have lost control of the situation, jews are growing unhappy with the inability of the govt to cap the violence. Arabs say they have nothing to lose because their situation is getting worse under oppression and occupation. Most of these attackers are university students, intelligent, young ... but see no hope in their future. Getting a degree does not help them in starting a family, earning an income, living in a decent house, eating 3 meals, It's this sense of hopelessness that's spurring the violence. The constant remark I hear is "We have nothing to lose. We're already living in hell."

Thanks for the goodies

Yesterday morning we woke up to a chilly sunrise with dark grey skies. It was drizzling for a couple of hours by then and it continued to drizzle all morning. Very cool and it definitely gave a sense of winter. Everyone wore jackets and hoodies. They could feel the cold ... not just physical but perhaps also from the tension rising in the City.

Thanks for your kind gifts: Timtams, mooncakes, dried durians, jumpers, soup packs. rosary etc. ... Received everything in good state. Appreciate your kindness.Winter has started and a little comfort food goes a long way to make the dark cold afternoons livable.