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
Seeking to grab a quick lunch on a Saturday – Shabbat – in Israel, led us into the Arab town of Umm Al Fahm, where we were greeted with unexpected hospitality. Before we went, I didn’t know anything about Umm al Fahm other than that it ‘had a bad press’, and I’m glad I saved … Continue reading Kindness in Umm al Fahm
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
It’s hard to live in Jerusalem and not feel like you’re tripping over Herod’s legacy all the time. Over two thousand years after his death, that alone is testimony to the magnitude of the man. So, who was he and what mark did he leave on the Holy Land? Herod was perhaps the original … Continue reading In Herod’s Shadow
‘Soap, knafeh, cafes...that’s Nablus’, said our tour guide for the day, teeing up the places he would take us. It was a rainy Saturday in January and we had come with several other families for an insider’s tour around Nablus. In keeping with the generous spirit of Nablus, our guide was actually not one but … Continue reading Why I love Nablus
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
Arriving in the small West Bank town of Aboud, with zero expectations about what we might find, I was unaware that I was about to be charmed by this historically rich Christian town. It might surprise you to hear that despite being called the Holy Land on account of Jesus’ birth, life and death in … Continue reading The Saints of Aboud
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
It’s olive picking season again and that means that many people take to the fields in a rush to pick their olives in the narrow window after the first rains but before the cold weather sets in. Olive picking is a deep-rooted part of Palestinian society that has been part of the annual calendar for … Continue reading Olive Highs and Lows
Everyone knows the joy of finding a good resting place on a long journey, and so it is also for the millions of birds that stop-off in Israel twice a year on their migration between Europe and Africa. During October, it is estimated that up to 400 species of birds migrate through Israel, totalling between … Continue reading Bird superhighway
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
I’m often saying to anyone who will listen, that Israel and Palestine contain what feels like a whole continent of different countries, and never was this more the case than on a recent trip to the Northern town of Majdal Shams. Majdal Shams is a small town in the foothills of the Hermon mountain range, … Continue reading Majdal Shams
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
As the weather starts to cool a little, it's time to start writing the adventure list! Below is my roundup of the best underground adventures, with a cave or experience to suit a range of people from the thrill seeking to the small kids. The Best Cave Ever The Best Cave Ever - Haritoun Cave … Continue reading Going Underground
Last weekend we were thirsty for a Palestinian adventure, and we headed off into the West Bank with the intention of tracking down a new and bizarre landmark alongside a 1970’s retro experience. Our travels took us past Nablus to a café that has opened inside a Boeing-747 and to the area of Al-Bidhan for … Continue reading Swimming in Al-Bidhan
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
On a hot summer’s day, the sea started to beckon, and we set off for the picturesque town of Jaffa, that holds a special place in the hearts of many Palestinians. Jaffa is an ancient port town on the Mediterranean coast, that has been inhabited for thousands of years. It features in several Biblical stories … Continue reading Jaffa
It was just after eight on a hot Sunday morning as we pulled out of our driveway and spotted our friend Ahmad who was delivering the daily newspapers. ‘We can’t chat as we have important business at Qasr Al Yahud, we’re baptising our friend’s baby this morning’. ‘Is it being born in the river?’ he … Continue reading The Baptism Site
On our way to Zabuba, the most Northern village in Palestine, I vowed that we would never return. We were already running late before we got lost following the woefully bad navigation app, we scratched the car turning an impossibly tight corner through narrow streets and we were bickering and in a bad mood. Then … Continue reading Tobacco picking in Zabuba
One of the most surprising things that has happened in Israel over the past few months has been the unrest that has occurred across the country in solidarity with Palestinians living in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. Is this tension new or was it there all along? Nourooz lives in the Northern town … Continue reading The girl from Tarshiha
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
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
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
As you approach Jerusalem on the main highway from Tel Aviv, Lifta stands like a ghost town on the hillside. It is a prominent reminder of the Naqba[i] which saw the residents of many Palestinian villages scared away from their homes during 1947-1948. Lifta is unique in that many of the original houses are still … Continue reading Lifta
We had heard that Wadi Fukin was a ‘nice place for a walk’ and made a few enquiries which resulted in the instruction to meet a man called Ata outside the village mosque on Saturday at 0930. We thought he might point us in the direction of the walking routes, but he was generous with … Continue reading Wadi Fukin
Kibbutz: the word sounds strong and decisive, ergo divisive. I have never been sure what category to put the kibbutz in. Is it any different from a settlement? Were the people socialists trying to build a progressive version of Israel or Zionists in communist clothes? We recently stayed four nights in a kibbutz, for lack … Continue reading Inside the Kibbutz
Walking in the Red Canyon felt pretty much like being on Planet Mars. I wouldn’t normally write about hikes in Israel as I regret too much that they aren’t accessible to everyone, but this natural wonder deserves a special mention for its sheer beauty. Israel's border with Egypt The Red Canyon is situated in the … Continue reading Hiking on Mars
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
We met Mohammad, our guide for the day, on a busy street in Zababdeh on Sunday morning. Over half an hour later than planned, we were bordering on rude, but he smiled broadly as he jumped in the car. Zababdeh lies 15 km southeast of Jenin and is approximately a 45 minute drive from Nablus. … Continue reading Zababdeh
As we are not able to go anywhere at the moment, I have been nostalgically remembering fun trips from last year. Last January it was Nazareth…. Visiting Nazareth felt like going on a pilgrimage and I guess that is exactly what it was. Famous as the birthplace of Mary and the childhood home of Jesus … Continue reading Nazareth
‘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
Music often says a lot about the culture of a place. If the bits of the local Palestinian scene I’ve picked up on are anything to go by, Palestinian musicians are really leading the way and helping test the boundaries and cultural norms of Palestinian society. And just like everyone else, everything they do is … Continue reading Sounds of Palestine
It is the last week of a year that many will remember. Looking back, for me the highlights have been vibrant and in sharp focus, whereas the low points have already faded into a hazy grey sludge. Maybe that is the gift of the year: a greater appreciation for the outdoors, the company of others … Continue reading The Best of 2020
On Saturday evening the Christmas lights were lit in Bethlehem in a small ceremony which was streamed worldwide. Despite the challenges of this year, there is still something magical about spending Christmas so close to where the action happened 2020 years ago. Bethlehem is only 10km away from Jerusalem although, as if often the case … Continue reading Oh Little Town
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
The Negev is the desert area in the South of Israel. Surprisingly, it covers around 55% of the country and yet is home to less than 10% of the population. I guess deserts are not known for being hospitable and the Negev is no exception: temperatures are extreme, water is scarce, and the rocky landscape … Continue reading Negev
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
The other day my three year old asked, ‘are we Palestinian?’ Sadly, for us, we are very much British, but it was sweet to see that she understood a bit about where we are. The next day she said ‘I just heard a Palestinian’ when she meant the call to prayer, so her definition was … Continue reading Locked In
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
This week we spent a memorable evening lying underneath the stars in the Judean Desert. If it sounds idyllic: it really was. We had heard that the annual Perseid meteor shower was taking place and decided to head down to a site near Nabi Musa with a gang of friends to check it out. Nabi … Continue reading Stargazing
When I moved to Jerusalem last year, I had only a very sketchy understanding of the occupation. I didn’t know my 1948 from my 1967 and I wanted to get up to speed quickly. Aided both by my husband’s already creaking at the seams bookshelf and the wonderful Educational Bookshop, I started reading a mix … Continue reading Reading Palestine
Battir might be one of the only places in the world where there really are eight days in a week. There are eight main families that own the agricultural land here and our knowledgeable local guide Hassan tells us that ‘everything in Battir is divided into eight’. Battir is a small Palestinian village, just a … Continue reading Eight Days a Week
Last week we went on holiday. Grounded by the prospect of a two-week quarantine in the UK and a two-week quarantine in Israel, we opted to stay put. It wasn’t where we thought we would be spending this summer, but it was interesting and memorable for many reasons. We stayed in the Upper Galilee, which … Continue reading Tracing the border
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
July has started and with it the second half of 2020 is underway. Days and weeks blur into one and the news headlines come and go. Elections, annexation, covid, occupation, it can be difficult to see the history being made in front of our eyes. This week, I’m taking stock of 2020 so far, a … Continue reading Half a year down
My favourite sound of Jerusalem, and one that has me excitedly running to the window, is the drilling of the Syrian Woodpecker in the trees beyond our house. If I am quiet and fairly still, I can often spot the woodpecker high up the trunk of the tree, beak poised and ready to drill. It … Continue reading Birds
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
Walking into the American Colony Hotel is like stepping into a green sanctuary in the middle of Jerusalem. The courtyards are immaculately tended and the gardens offer a calm oasis for people to meet and relax. I’ve not had the pleasure of staying here but a cocktail in the garden, or down in the cellar … Continue reading Behind closed doors
Last week the news and social media alike have been awash with shock and disgust over the police brutality that led to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on 25 May. There have been protests around the world. People are rallying around the Black Lives Matter campaign. This led to the backlash claim that … Continue reading Palestinian Lives Matter
The American Colony Hotel is both grand and iconic. It sits near the green line between East and West Jerusalem and considers itself part of the ‘no man’s land’ where everyone is welcome. I knew the hotel had enjoyed a string of illustrious guests over the years, but I wasn’t prepared for quite how startlingly … Continue reading The colony behind the hotel
This week I was very pleased to receive a guest blog from someone who recently visited three towns in East Jerusalem on the other side of the separation wall. I am always aware that my blog has been quite narrowly focussed on my experiences around Sheikh Jarrah and the reality for many East Jerusalemites is … Continue reading The Other Side of the Wall
Last week my kids returned to school and nursery after eight weeks of lockdown and we all breathed a big sigh of relief! They were just as delighted as us to have something to get up for in the morning, a place to go, people to see, experiences to live. The bags were packed the … Continue reading The ‘Back to School’ dance
East Jerusalem Diaries 