It’s quite good being an Australian. Everyone tends to like you. You can be friends with most anyone from any country. Perhaps thats why I like Israel. Everyone wants to confide in you with their own viewpoint and you can just agree with all of them!
There seemed to be a little more tension in the air today. It just all seemed a little more tangible. Perhaps it’s just my perception. Or perhaps it was because it was Holy Day for both Muslims and Jews. The police were at the gates early screening most people. Later in the day Jews were scurrying quickly through the Muslim Quarter, eyes straight ahead. Many do seem to have a real air of arrogance about them, but maybe it’s just fear. I mean of course it’s fear. That’s what arrogance always is (They were a lot more relaxed and happy in the Jewish Quarter, funnily enough!). An old Muslim man turned to me and said loudly so that they could here, “Everything would be alright if the Jews weren’t here. Just look at them! Ah, but you. You are very welcome here.” Then I was basically told by an old Arab man that it was my fault that Israel was in the mess it was in. Wow! Never knew I had such power!! I’m going to use that to try and influence people/ situations in the future!!” His friends couldn’t apologise more. They didn’t want the clientele upset. So you see, it seems everyone just tolerates everyone else here. Perhaps that’s all that can be hoped for in a place of such friction. It’s such a shame. Jews, Muslims and even Christians. They have all had a past here, a home here. I think all sides need to stop wanting “all” and be happy with “some”. The former just doesn’t work. That’s been proved time and time again. I also don’t get the whole “ownership” of a “holy site”. None of us really own anything, and in a place like this, it’s just impossible to differentiate such a position. There needs to be some give from all sides. The fear needs to be taken out of the whole equation. Fear and victimisation. Every group here has suffered at one point in time. The Jews believe no one likes them, the Arabs believe the Jews don’t like them, the Armenians have had to deal with genocide in the past as well and the Christians…..actually, I think the Christians have had it pretty good since the lion-eating Roman times. It’s time to get over it all. Holding onto past persecutions as an excuse to have things or be a certain way, is just not helping. Maybe that’s judgmental and out of place coming from me who has never suffered, but it’s just my observation from the outside looking in. Gee….I’d make such a good diplomat!!!
Anyway..….a day of adventure was had! There was lots to do and really not enough time and the first point of call was Qamran. This little town is mostly famous as being the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found just by chance by some local shepherds. I was really only expecting to see some caves in a cliff (of which I would have been more than happy!), but it turns out that there was a fabulous and very important little Essene settlement alive and well (it was actually probably this lot who wrote the scrolls) from around 200BC until the 68AD whe the Romans kicked them out during the great Jewish Revolt. The ruins are still there and although not extensive, were super. These guys loved to be clean and there are immersion pools everywhere. The steps into the pool were divided to make sure you didn’t come in contact with a dirty person going into the pool as you were going out! You can also see the refractory where they ate in silence and the scribe room where they wrote the scrolls. They also liked making a bit of pottery and you can still see several kilns.
Next it was onto that king of sites, Masada!! Even the name sounds powerful! This Herodian (well, it was already here, but he did a lot of work to it!) fortress built on a huge mesa was the final front of the Jewish freedom fighters (who had earlier taken it from the Romans…confusing!) against the Romans which marked the end of the Kingdom of Judea in 74AD. The Romans laid siege to the massive fortress and you can still see the breaching point today as well as the remains of the Roman camps below. Amazing! Before all this drama, Herod had built for himself a couple of flash little palaces up here, one of whose design looks rather modern, being terraced down the cliff face. Very nice indeed! This place is very popular with tourists, so you have to have good elbows and pretend you don’t know which way the arrows are pointing. I only had about an hour to see a site where you need 3! Way too rushed. And because I’m a bit tight with my coin at the moment, I walked (well….walked/ran) down the cliff instead of paying up for the cable car to take me down. Takes longer obviously, but you get a real feel for the immensity of the place. The views out to the Dead Sea are also pretty special.
Next it was time to laze in the Dead Sea. I think today may have been the hottest day so far, so the timing was perfect. Kalia Beach was actually pretty good and not too crazy with tourists. You cover yourself with mud which you have to scrape up off the bottom of the sea, slow cook yourself, then swim it all off. Leaves your skin baby bottom smooth.
Refreshed, it was on to Jericho. This Palistinian town is really quite poor, but has a wealth of history about it. It is the lowest city in the world and rivals Damascus as the oldest continuously inhabited city. You can still walk amongst the ruins of the old city, but you really have to use your imagination as there have only basically been some trenches dug. I’n not sure why they haven’t done more. Time? Money? Security? You can see the old walls though and they look fairly standing to me (maybe the ones that Joshua blew down are underneath). To be fair, they do show evidence of attack, so who knows. The backdrop to Jericho is The Mount of Temptation where Jesus supposedly hung out for 40 days and 40 nights, tempted by the devil. Today there is an amazing monastery that hangs off its side. When he was done, Jesus made his way down to Jericho where a vertically challenged man called Zachariah climbed up into a tree to see him and later invited him home to tea. The remaining dead but still tangible trunk of that sycamore tree is still able to be seen. That same, extact tree. I’m not saying anything.
The final stop was Hisham’s Palace. This was a Umayyad construction ( you may remember that lot from the citadel in Amman) and the palace was built in about 743AD. It was actually a Winter hunting retreat (think the Balmoral of its day) and was discovered to have the most magnificent of mosaic floors. The very famous Tree of Life can still be seen here in the bath complex. They were, on the whole, pretty impressive ruins, and it’s a shame more people don’t get to see them.
Time to head back to Jerusalem and to soak up a bit of the atmosphere (including fireworks that sound like bombs and imams that sing out of tune, all at once and LOUDLY!). Being Shabbat (Jewish sabbath), I revisited The Western Wall, and just when you thought hats couldn’t get any sillier, out they come! Today’s hat of choice was a high, round bearskin number. Perhaps I should learn about the background of it all before making smart alec comments, but I still just don’t get the hat and ringlets. Grown men with ringlets. It’s just not right! It’s all very family orientated though with the old really taking the young in hand. All inclusive! And it was lovely to see. The thing that just blows you away though (no pun intended) is the sight of really young (in their 20s, at a guess) guys and girls in their Friday best with an M16 slung over their shoulder whilst they say their prayers. Well I never!
XXX
