Old City, New News

Last night there was an assassination attempt on a rabbi here in Jerusalem. The rabbi was apparently a pretty well known and outspoken right-winged spokesperson who advocated for the Temple Mount being taken from Muslim occupation. As if tension hadn't been high enough in Jerusalem before this occurred, Israel responded by shutting down Al-Aqsa mosque (the mosque in the Dome of the Rock complex) for the first time since 1967.

All of this just so happened to occur on the night before and day of my class field trip... to the Old City. My Arabic teacher brought our class down to the Old City and gave us a tour in Arabic. There's always plenty to see in the city, but today had even more going on than usual.

Our view from a roof nearby the Dome of the Rock. 

Since we couldn't get near Al-Aqsa / the Dome of the Rock our teacher took us up onto a roof nearby the complex. From this eye level view of the bright golden dome she gave us the history of the city below our feet. However, just because we were enjoying ourselves above the crowds didn't mean everything was quite as peaceful below. In the middle of our professor's lecture the familiar sound of gunpowder started occurring around us. Students started muttering back and forth to each other. "Gun fire?" "Fireworks?" "It's definitely something being fired." "Fireworks." "Doesn't mean they're not pointed at somebody though." The teacher seemed to pause. However, we were in Jerusalem. It really isn't anything we haven't heard during classes already. Our safety seemingly secure for now she continued on lecturing.

The next ominous occurrence was once we had returned back to ground level. We headed to the Jewish quarter, but had to walk through the Muslim quarter to get there. Usually the Muslim quarter is bustling with activity. Crowds of people perusing bright cloths and trinkets. Today, the Muslim inhabitants were protesting. All of the market shops were locked shut. A lively market sat empty and harsh. Metal doors and padlocks replaced the usual presence of merchandise and tourists along the narrow streets.

A rare view of an empty market street. It was ominously spooky in real life.

Regardless of the day's conditions, it was still a really cool tour. I finally got a grasp of the Christian and Jewish quarters and even got an inside tour of the Armenian monastery. Amongst all the tension normal life was still going on as usual giving us even more to see and experience than usual.

A bar mitzvah passing us in the Jewish quarter.

The wailing wall with the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa in the background.

To the right of the wailing wall. Right wing Jews were protesting below the viewpoint of this photo.

Outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.