Reflections from Eve Eden
Eve Eden writes of her first journey in Israel and Palestine:
First, the air is fresh and warm, the smell of Rosemary permeates the air, the sea has colors of blue that soothe my heart (when I was in Haifa with my family), the food is a combo of delicious Middle-Eastern salads, foodie quality dishes and traditionally Jewish fattening holiday food - knishes, blitzes, gefilte fish and delish pastries.
The topography of Haifa and Jerusalem is hilly, reminding me of San Francisco, and many of the streets are narrow and paved in stone - ageless. The old market, the Shuk, in the Old City of Jerusalem is a delight for the senses.
Yad Vashem, the holocaust memorial, gives an architectural home to the horrific. Architects be praised! How to hold the unfathomable with just what I needed to witness once again, to grieve once again and hold all those children in my heart with their bright smiles, dimples and curly hair.
We had just passed through security at Temple Mount, the most sacred place for Jews and Muslims. The first things we saw coming up to the Al-Aqsa Mosque were many prayer/study circles of covered-in-black Muslim women, and men divided by gender of course. Their presence on the several acre slab of large limestone is recent, since the Gaza War - as a way of calling attention to their connection to this place. A group of people came onto the Mount accompanied by Israeli police. No, we didn't, and most groups do not, warrant police escorts. As this group passed, very loud chanting went up from the twenty or so Muslim prayer circles. And I could feel the tension rise in my body, my heart rate increasing. It turned out that this nondescript group included Israeli police officers in training. Then as they passed, the noise subsided.
It is quite surreal to be in an archeologically alive place. I walked through the 'shadow of the valley of death'. It is five minutes from our Jerusalem hotel. And later at the Temple Mount, I found myself saying incredulously, 'Good God, I'm walking down the steps that Jesus walked down...imagine that.'
And my heart is heavy, filled with tragedy of what is happening in this place. The West Bank is only several neighborhoods away, the inequality is truly staggering, the frustration is palpable, and almost everyone who cares for us at the hotels are kind and lovely Palestinians.
Much love to all,
Eve
