Jerusalem: First Impressions.

The Old City is tiny. The physical realities of the place force proximity that would otherwise be uncomfortable: the Muslim Quarter right up against the Christian Quarter, against the Jewish Quarter. (The Armenian Quarter hasn't really been visible to us yet). One is struck by the huge range of diversity in the people and religions - little children in the street in the basic garb of Jews or Muslims mark themselves as they run among us, dodging the heaping carts of too many boxes that functions as the cargo transport system in the tightly wound alleys and streets.

This is a place where every square meter matters: where a Jewish House in a Muslim area is marked by many bright Israel flags, where guards of both public and private allegiance stand guard while seeming civilians also walk around with their machine guns. But there is no fear, or if there is fear, it is invisible. Possibly this is because Jerusalem's residents are used to terror or fear, but I think the security state of checkpoints and a layered defence also functions. At the airport, I went by 5 places of armed guards before leaving, compared to one place in Atlanta with unarmed guards. It's the price of doing business and seems to be acceptable.

Jerusalem is also a dirty city (or at least the old part is), where you get the feeling that things are decided by the locals who live in and around the place, and less by the international powers that focus so much of their attention on this tiny, walled city.\

PS: Other posts will be here.