Friday, 8th August 2008

(Jane 2)

Alec and I left Abu Dis in the morning. Along with most members of the group (not Rod and Jane), we caught the bus to Jerusalem and went to the Post Office to send home any ‘incriminating evidence’ that might give us problems with the Israeli authorities at the airport on the way home. Kathleen and Sarah were busy shopping, but at midday the rest of us met up at the terrace bar of the Jerusalem Hotel just north of the Damascus Gate for a farewell drink. Alec and I were booked into the hotel for the night as we were going back to London the next day. (It is a lovely, small, Palestinian-owned hotel, comfortable and beautifully furnished with antiques - highly recommended). We then went our separate ways. Alec and I wandered round the Old City; the others shopped, visited the Mount of Olives, etc. They then returned to Abu Dis, some to take part in painting the Apartheid Wall with Ahmad, and then all were invited to have dinner at Abed’s house. Sadly, Alec and I couldn’t join them as we had arranged to meet a friend in Jerusalem in the evening, but we had a great time at the Jerusalem Hotel listening to live Arab music (oud and drum) as we ate our dinner on the vine-covered terrace. We were struck by how different the atmosphere felt on this side of the Wall which reinforced the abomination of this structure.