i would have returned home to nyc shortly
and reported to you that while security and soldiers
are everywhere here in israel
war and terror feel far away
certainly in the great vacation resort
eilat
the place i just left the afternoon before yesterday
and now i have learned in the very same place
i spent a leisurely sun filled 4 days
such a short while ago
a place that has felt to everywhere far removed from war and terror
comes the first suicide blast in israel in about a year

my good pal dror just told me
that now i can officially say as so many israelis do that i have escaped
a terrorist attack
a suicide bomber

i spent the day and much of the night in jerusalem
yesterday with dror and his great friend galit
and i went to the old city
the holy city
and prayed
to the best of my ability at
the kotel
the wailing wall
the last remnant of king solomons temple
and was swept away by the holiness of the place
and then after backing up away from the wall
you have to back up
not turn

i heard the beautiful mournful sounding cry of prayer
calling moslems to the mosk
and realized that the only thing that separates the moslems from the jews
the temple mount from the kotel
is this one
ancient stone wall

this city is so holy
for so many
christians
jews
moslems
and yet
there must be soldiers
and metal detectors
and my jewish friends explained that it was not wise for us to walk in east jerusalm
in the arab sections for our safety
and i would assume that arabs feel the same way about the jewish quarter

such a holy city
such a wondrous special country
so filled with white light
and wonder

and yet
there is so much blood
so much pain
so much fear
my israeli friends
feel sad that they can no longer travel to the sinai for vacation
they can no longer travel to any of the neighboring arab countries
they are an oasis surrounded by enemies
i can only begin to imagine how that feels

and they also feel sadness for the palestinians
my friends here are kind and peace loving and gentle
and wish with their whole soul that this great land could be this way too

so do i

go in peace

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