On Saturday I attended a presentation given by the UN OCHA, an expert on the Wall and on East Jerusalem spoke of its expansion and gradual isolation of East Jerusalem. Even Ben Wiederman from the CNN was there! We also went to the wall itself with the group after the presentation.
Saturday, 8 December 2007
Jerusalem: The Wall, Salahaddin Street and the Old City
When you see people walking next to the Wall, you can have an idea of how large it is, over 8 meters actually.
Ray, an Irish national, is the Wall specialist, now a consultant for OCHA explaining the expansion of the Wall from a view on the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem. Ben Wiederman from CNN just infront of him!! Due to the highly politicised and controversial nature of this wall and its expansion, journalists like him need to be kept informed and therefore attend such presentatons. OCHA's role in Palestine is that of advocacy and information collection and mapping of closures, wall and road expansions in the Territories.
The Wall near the locality of Abu Dis in East Jerusalem, electrified.
A basket ball....caught in the wires of the Wall...
The Wall in Abu Dis has cut off the Mosque from the village, putting an obstacle to those living on this side to go and worship freely.
Some graffiti from visitors to the Wall. Some in French...
Some in English....
The Wall up close....
On our way back to the Old City, we walked down Salahadin Street, the main commercial street of East Jerusalem. On Saturdays, the Israeli police are celebrating the Sabath and therefore are not around to check on the Palestinian village women who come and sell their fruits and vegetables illegally.
We climbed onto the ramparts and walked all around the City, from the Muslim quarters through the Jewish and Christian Quarters.
I always try to buy my fruits and vegetables from these women, it is always fresh and comes directly handpicked from their gardens and fields in the West Bank.
Cauliflower is in season now in Palestine. I cut it up in small pieces and fry it in Olive Oil from Nablus (see a few postings below). Once the cauliflower is soft and a little brown, I cut open a brown warm pita bread, layer the inside with houmous and then fill it with the fried cauliflower. Delicious!
View of the Damascus Gate from the walls of the Old City. This is one of the gates which gives access to the Muslim Quarters. Bustling Saturday's market and sellers
A seller making large brown beans known as "foul" and chickpeas, eaten as a snack...
View of the Al Aqsa Mosque from outside the Old City
Dates and oranges in East Jerusalem....
Clothes hanging from one of the houses in the Old City. This photo was taking while we walked on the ramparts.
Red, Yellow and Green peppers. These are also great fried in Olive Oil and then in a pita bread with houmous.
Another view of Damascus Gate from the ramparts....
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1 comment:
This is great info to know.
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