Welcome to Weirdoland

I have been absent in the last two weeks but this fact can easily be explained by the presence of my mum and grandma who were here for the first time. I tried spending as much time as I could with them, juggling between them and work. I even established my headquarters in the apartment I rented for them. But because I'm nice and all, I present you, in pictures yet, the highlights of my two-week-absence : Three crazy generations... Massada birds If you happen to know what kind of bird this is, please share! A little urbex on the way back from the dead sea The Wailing Wall Ruins from the 2006 bombardment of Haifa. This house has been converted into a stable. Flea market in downtown Haifa. Abra Kadabra! Haifa The liberal mosque of Akko. And its inside. Akko shuq. He can smell it, can you smell it? What? The food!! The old port of Akko. Old Akko. Akko shuq. A mural in Nachlaot, Jerus...

Le journaliste israélien et ancien diplomate Gil Kessary a aujourd'hui publié un article sur le Huffington Post en français, qui essaye de savoir ce qui se passerait si la Belgique attaquait le Nord de la France comme Gaza attaque le Sud d'Israël : "Essayons d'imaginer un instant un scénario utopique: le nord de la France est attaqué par des dizaines de roquettes en provenance de Belgique, forçant les habitants à se réfugier dans des abris; des avions français ripostent en bombardant des sites des responsables, à savoir une organisation terroriste flamande; les Pays Bas condamnent la France tout comme le fait la communauté internationale." Il explique alors que ce scénario n'est pas spécialement utopique et que cette situation est bien réelle en Israël : "Utopique? Pas forcément si l'on tire des parallèles: remplaçons la France par Israël, la Belgique par Gaza, l'organisation flamande par le Djihad Islamiste, les Pays-Bas par l'...

I currently live in the German Colony of Jerusalem, it's south-east of the city. Right now the numerous muezzins are calling for prayer "Allaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah w'Akbar!", it feels very unreal sometimes. Sometimes it feels like thousands of people are crying at the same time, desperate. Sometimes it feels serene, calm, hopeful and peaceful. In the part of the neighbourhood I am in, most people find it invasive. They believe Arabs do it on purpose to bother them. That's what people have told me how they feel about it anyway. Down the streets begin the Arab part of the city, all the way to the wall. That famous separation wall I can see from my bedroom window. I stare at it. My bedroom window view. When the weather allows it you can see the mountains in the background. It's not rare to hear gunshots. And on Fridays, there are usually weddings, fireworks, it makes me want to go party with them. I think I might go crash a wedding in the next three mo...