We arrived in Jerusalem in April 2019 and this week, after three and a bit years, we will leave. A lot has happened but how much has changed? Nothing is better, so is it all worse? On a personal level, the past three years have been some of the most interesting, exciting and privileged of … Continue reading The parting shot
By now, the footage of Shireen Abu Akleh’s funeral procession being brutally attacked by Israeli police forces in East Jerusalem today has been broadcast around the world. Many will call it shocking: instead, I would call it chilling. https://twitter.com/RiyaAlsanah/status/1525122100259872768?t=ZkBHDtIS3jQO4vk3VuPxRA&s=08 It was not shocking that the police forces used brutality on a peaceful gathering: this has … Continue reading RIP: A funeral attacked
A sombre atmosphere has fallen over Jerusalem and the West Bank today as people woke to the news that the much-loved Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh had been shot and killed in Jenin this morning. Shireen was on duty reporting on an Israeli arrest operation in the Jenin refugee camp. She was wearing a … Continue reading A beloved journalist
Around 3am this morning the police returned and forcibly removed the Salhiya family from their house in Sheikh Jarrah and demolished the structure. There are reports that the family, including a young child and elderly relatives were beaten before being arrested and taken away. It's not clear where the family are currently being held and … Continue reading They came for them
Picture the scene: it’s Sheikh Jarrah on a Monday morning. People are driving to work, kids are on their way to school. It’s icy cold but the sun is shining. It would be a nice winter’s morning, if it weren’t for the fact that round the corner from us, the Israeli forces have turned up … Continue reading Demolishing Sheikh Jarrah
As I write this, there are only a few hours left of 2021, and what to say about it? My reflections are a blur of Covid, Covid, Sheikh Jarrah and then more Covid. Perhaps ‘uncertainty’ has been the keyword of the year with many days spent scrolling the newsfeeds and saying, ‘we’ll know more tomorrow’. … Continue reading The 2021 Review
Yesterday, a 14 year old Palestinian girl, left her home in Sheikh Jarrah, stabbed a Jewish woman and then continued on to school. Driving my kids to school around 0730am suddenly there were sirens wailing, road closures and a flood of heavily armed military types patrolling the area to find the attacker. Within minutes a … Continue reading 14
Guest Blog by anonymous Jerusalem’s Old City has as many hidden places and mysteries as it does religious denominations and identities. There is perhaps no better illustration of this than the Armenian community tucked into its own quarter of the Old City – one of the oldest uninterrupted communities of Jerusalem. A few weeks ago, … Continue reading Armenian Quarter
The one thing you can usually depend on in life is the steady march of time, but of course Jerusalem has its own rules for this as well. In Palestine (and therefore East Jerusalem) the 1-hour clock change back for winter happened early on Friday morning while in Israel (and West Jerusalem) it happened early … Continue reading Clock bother
GUEST BLOG by Nikki Jeffery In May of this year a new book was released titled ‘In this place together’ written by Penina Eilberg-Schwartz with Sulaiman Khatib. It is the personal story of peace activist Sulaiman (Souli) and his life living in occupied Palestine. The book documents Souli’s journey from fighting the occupation through armed … Continue reading Book review: In This Place Together
There is a reason why hot places are not normally chocolate places. Since we arrived in Jerusalem, it has been hard to find very good chocolates and very good cakes. The type that you want to recommend to everyone and hope that you’ll receive on your own birthday. That was until we discovered Tamer the … Continue reading Chocolate from Beit Hanina
Politics ‘Are things back to normal in Jerusalem now?’ was a question I was frequently asked over the summer by well wishing friends and family. For them the news headlines had faded away when Israel and Hamas agreed a ceasefire in May, but despite that, I’m not sure anyone has ever accurately used the word … Continue reading Notes on normality
This week looks set to be the week that Benjamin Netanyahu, or Bibi as he is locally known, is finally ousted from his role as the Prime Minister of Israel after 12 years at the helm. Whether you are hearing about this from around the world or live within Jerusalem, it can be difficult to … Continue reading Bye bye Bibi
Sadness, anger, frustration, and perhaps a small flicker of hope. These are the emotions that a lot of people are carrying into the new week across Israel and Palestine. A cease fire came into effect from Friday at 2am which has stopped Israel’s bombing of Gaza and Hamas firing rockets out of Gaza into Israel. … Continue reading Insanity is not breaking the cycle
Many people around the world already know that Israel’s line that it is merely defending itself from Palestinian militants is wearing thin even with their American friends. You would have to go back thousands of years in history to decide who started it, when it started or who is to blame, so let’s park those … Continue reading Playing War Fair
The view from Sheikh Jarrah - an update on a week of violence around Jerusalem, Israel and Palestine.
On Monday, I wrote that I feared that people would lose their lives in the current escalation of tensions between Israel and Palestine, and they did, but not in the way that anyone expected. During Monday, thousands of Palestinians were protesting their right to pray in the Al Aqsa mosque as Israeli police stormed the … Continue reading Flash Update
There is a lot of fuel on the fire in Jerusalem at the moment and it is burning. As I write this on Monday morning, Israeli police forces are clashing with Palestinians at the Al Aqsa mosque site and in several other locations around the Old City and it is being reported that hundreds of … Continue reading #savesheikhjarrah
East Jerusalem has featured prominently in the news over the past week. On 27 April, Human Rights Watch issued a 213 page report which examines Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and concludes that there is strong evidence that Israel is committing crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution. This is most severe in the occupied territories … Continue reading News from East Jerusalem
It has been a troubled week in East Jerusalem, with clashes breaking out across several areas of the city in response to rising tensions between Jewish and Muslim residents and also Muslims and the police. The holy month of Ramadan is underway, and it is usual for this to create some unrest in Jerusalem. During … Continue reading Clashes in the city
It is impossible to live in East Jerusalem and not to hear regular tales of injustice, including unnecessary police brutality, house demolitions and a wide range of acts designed to strip Palestinians of their dignity. Only last week a couple were shot in their car at a mobile checkpoint a few miles away from Jerusalem. … Continue reading (un)peaceful protest
A regular customer enjoying her mutabaq Most families have secret recipes but very few can claim to have been as successful as the Zalatimo families ‘mutabaq’. This week I added this sweet and savoury delight to my shortlist of ‘best food in Palestine’. With several branches across East Jerusalem and beyond, the Zalatimo name is … Continue reading Zalatimo Sweets
Forget the arctic, Scotland has 421 words for snow and yet in Arabic the word ‘talj’ covers snow, ice and everything in-between. Go figure, I guess it’s just not needed that much. Last week it snowed in Jerusalem for the first time in six years much to the delight of young kids and the horror … Continue reading Talj
Jerusalem is not the sort of place that sits still. Even during lockdown, the unique blend of people, cultures and politics means that there is always something completely astonishing happening on the streets or in the news. Below are a few things that I have observed or found interesting over the past week: Orthodox … Continue reading A week is a long time in Jerusalem
‘Have you had it?’, this is the question that has buzzed around Jerusalem over the past few weeks since Israel began its mass vaccination scheme a month ago. Israel has made headlines around the world for the speed and efficiency with which it is rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine. Official statistics from the Ministry of … Continue reading Vaccine Race
It was June last year when I first visited the Jerusalem Princess Basma Centre (JPBC) situated on the Mount of Olives. The organisation provides rehabilitation services to children with disabilities across East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. Founded in 1961, when East Jerusalem and the West Bank were under Jordanian rule, the organisation took … Continue reading Basma – Giving hope to children with disabilities
Last Thursday the eight-day festival of Hanukkah kicked off. Hanukah is the festival of light that celebrates the miracle that happened when the Holy Temple in Jerusalem was re-dedicated to Judaism back in the Second Century BCE. At the time Israel was under the rule of Syrian-Greeks called the Seleucids. The story goes that a … Continue reading Hanukkah
If you want to drink local beer in Palestine your choices are blissfully simple – there is Shepherds or there is Taybeh. The good news is that not only do both of them taste pretty good but they both come from the sort of small-family businesses that you want to get behind. The conservative and … Continue reading A Tale of Two Beers
Like a weak sun breaking through the clouds on a winter’s day, the realisation has finally dawned on many of us that COVID is here to stay. It is not going to be gone by Christmas, unlikely by Spring, and it is anyone’s guess if 2021 will be any better at all. Hang on though, … Continue reading Fear Not Fun
If you are looking for famous gates (and I don’t mean Bill and Melinda here) you’d struggle to beat a stroll around Jerusalem’s Old City Gates. Just like a dysfunctional family, each one has its own personality and some fascinating historical tales to tell. I was amazed to learn that the Old City Walls of … Continue reading Meet the Gates
This week’s blog has been submitted by Samaher and gives a fascinating report of life for the Bedouin communities living in East Jerusalem. Samaher is Palestinian and says that you can’t talk about East Jerusalem without referring to the Bedouin. Her knowledge comes from a combination of working on Bedouin issues as well as personal … Continue reading The Bedouin
Yesterday Israel started to exit its second national COVID-19 lockdown which had lasted for 4 weeks. For many people this meant a much needed trip out beyond the prior 1km limit. During the lockdown, schools and non-essential businesses were all closed. Beaches, parks and leisure facilities were closed, and people were meant to stay within … Continue reading Lifting Lockdown 2:0
There is a bee in my bonnet this week and it is the deaf ears around the world that the climate catastrophe is falling on. I have written before about how the piles of rubbish in East Jerusalem were an assault on the senses when I first arrived last year. Sadly, they remain, however, having … Continue reading Climate calling
This Friday is the start of the Jewish High Holiday season. Over the coming three weeks there are three major festivals to be celebrated: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot. Unfortunately, this year they will take place during a three week national lockdown in Israel. If you are new to Jerusalem, then the range of … Continue reading High Holidays
The Old City in Jerusalem is a world class sight to behold. Within the city walls lie three of the most important religious sites in the world: The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Western Wall and the Al Aqsa mosque compound (‘Dome of the Rock’). There are seven gates that lead into the Old … Continue reading Old City
For some time now, I’ve wanted to write a post about the Haredi ('Orthodox') Jewish population in Jerusalem. They make up a sizable part of the population and it feels like an omission not to mention them. I’ve held back, afraid that I don’t know enough and will get the facts wrong. I also don’t … Continue reading Mea She’arim
We live in the neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, nestled in amongst the consulates and old Palestinian elite families. It is part of East Jerusalem but not representative of East Jerusalem. What I didn’t know, was that the word ‘jarrah’ in Arabic is derived from ‘healer’ and Sheikh Jarrah was the personal physician of Salah ad-Din. … Continue reading Sheikh Jarrah
Ka’ak has ruled supreme as the Jerusalem bread of choice for thousands of years. It is eaten across the Middle East, but the Al Quds (Jerusalem) variety is known to be especially good. So, what is the secret to this stretched ring-shaped bread? Ka’ak is a popular breakfast but also makes a good brunch, lunch … Continue reading King Ka’ak
Nowhere is language and identity more complicated than in Jerusalem. Since I arrived last year, I have been treading carefully to try and use the right language with people so as not to offend or worse, antagonise them. I will often refer to ‘Israel and Palestine’ however, knowing full well that the two things do … Continue reading Being Palestinian
Nowhere is the phrase that the pen is mightier than the sword more apt than in describing the two Educational Bookshops on Salah Ad-Din Street at the heart of East Jerusalem. Not only do the shops offer a treasure trove of interesting and thought-provoking literature but to visit is to step inside the warm familiarity … Continue reading Home is where the books are
East Jerusalem Diaries 