We saw the Church of the Holy Sepulchre- where Jesus was crucified. We did not get to go in but I hope to if I have some free time between the CPT delegation and ISM. The tall rooftops can be seen high in the sky and the crosses that adorn them, reminding us all what is the cost of our freedom.
The tower of David loomed over us, built to defend the city from invaders. We saw the Wailing Wall and the Jewish people engaged in worship there. From a distance we also saw the beautiful gold dome of the Muslim holy site, the Dome of the Rock. There are four sections; a Jewish quarter, an Armenian (Christian) quarter, a Christian (mostly Arab and Greek) quarter, and a Muslim quarter.
What is amazing is that thousands of people live in this ancient city. You can see Orthodox Jewish men congregating to pray with one another, Greek Orthodox priests in their black flowing robes, women wearing hijabs walking with their kids through the market.
Jerusalem has seen its shed of violence. Muslim armies, Crusader armies, the Ottoman Empire, the British empire, the Jordanian military and the Israeli military have fought in this beautiful city both shedding and losing their blood.
Yet you can also see Jews and Muslims and Christians mingling freely in all parts of the city. Peace is not impossible.
It wasn't all good. I went as part of a tour group and ended up getting lost in the Muslim section. At first I was annoyed but then my annoyance turned to joy as I found innumerable possibilities to practice my Arabic. Everyone was very impressed with me knowing a few words. I also mentioned I will be going to the West Bank tomorrow with CPT- some offered me discounts and treated me like a hero, which I'm definitely not. I went shopping for souvenirs gto take back home and lets just say I spent a lot more than I wanted. Some shopkeepers can be pretty pushy and one almost tried to force me to buy his wares and was trying to push me into his store. I almost told him off in Arabic but then thought better of it and walked away. The food is half the price of food where I am staying and the quality is very good too.
I will be posting a lot of pictures. Enjoy!
King David's tower
Dome of the Rock
Church of the Sepulchre
Hurva Synagogue- destroyed two times and rebuilt
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