Guns & God; The Holy Land

A seemingly contradiction of terms, but both are ever so present in this highly revered land. Also, they are the two main ingredients for a dish called Apocalypse Stew. Whose preparing this dish? Everyone. The religious sects provide the ingredients and governmental mettling is eventually gonna let this pot boil over. Fatalistic thinking? Probably, but until people start thinking more logically and less theologically, I don't see a happy ending to the conflict that I think will probably be the title of the chapter on 21st century history.

Alright, enough of playing Nostrodamus. As you can gather, I crossed the border from Jordan into Israel and managed to do so without being stamped by either border station. It wasn't without a bit of drama however. First, while passing through Israeli security control, which makes the TSA look like a Boy Scout Troop, my 3 inch knife that I use for buttering bread and carving up roadkill was discovered in my bag. After a quick questioning of my nationality, the official told me to put it back "deep in my bag," prompting me to replace it exactly where they pulled it out. This intial encounter gave me the false impression that my nationality was going to streamline my entry into Israel. I was wrong. Crossing with two American girls that I met at my hostel the night before, we were all initially questioned regarding our past travel, why we were trying to avoid the stamp, and were we planning on visiting the West Bank or any othe Palestinian territories. After this round, we were told to wait while one of the girls, who had recently passed through Syria, was put through 2 other rounds of demanding but amatuerish questioning about her intentions. Possibly thinking we may be Palestinian sympathizers and therefore agitators, they tried to trick her into saying she would be visiting the West Bank, an admission that would probably result in her entry denial or at least a punitive stamp her passport. What makes these formalities so aggravating is that they are largely done by the Israeli military, which, since it is obligatory for all youth, is made of mostly of 17-18 year olds. Justifiably, there is a security paranoia that warrants such a force, but the result is a mass of newly powerful kids, spending their formative years bossing around foreigners and Palestinians. Gucci glasses, designer jeans, and a shoulder slung assault rifle exemplifies the mixing of maturity. Our final encounter of the day planted the seed for my tone, when our taxi van to Jerusalem was pulled over at a check point and a military youth questioned our nationality, to which we replied American. When he checked our passports, he then accused us of saying we were Bulgarians (WTF???) and demanded to know why are passports were missing a visa. Only after our older and wiser taxi driver gave a dressing down to the youth about visa protocol for those avoiding the stamp did he let us go. Hopefully for good measure the driver threw in there what country provides the military technology and money to keep his country on the map.
Spent the next day touring the Old City part of Jerusalem including the Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Armenian quarters of the city. So much history has happened in this city that I I probably ingested more knowledge on the tour than in all my years of schooling.

Spent today at the newly opened Holocaust Museum. Aside from seeing the Dachua concentration camp years ago, I don't think I have seen such horrendous evidence of recent evil. A wrenching must see, especially if you are having trouble comprehending the possibility of inhumanity committed by the masses.

Trying to do a double border jump tomorrow. Leaving early tomorrow to cross back into Jordan, clear my pockets of Israeli evidence, and try and make the cross into Syria.

Yours,

BAQ