Violent morning

1st contingent of 100s of
police enter our street

I woke up to the sound of shouts and sirens and people running down our street ... there were 2 stabbing attacks leaving 2 jews wounded seriously. The arab terrorist was killed by police. It's the last Friday of Ramadan and the police have been laxed ... I can't believe it. Somebody's head is going to roll. The terrorist was able to attack at Damascus Gate then run quite deep into the City and attacked another. How is that possible?

Anyway the City was locked down ... and all our streets were blocked. A security helicopter was flying overhead and 100s of extra police were called into the Old City. But it was too late ... they should have been here very early in the morning to oversee the massive crowds entering the Old City for the last Friday prayers at dawn. Somebody's head is going to roll for this oversight.

Closure of roads

My workers were calling me to say they cannot enter the City and so come to work. I considered closing the library this morning but some students managed to come and they have exams ... so I have to leave it open for them to study. Well one thing for sure, Im not going out today. It's not just the security or the masses of muslims in the streets ... but the fear that the jews will take revenge. And they certainly will ... if not today then tomorrow evening and definitely Sunday which is Jerusalem Day. I don't even want to imagine the violence that will take place ... as already the annual march of extremist jews conclude with beating up of arabs and destruction of their property and shops. This year the attacks will be merciless in revenge for this morning's stabbings.

I'm keeping my head down today ... work in the library and sleep in my room. Stay out of trouble.

https://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Stabbing-attack-at-Damascus-Gate-in-Jerusalem-591193?fbclid=IwAR3T0Tj0hOML0rUFH_4FYZz3uYEKOO0wdz1ime9cfpKmXgtfSM0d-gnbX3A

https://www.timesofisrael.com/two-hurt-one-seriously-in-stabbing-attack-in-jerusalems-old-city/

Ascension Day

St. Peter's in Jaffa

I was determined to take a day off for Ascension Day. I've been working too much and am getting burnt out. I decided to leave the 2 boys back home as well .... just needed to really be alone and chill out. 2 boys = Buddy and JJ the parakeets. They're really the best pets to have ... but I just needed to be alone today ... far far away from the chaos and tension of the City.

Ice cream at Jaffa

I left at 4.30am for Jaffa and arrived at 6am. Celebrated Mass and then had breakfast with the community. Then cleaning up the huge aquarium and sleep .... 3 solid hours. No phones, no knocks on the door, no work, no cooking and washing, no one around. I had an ice cream ... something I wanted to do for a long time. Then I went to chat with my israeli buddies Rudy and Ben who have stalls in front of St. Peter's Church. They're my great buddies.

St. Peter's Church

Because of work tomorrow ... it's the last Friday of Ramadan and thousands of muslims will converge at the Al Aqsa Mosque. Roads around the Old City will be closed and Damascus Gate will be jammed packed ... I must return home in the night. Stopped by Mandarin Restaurant to buy a pack of fried rice for dinner. And that's the end of my 12 hour holiday.

And that was Ascension Day for me. Yes we did talk about the meaning of the Ascension during lunch. It's interesting because 4 of them are Oriental Catholics and they have a different perspective to the Ascension.

Bad news ... prices of daily goods are rising. And no-one seems to realize it because everyone is worried about other things like war up north and south. All the protests from 5 years back have failed. And nothing seems to stop this rising prices. Life will be very difficult now for many people.  https://www.janglo.net/index.php?option=com_adsmanager&page=display&catid=99&tid=467473&Itemid=0&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

Ascension Eve

Beggars at Damascus Gate

Easter comes to an end as tonight we begin Ascension eve. Everybody goes up to the Imbomon ... nowadays everyone calls it the Ascension chapel on the Mt. of Olives ... but from the earliest times it was known as the Imbomon. No one knows why ... or what the meaning is ... but it was always the starting point of all solemn processions for all feasts in Jerusalem. Somehow in the Crusader period it became the Ascension chapel. There will be solemn Vespers sung there this evening, then Vigil at midnight followed by masses every half hour till tomorrow morning when a solemn Mass is celebrated by the Custos. One thing though ... it's a holiday for me as our institutes close down on this solemnity. Now ... for a little rest ...

New elevator

Here in the Old City, tensions continue as the weekend approaches and the clash of Israeli and muslim celebrations coincide. I'm still debating whether I should move to Jaffa for the weekend. I can't take more violence in our street ... which is directly below my window. I've been stressed enough with all the elevator work in the library. We've removed the old model and are now installing an all glass Schindler elevator. It's 5 stories high and I've been running up and down with my swollen ankle, checking on the workers on each floor and also the opened emergency exit so that tourists down just walk in ... which they have done. Then of course there's work on the other library ... lots of cataloguing and payments of new books. After 2 weeks of this, I'm ready for a long rest .... which means 24 hours tomorrow.

The military clash on the Syrian and Lebanese borders have silenced ... or at least the newspapers are not reporting it. Instead all the media are reporting of another general election because the PM is not able to form a coalition govt. Well he's still got a few weeks left so anything can happen.

One piece of great news is the 3 communities of the Holy Sepulcher have agreed to renovate the pavement surrounding the Empty Tomb. Everyone is footing a part of the bill. So it's fantastic! Finally the most sacred spot of christianity will get a decent floor.

Tense morning

Another fight at Damascus Gate

Last night on my way from from work, I had to stop at Damascus Gate as usual because of the massive crowds coming out of the City. It's almost the last 10 days of Ramadan ... and the muslims commemorate the giving of the Koran to Mohammed. Even more muslims come to the Mosque during this period and especially on Laylat el Khader ... a feast which has no fixed day ... most celebrate it 3 nights before Eid el Fitri but it could be any of the 10 previous nights ... a feast when heavens open and God grants everyone's wishes and offers mercy and forgiveness of sins. Any such thought certainly did not exist last night while I waited outside Damascus Gate. 2 groups of muslims fought each other ... something we've seen every other night here. Once again the police did not get involved and after 40 mins the fight fizzled out.

We woke up to news of military tensions at the northern border. Apparently Syria shot at an israeli drone or aircraft, and Israel responded by bombing Syria. It couldn't get as dramatic as that. We waited with bated breath to see if things would escalate to a military showdown. But now in the late afternoon, nothing. And least nothing's on the news.  https://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Israeli-drone-brought-down-over-the-Golan-by-Syrian-anti-aircraft-missile-590824?fbclid=IwAR1NGwtUHJnNhcVwV_xC8tFhCiUZIgP-mnP_Oveu-uwk5v7Fev8qs-xk4qM

Then at the other northern border ... with Lebanon ...  clashes occurred between Lebanese rioters and Israeli soldiers.  https://www.timesofisrael.com/lebanese-rioters-clash-with-idf-along-border-fence/?fbclid=IwAR0NxXOCFl-_WKevsDy_N-2600w_5uaoksIxj4AM75c52I_Wm8HeAIy7cCM

Christ the King bookshop

Anyway despite the tension, I had to go to Bethlehem to bring rations and medicine to the MC sisters.    After delivering the donations, I paid a quick visit to the only Catholic bookshop in the West Bank ... Christ the King bookshop. It is very clean and tidy and they just opened a new section offering religious ritual vestments. Very beautiful and artistic.

The heatwave continues to oppress us. I decided not to go to work because walking 1km uphill in this heat is horrible ... and coming home, crushed by the crowds, is not what I can handle right now. So I worked at home ... which is already quite enough.

Tension

Mounted Police

It's Monday again ... very early morning class ... I slept for4 hours as I came home from visiting a huge Singapore group of pilgrims (111 pilgrims) led by 3 S'porean friars. When I got home ... walking 3kms ... and ate my dinner at 10pm, the vicar came and started talking till almost midnight. I was braindead. At 4am I had to wake up for classes. I'm amazed how much I can teach while my brain is still sleeping. It's becoming an art.

The City is tense as Ramadan nears its end and Jerusalem Day is set to clash with it on Sunday. Mounted police have been deployed all through last week and this week. More metal barricades have been placed throughout the City.

Full moon over the Last Supper Room

And the heatwave, though not as severe as last week ... has caused over 1000 fires throughout the country. Thousands of residents have been evacuated. It's also been discovered that a Christian-Jewish community was deliberately set on fire, though firemen first thought it was due to an electrical fault. Hardline rightwing israelis are pushing to expel christians ... like everywhere else in the Middle East. And the wildfires are a good opportunity to cover one's tracks. In fact a soldier has been suspended for deliberately setting an arab field on fire but was caught on camera.  https://www.timesofisrael.com/police-arrest-two-israelis-suspected-of-vandalizing-palestinian-property/?fbclid=IwAR1iLPTwHg4EgT-duGSVjSKT6Au-MMcLz8XDrwIHpc9fPzpZQky_B9DY7_A
and
https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-suspends-soldier-allegedly-filmed-setting-palestinian-field-ablaze/?fbclid=IwAR1Fg4WZCtmVHQw0eoRWPfkq3yQwUr-FgdKbYKtGI2-xxXvNn8-9a4Cx-1Y

And in a rare case, 2 israelis have been arrested for vandalising arab property ... of course we don't expect them to be charged. https://www.timesofisrael.com/police-arrest-two-israelis-suspected-of-vandalizing-palestinian-property/?fbclid=IwAR1iLPTwHg4EgT-duGSVjSKT6Au-MMcLz8XDrwIHpc9fPzpZQky_B9DY7_A

Anyway everyone is watching this weekend ... if the tensions will deteriorate or ... as we all hope ... it'll dissipate in this heatwave.

Fight

Dinner time ... City Gate is empty

The heatwave had relented a little yesterday with temp lowered to 28 degrees thereabouts. It was still hot enough but by evening the cool winds blew ... and blew ... and became very gusty. Actually people had to wear jumpers and hoodies. I couldn't stay inside my room all day as it becomes an oven ... the stones of our house conserve the day heat and release it during the evenings so it get 5 degrees hotter indoors than outdoors. I went to sit at Damascus Gate at 8pm. It was very quiet because everyone was home eating. It was nice ... I could enjoy the cool breeze and watch the lights of the City Gate. But at 10pm the crowds began to flow out of the City Gate ... dinner was well finished and so was the last prayer in the Mosque for the day. Literally thousands crush at the narrow Gate to get out. Smartly the Israei Police have removed the barriers prohibiting people from sitting on the cavea of Damascus Gate. It was a point of conflict for the past 3 weeks ... but now all was peaceful. Families sat around the cavea, drinking, chatting, taking photos ...

Fight at 3rd Station of the Cross

Earlier yesterday morning I had forgotten I had to preach a retreat. I thought I had a day off and so went into town to do an errand. After a phone call reminding me that the sisters were waiting, I had to run 2 kms to reach them and preach. My memory is really gone ... so many times I go to a place only to forget why. It would have been less troublesome if not for my swollen left ankle. And that rush only made it worse. I've been limping for over a month now. Climbing stairs ... or any bending of the ankle is excruciating. But the docs say there's nothing they can do because I didn't seek medical help when I first twisted it 8 yrs ago. Now I have to bind it in a bandage to keep the joint stable.

Meantime in Tel Aviv there was a massive protest against the PM who is going to introduce a law protecting him from investigation and impeachment for corruption. Deja vu? aka the PM's best friend the american president. The introduction of such a law would kill democracy and effectively start a dictatorship not unlike those surrounding us.  https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/thousands-of-israelis-protest-against-netanyahu-s-immunity-bills-1.7284012?fbclid=IwAR137mEfZ8U-_DEROrubOznyrPxDWLHwXNvI5i6_lax0hQLKMuU57JzBs_o

Casualty

And there was a huge fight at the 3rd Station of the Cross yesterday evening. Arabs fighting arabs ... a guy in front of our house was having an affair with the wife of our neighbour behind our house. They brought it out at the crossroads and families and friends got involved ... it became a clan clash. Then the Israeli Police intervened and that sparked a backlash ... with both arab clans attacking the police. After the chaos and blood ... and arrests ... things calmed down. Nearby restaurant chairs and tables were damaged. But at the end of the day ... nothing extraordinary ... it's after all Ramadan. We're now waiting for a revenge attack.

30 degrees

Empty Municipality Square in the heat

Last night was 30 degrees .... it's like sleeping in an oven. And the forecast is that worse is yet to come. Massive wild fires are raging throughout the country and in 24 hours is so out of control, Israel has asked neighbouring countries for help. 4 countries have responded and are now fighting the fires with Israeli crew. Notably Egypt has sent a large team ... and Palestine has also offered aid. Cyprus, Italy, Greece and Croatia are also on the way. It's unfortunate that it takes a crisis and disaster to unite peoples. Then again it shows that people still have a conscience.

30 degree night in Jerusalem

Going home from work last night was awful. There was no wind and the weather was stifling ... like a  cushion of stake hot air crushing on us from above. I could only walk 500 meters and needed to rest. Also my left ankle was hurting. At Damascus Gate there were thousands exiting and there was no way I could enter. So I sat under an olive tree and waited till 11pm when the crowd thinned out. I pity the muslims who are fasting ... the heat must really be an added penance. One thing though ... cold drink vendors are making a lot of money.

It's not just the heatwave that's suffocating us. Secular and traditional jews are feeling extra pressure now that the small ultra-orthodox minority has taken power in all sectors of life and is imposing its will on others. The secular jews have taken a beating ... being treating worse than non-jews by these ultra-orthodox.  https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5514109,00.html

We received worrying news that the war in Syria in the region of Idlib is spreading to the village of Latakia where we have a parish and all the residents are christians. We can only pray that nothing bad happens. God protect them.