I have been spending my time on the catalogue of the Arabic inscriptions in the Islamic Museum in the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. I now have a pass from the Muslim Waqf authorities, so I can enter the compound whenever I want.
I recently aquired a fancy new digital camera that takes panoramic views by automatically stitching together two or three shots. So I have been taking a lot of photographs of the Old City in recent weeks.
Most every day in Jerusalem is a holiday for someone. Id al-Adha at the culmination of the pilgrimage to Mekka on December 8 was one occasion when the Muslim part of the city largely closed down for a couple of days.
Damascus Gate on the last shopping day before Id
Damascus Gate on the first day of Id
When the pilgrims return a few days later, often the sides of their houses will be painted in celebration; I saw several fresh new ones in the Old City.
A fresh Hajj painting in the Old City
A second new Hajj painting
Id al-Adha is a gift-giving holiday, and for several days, the streets of the Muslim neighborhoods were filled with lots of young boys running around playing with their new toy guns. I overheard one group playing “Hamas and Fatah”, the local contemporary variant of “cops and robbers”.
Most days, however, are routine, although one night, the office of the Albright Institute director was burglarized; nothing significant was stolen. On December 9 a Palestinian colleague took me to the funeral of a prominent PNA person named Salim Chelebi. I am told that I may have met him a few times, but I have no real idea who he was. The funeral in the Golden Gate cemetery apparently was one of the largest Palestinian funerals in years.
The crowd at the funeral
