Monthly Archive for May, 2008

the edges of israel

For such a small country, there’s a lot to see in Israel.


Jaffa is the Arab neighborhood south of Tel Aviv.


We took a trip to the borders of Lebanon and Syria.


Sniper towers abound.


At the Syrian border residents in an Arab neighborhood have landmines in their backyard.


This man has to keep his autistic nephew away from the backyard for fear of detonating a mine.


In Ashkelon, we visited a house that suffered a missile attack. Gaza just recently got Katyusha missiles that have a much longer range.


The Old City in Jerusalem has beautiful architecture and an incredible mix of religious peoples.


Back in Jaffa, I saw a young Arabfind an Israeli flag on the ground as he was crossing the street. He picked it up and ran with it waving in the wind. As an Arab, he’s grown up as a second-class citizen in Israel but his generation knows nothing different. He thoughtlessly continued to wave his flag.

dead sea

We took a day’s break to journey down to the Dead Sea. Its shores are the lowest dry land in the world at some thousand feet below sea level. It’s also one of the saltiest bodies of water in the world. You could float on your back for miles. It’s believed that the mud is good for the skin, but I think it’s good for the soul.