Life in the Holy Land is….complicated. I won’t even pretend to try to describe all the different peoples living there today, as even those who live it every day probably don’t understand all the intricate relationships that make every day life possible. From the outside looking in, it seems as if the strife, trouble, and violence is ongoing and daily. To a certain extent, it really is; on the other hand within the confines of the Nation of Israel today, some semblance of getting along seems to happen fairly often. This is just sort of a snapshot of the folks we saw during our trip. Blessings and enjoy!
Truth in Palmyra 
March 13, 2017 at 08:42
Nice pics except for the trash on the streets.
Some time ago when Prince Charles was visiting our part of the world, it was observed that travel routes were chosen where litter was not as heavy. Didn’t want him to see the public ‘dump’ sites…………
Always struck me as odd that a person would just drop their paper, cups, bags, whatever, wherever they wished. Did you actually use your brain when you just did that? A sign of the times. Idiots everywhere.
Now Toronto……that’s another story. Those folks appreciate their city. lol
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March 13, 2017 at 08:46
We had the same observation about the trash. It’s worse in some places than others. When stuff wears out, people just chuck it…cars, appliances…
Folks down my way are bad about it, too. I hate to see somebody toss trash out of a car window, really pushes my buttons.
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March 13, 2017 at 08:47
Except for the Western Wall I bet. Clean as clean I suppose. Rightly so.
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March 13, 2017 at 08:52
Indeed it was, and yet full of people. The only place I saw paper was stuck in the wall itself.
A cool story on this. At the Little Rock Airport, the guy who carried our bags was actually a pastor of a local church and he gave me a business card to put in the wall to pray that his congregation would get their new building paid for quickly. That was cool, and a real uplift to call him when I got back to let him know his card was safely tucked in a crevice.
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March 13, 2017 at 15:45
Thx for plugging T.O.!
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March 13, 2017 at 09:19
Fascinating, Wally. I’ve always thought of Israel as incredibly diverse. Just this incredible mixture of humanity from all over the world.
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March 13, 2017 at 09:44
It is extraordinarily diverse IB, and the relationships among the various groups are complex beyond measure. And everybody has an agenda. Frankly it’s a miracle that folks make it work as well as it does. It’s like a big pile of tinder, and all it takes is match..and boom. it’s on.
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March 13, 2017 at 11:56
And to think they were all in Egypt once!
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March 13, 2017 at 12:11
Enjoyed the pictures, Wally! Thanks!
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March 13, 2017 at 12:14
Thanks Maria!
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March 13, 2017 at 12:12
Fascinating!!!
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March 13, 2017 at 12:15
It’s very diverse. I imagine your area is like that somewhat. We tend to not be quite as multicultural around these parts.
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March 13, 2017 at 15:49
My oldest son spent 2 weeks in Egypt when he was 17. He was just old enough to be able to identify and appreciate the diversity in the country. One of his favourite memories is spending an afternoon in the bazaar with a young Egyptian vendor, just talking together about what everyday life is for them, respectively. It was a real eye opening experience for him.
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March 13, 2017 at 16:22
He won’t ever forget that, I bet.
We got to do something like that, off the official beaten path a bit, because of one of the folks in our tour group. We went into Bethlehem to see the Church of the Nativity, and were blessed to take a really nice side trip. Bethlehem, you know, is under the Palestinian Authority, and is a troubled city in many ways. There is a school there for young Palestinians who have been seriously scarred by some multi generational violence. It is a day school, and they help these kids recover so that they can go out and get jobs and such.
The family fed us, and we got to tour the school. Get this. The students are all Palestinian Arab kids, the staff is Jews, Christians, and Muslims. It is “officially” run by a Catholic order, the director is some stripe of protestant, and a really large part of the financial support comes from some Baptists.
How’s that for bridge building? One of the biggest deals was an Arab kid who needed a kidney transplant, and a Jewish family provided it from their unfortunately deceased child, and another Jewish family pays that kid’s tuition to the school.
Maybe there is hope.
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March 13, 2017 at 17:46
Ah, see? These are the humble works that the Lord has created us for. Loving our neighbour, no strings attached. “We love because He first loved us.”
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March 13, 2017 at 17:48
Indeed so, indeed so. But to see it in a place where hate runs so deep..was really uplifting.
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March 13, 2017 at 16:11
ode to random as we are all indeed pretty much random—thank you so much for sharing Wally—your trip has been a delightful diversion in my life right now—every once in a while we all need a virtual trip away from our troubles!
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March 13, 2017 at 16:15
Hi Julie. I’m really glad you are enjoying the trip and that it has helped put your mind on something else.
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