Tense

Mounted police at the Waldorf-Astoria
hotel

There's been a rash of stabbings and stabbing attempts this last week. Several days ago about 300 m from my house a policeman was stabbed by 2 teenagers. Today an attempt was made in the city of Hadera by the Mediterranean Sea. Now police presence is heightened in and around the Old City. The Mounted Police is almost everyday making its rounds. The horses are enormous and just one kick from it will kill you. When I have to walk pass such a horse, I always make sure to walk in front of it. An unexpected back-kick will definitely end my life.

The hot summer sun continues to beat down on us but the nights are cool and mornings are so humid there is dew on the ground. My early morning walk at 5.45am to the Ivrea convent for Mass is quite chilly and I might have to wear a light hoodie jumper tomorrow.

Walked to work this morning but coming home at 12pm was too much ... I was giddy and nauseous. Had to rest for several hours and skipped lunch as I felt I'd vomit everything out. And my left ankle continues to hurt badly.

News is out that there might be a rebellion in Palestine as people are becoming impatient with the corrupt government. Well definitely something has to e done to change the decades long festering wound in palestine. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5571576,00.html
But at the same time, Gaza is seen as a volcano waiting to erupt. Definitely not good news for the arab states nor Israel. https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Palestinian-factions-warn-Gaza-is-a-boiling-volcano-599071

Makloubeh and Msahan ....

Sabbath .... dead city

It's Sunday ... and I was determined not to work today. So I got up late ... 5.30am to be exact. I usually wake at 4am everyday. So this morning I slept in. Mass was at 7am and then the Armenian Mass was at 11am because the armenians celebrate the Assumption today. I watered the courtyard and terrace plants as they were withering .... no one water them for 3 days. Then it was slow cleaning my room. I had more time to play with Buddy and JJ ... and they enjoyed my being with them. JJ is especially playful ... to the point of being a nuisance. Buddy is more mature ... 3 yrs old ... and calmly sits on my shoulder all day.

Makloubeh for lunch

Yesterday as our cook was away for her son's wedding, the wife of our doorman offered to cook lunch. It was a banquet!!! A huge tray of makloubeh (rice with lamb), stuffed vegetables and vine leaves (kusa and waraq dawali), msahan (chicken on thick flat bread) with a dessert of knaffeh (steamed cheese in syrup). It was an incredible meal and we all enjoyed. These foods are quintessentially palestinian and takes hours if not days (stuffed vine leaves need 2 days) to prepare and cook.

The rest of the day was spent tidying some stuff on my table ... while playing with the 2 birds. I had eaten too much of the good food, so I've decided to skip dinner. I thought of going to walk my daily 4km but I'm feeling very lazy so I'll probably go to sleep early. Anyway my left ankle is swollen after the past 2 days of walking so I need to rest it. It's wrapped in bandages now.

At our southern border, some gazans were killed when the protests served as undercover for infiltrators attempting to enter Israel. Gaza also fired rockets into Israel for the 2nd night running.  The PM has hinted he might launch a war on Gaza. And that will serve him in the coming elections .... for sure. Meantime the Jerusalem Municipality has approved govt. plans to expand jewish settlements in arab lands. That is a flashpoint that could ignite more violence.

Assumption et al

Measure for Measure in the park

The past 2 days had been so full of activities I couldn't update the blog. Between moments of getting ill and vomiting, there was the usual work to do ... yes even on Assumption Day (Thursday) when everything in the diocese closes down for a day. The muslim installers of the elevator came to work ... so I had no choice but to stay with them in the library. It was multi-tasking as I tried to do other things while watching the elevator work. Then yesterday I had to cook lunch for my community as our cook was off for her son's wedding. The community to east chinese food so I cooked  fried noodles, with pan chow, and steamed dumplings, and steamed fish. I guess they must have liked it as the food was finished.

Great summer event

I immediately after lunch I had to rush off to Herzliya, a city 90 km away, to celebrate Mass because of a shortage of priests in summer. It was a very long ride and by the time mass ended, it was 9pm. Coming home meant hitching a ride to Tel Aviv, and then switching to a bus to get back to Jerusalem.  Once in Jerusalem I must walk 2 km home. Reached home at 11.40pm. Dead exhausted but I had only 4 hours sleep because at 6am today I had another Mass at the sister's convent. From there I had to walk very quickly 4km to get to the Ratisbon chapel because at 8am I had another Mass with the Ethiopic community. I am thoroughly exhausted to the point of breaking down.  Well it doesn't end there because in the evening it's a 110km ride to another city to celebrate the evening Mass then rush back again because tomorrow morning I have the Armenian Mass.

Yesterday over 5000 gazan protestors gathered at the border ... but as far as we know ,,, no one was injured. But in the Old Cityof Jerusalem we had a stabbing ... 1 Israeli police injured but the 2 teenage arab attackers were shot. One killed. Police presence was markedly heightened after that. Even the mounted police were deployed. It's very tense out in our streets.

One good thing these past 2 busy days was watching Shakespeare's Measure for Measure in the park. Performed by a local theatre group free-of-charge ... the Acts and scenes move around various parts of Bloomfield Park. Very relaxed. People brought their chairs and cushions, food and drinks ... and had a great time. I certainly did. The play lasted 2.5 hours and the sun was just setting when it ended. The director had smartly utilized the fading sun as a backdrop for the final scene ... amazing light between the pine trees with the majestic King David Hotel serving as the palace of the Duke of Vienna. If not for that fantastic event, I would have had the energy to do what I did.

Full moon

Full moon last night

Everyday going to work is becoming harder and harder. Maybe it's the scorching summer heat. Maybe it's old age. What used to be a 7 minute walk 1 km away has now turned to a 25 min ordeal .... panting and gasping. Mind you I haven't had an asthma attack like I used to, for many months now. It's the phlegm that's choking my airwaves when I have to exert to walk uphill. Nowadays I have to plan very careful where and when I go to places and give myself a good half hour leeway.

It's the last day of Eid al Adha ... thank goodness. Tomorrow the shops will reopen so we can go and buy daily necessities. The moon is full and another phase of lunar festivities is over. We now wait for the next full moon when the jewish feasts of New Year, Atonement and Booths will be celebrated. The Chinese will celebrate the Mooncake festival at the same time. And muslims will have their New Year. Let's see if the peace will hold up.

At the nursery

This morning I had to go to the nursery to buy bags of soil and it was nice to see so many flowering plants despite the intense heat. My night-flowering jasmine is dying ... not sure why ... could be the heat. So I bought a myrtle bush to replace it. But I cannot transplant them immediately because the heat will kill them both. Perhaps I can do it tomorrow morning or evening when it's alot cooler.

A census has shown that majority of jews want buses and public transport to be running on the Sabbath. That's a hopeful sign ... though the minority ultra-orthodox community that had imposed the no-work rule will still carry the day.  https://www.timesofisrael.com/most-israeli-jews-back-public-buses-on-shabbat-and-egalitarian-prayer-at-kotel/?fbclid=IwAR3pMuIvvxmRsjLBnyd1dgdpu8QievUIfH4kkQNAFO0SNsyASDfaly8u6Mk

On the national front ... no news of violence or clashes at the borders. Its too hot to fight.

Adventure or nightmare

Damascus Gate at night

Depending on how you see it ... I either had a fantastic advantage or a nightmare at Bethlehem checkpoint this morning. I was at the MC convent in Bethlehem this morning to celebrate Mass and give a bible talk ... but going home and waiting for the 231 bus to bring me back to Jerusalem  turned out to be a futile task because the buses were not running. I forgot it's the 3rd day of Eid al Adha and muslims still don't work. There was another well-dressed arab waiting for the bus ... a non-Bethlehemite for sure as he asked me of the bus was running. Funny thing was he started speaking to me in arabic ... as if he expected me to know the language. We waited for a quarter of an hour and then a passing girl told us we must go to the checkpoint because no buses are running.

The guy and I shared a taxi and we reached the Bethlehem-Jerusalem checkpoint. It was filled with hundreds of arabs and tourists, pushing and shoving to get through 2 narrow turnstiles. Tempers flared. A spanish woman lost her 2 daughters next to me. It was chaos. I was really sick of it ... suffocating in the crowd. Then I thought to myself ... this is how every arab has to go through every single day as they pass into Israel to work. That's their daily trauma ... and I am experiencing it for only once today. It was quite an adventure .... not pleasant but very real.

Once I passed the security check ... x-ray machines and body checks which I had to pass 3 times because my belt was still on and it triggered the alarm ... it was the Immigration check. Usually the Israeli immigration soldiers allow tourists to pass in a separate line without checks ... but today all had to line up with local arabs. I had to show my visa twice before she let me go.

And once out into the Israeli side ... it was a big sigh of relief .... into the sunshine and into a bus back to Jerusalem. Adventure or nightmare? a matter of choice. But enough of action for one morning. I'm exhausted ... need to rest.

Calm again

Thanks for the chasubles

Yesterday's violent clashes subsided at late afternoon. Streets were quiet and police forces pulled back out of the Old City. Life hopefully has returned to normal .... until another occasion for both races and religions to clash.

As it's only the 2nd day of Eid al Adha, many muslims shops continue to close. The Muslim Quarter is unusually empty of people in the morning ... but by evening the crowds come back out in the cool, and hawkers in the streets make brisk business. Vendors sell fruit, toys, food ... the usual stuff of an arab feast. Loud music is blared throughout. Cigarette and nargileh smoke cloud the air. The festivities go on till way pass 2am. Then all is silent again till the next day of celebrations.

Ethiopic catholics after Mass

Thanks for all the gifts: chasubles, food, mooncakes, clothes that groups have brought over. They're a big help and greatly appreciated. Not having a vacation for over the past 13 years, little gifts in summer sort of compensate for it. It makes the 3 long hot months a little more bearable. Otherwise I'm just working as usual, perhaps sleep a little longer (that means 4 hours) and give more bible talks and masses for nuns in Bethlehem and other regions. I also have to celebrate the Geez Rite Mass for the Ethiopic and Eritrean catholics in Jerusalem on Saturdays; and the Armenian Catholic Mass for the Armenian catholics on Sundays.

The civil war in Hong Kong has reached a point of no-return. When the airport has to cancel flights and flight crew go on strike, street and train traffic at a standstill ..... lawyers marching in protest ... the only and ultimate institution that puts the nail into the coffin is the financial sector. If financiers start to pull out investments, the stock market go on strike ... then it is game over. God forbid it will ever happen. If only everyone can come to their senses. The future is not worth throwing away over present ideals. There will be no turning back.

Violent clashes

Muslim protestors in the Al Aqsa
compound

The whole night was filled with prayers sung over the PA system of the Al Aqsa mosque. Thousands of crowds swarmed the streets as shops and hawker-stalls opened all night for muslims celebrating Eid al Adha ... the sacrifice of Ishmael by Abraham (not Isaac). However jews were also going by he thousands to the Western Wall to pray and lament because it's the feast of Tisha B'Av or the destruction of the 1st and 2nd Temples. That's where the trouble begins. The place of Ishmael's sacrifice is on a rock which the Dome of the Rock now encompasses .... but the jewish Temple was built over the same spot before the muslims came to build the mosque. As expected, this morning we saw violent clashes from jews and muslims over the same site. From the terrace of our house I could see the running battle inside the Mosque compound

Extremist jews pro-
voking muslims

At 7.30am we could already hear muslims chanting inside the Al Aqsa compound as well as in our street. Thousands had blocked our street chanting against jewish groups entering the Mosque precincts. Israeli police used stun grenades to disperse the muslim crowds ... but just as soon as they disperse, they re-gather to protest. Violence broke out inside the Mosque compound and in our street extremist jewish youths provoked muslims and clashes broke out. Riot police were rushing up and down our street while I took photos ... in between my israeli security friends. Things were really dangerous and at one point we had to even close our church doors. All shops and churches along our street (the Way of the Cross) were closed for security. Only we opened. Roads around the Old City were closed and traffic not allowed to go through. Everyone had to walk. Only the Light Rail train was working. But police and security were on super alert ... and rightly so.

So why was I out in such a volatile neighbourhood? Well firstly at 4.30am I had to go to the 24 hr bakery to buy bread. It's the feast of St. Clare and it's nice to eat fresh bread on a feast day instead of stale, frozen 4 day old bread. Then at 9am I had to send one of our students to the train station as he was leaving for the airport to go home. Being afraid of the massive jewish and muslim crowds at Damascus Gate and the violence that explodes every now and then ... he asked me to accompany him. It was on my way home alone that the clashes broke out on my street. First hand eye-witness ... original photos!

https://www.timesofisrael.com/clashes-break-out-on-temple-mount-between-muslim-protesters-israel-police/?fbclid=IwAR0Spx8OoUs32CmStfGBd5aMqo0W0S4YxYP9RtGQ8VXeuCRtNKIDsLi5nAY

Well there were violence also at the Gaza border as gazan infiltrators tried to enter Israel. What a Sunday! So much aggression, hatred, anger and violence ... what would St. Clare say?