Three Days of Mourning

In case you’ve missed the news the last couple days, a pro-Palestinian ship trying to breech the blockade into Gaza was stormed by Israeli forces. More than a dozen people were killed.

Three days of mourning were called. The city is nearly all but shut down. The story plays on al-Jazeera news and the BBC repeatedly. The only stalls open are a few fruit and veggie venders and any stores that are open have their doors only partially opened.

I started my diocesan project yesterday (cataloguing every kneeler/cushion in the Cathedral). Until Canon Robert Edmunds (who I am to report to for the summer) returns from the US, this is what I’ve been tasked with…that…and getting to know the city. I’m estimating there are about 300 of them. I photograph them, take down what information off the cushion I can, and then will search online for contact information. It is part of a fundraising program the Cathedral will run once I’m finished.

So off I went into the Cathedral until about noon, when I ventured back to the city wall to complete my walk around (Jaffa Gate to Lion’s Gate). When I came down from the wall and up through the Old City, I couldn’t understand why it was so quiet…which is when I turned on the news.

Today is even quiet, now that everyone seems to have heard the news. Getting low on groceries I ventured out down Saladin Street. I stopped at a vender selling corn on the cob and asked for three.

He put two in the bag and handed it to me, then turned to another customer, a Muslim woman. I waited, assuming the Muslim woman took priority over me. He finished serving her and I asked for one more, please. He said no, that is all. But he also wouldn’t take my money. The man from the next stall (I use “stall” loosely, since they’re just set up on the ground/street) told me it was a “gift.”

I said Thank you, but I was very confused. I don’t know whether he was rationing his fruit/veggies because of the three days of mourning (therefore only giving me two of the three I asked for), or whyhe didn’t take my money. A staff member from Bishop Suheil's office suggested it might be because two are too few to bother charging for. 

From my Jaffa Gate to Lion's Gate walk along the wall.

I know I've shown pictures of the doorways on the wall before...but I konked my head good yesterday on one. I mean they're tiny...but when I hit my head from not ducking?! How short were men in the 16th century?!

This end of the wall seemed lower...I think it was just as high, except that I was usually along a rooftop, so it felt safer than Saturday's walk.

The shutters: I took the photo because it seemed representative of what you see from above the city: broken windows left unrepaired, and below in alleyways and fields: discarded junk and garbage.

And then, beside the garbage-filled field, a lemon tree and children's playground, and dirt soccer field.

 

As I was taking the picture of the playground, an uniformed man ran past me and down the wall weilding a machine gun. I've seen this several times, sometimes they are holding a pistle and a machine gun. A security guard I passed at the same time told me they are in fact security. At any time, I could pass military, cops, security and ununiformed security...all very well armed.