Palestine/Israel

 

The wall divides Palestine from Palestine, but the terms are negotiable - depends who you are.
This bit below - the lower fence line - near the Al-Ram checkpoint will be moved at the request of the Vatican

Hnanan Ashrawi - Independent parliamentarian, previously Fatah,
human rights advocate, eloquent and brave woman

The Wall is so much worse than Pink Floyd could imagine.
Not unlike aspects of that self-indulgent film I saw probably 100 times,
This wall provokes shudders of embarassement that future generations will have on our behalf
We, the generation that allowed this map stain and shame,
Another stupid fucking wall erected on our watch
All over the clean floors of this newish century.

May the grafitti come thick and fast
I was pleased to see a decent start has been made.
All walls like this are built to be spat upon by grafitti
Then torn down by the next generation.
I want to watch, and I know I will.
Until that day,
The sharp gold of sunflower petals against blue
The clarity in knowing that this abomination will not last long
Is all we have.
Sunset on the wall, sink the wall

More Cheese - Less War

More Olives - Less Obstinancy

More spice - less spite

Just inside Jordan

Outside my hotel window in Amman

Bat Shlomo - a great lunch place
American Colony Hotel
Bahaii Temple in Haifa

When I saw the blood on the stones of Jerusalem below, I thought of the words of Ms. Nurit Peled-Elhanan, an Israeli activist who came to a WILPF conference

"My little girl was murdered because she was an Israeli by a young man who was humiliated, oppressed and desperate to the point of suicide and murder and inhumanity, just because he was a Palestinian. And now their bloods are mixed forever on the stones of Jerusalem, that have long grown indifferent to blood. The blood of children has become the cheapest merchandise in the murderous game. And the so called leaders trade in it freely, easily, because for politicians and generals, children are abstract entities, and blood is a chip in the bargain. You kill one of mine, and I'll kill one hundred of yours. People like our so called leaders, and of course our present prime minister, are people for whom killing has always been the easiest and fastest solution to political problems, and the only way to prove their manhood and honour. But I, who have lost my only one, I know that there is nothing honourable in losing a child. I know that terms like honour and manhood kill. Terms like manhood and honour breed death.

Therefore I would like to exclude myself from the system of classification that rules the area. To me, people are not divided into Palestinians and Jews. For me people are divided into peace lovers and war criminals."