"Holy Land Tour - Day 5" Visit to "Old Jerusalem City",Church of John the Baptist the Church of Visitation and "Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum"[30-10-08]

Dome of "CHURCH OF HOLY SEPULCHRE".

"VIA DOLOROSA" walk inside Old Jerusalem walled city.

Got up early at 0430 hrs, had a shower and went out for an early morning walk, my usual routine whether alone or in a "Package tour" as was the “Holy Land tour” with “Mosiac holidays”. Park Hotel was situated in “New Jerusalem city” an ultra modern “First world city”, broad and clean roads, poverty invisible, and less people on the roads with more vehicles, typical of any “1st World city”. I made my way out of the hotel foyer, one of the rare early morning walkers and inquired about the local bus-stop for traveling to “Tel Aviv” about an hours distance from New Jerusalem City.
It was one of my travel ambitions to visit Israel since I always wondered as to the reasons for a “Minuscule Country” being the reason of “ 20th century World conflicts”. On now visiting the country i was baffled by the intellectual prowess of the average Israeli in contributing towards the development of their society, a classic example being the “Kibbutzes” form of "Community Living". After walking for about 15 minutes in a straight direction I reached a quaint cottage named “Rudolphson’s cottage(167)”, strange, my namesake in Jerusalem and I happen to walk upto his residence without invitation, Yuri Geller would be baffled on the existence of “Telepathy”. Met a Filipino worker and inquired directions for traveling to “Tel Aviv” and according to him it seemed complicated, besides, in Israel one faces “Language problems”. Locals are reluctant to speak to foreigners, results of decades of “Internal Terrorism” in a hostile neighborhood according to my personal presumption. The “English Language ” is everywhere on “Television”, besides, the “Jerusalem Post” is a popular newspaper, and the joke that Israel could be considered another “American State” is utterly true if one has to just look around and feel utterly “English American” in “Yiddish Israel”!.Jerusalem has beautiful cottage houses like Dr Rudolphsons, with their own gardens similar to my “Rudolph cottage” in Bangalore(India) with not many skyscraper buildings, majority of houses constructed of granite stones .Throughout history ,since Biblical times, the “Real estate” value of Jerusalem has been the bloodiest and a simple tour of “Old Jerusalem city” would make the reasons obvious to any traveler, let alone a historian or theological student. New Jerusalem city is a modern city built after the creation of the State of Israel and totally isolated in design as well as social structure from the “Old Fortified walled City of Jerusalem”.I had planned to visit Tel Aviv in the night after our normal “Mosiac Holidays day tour” a self discovery of Israel’s “Sin city” as it was only an hours distance by local bus but refrained from the same as I realized that it was dangerous for a tourist to travel in a totally unknown city which is absolutely wary of “Foreigners”.Returned to Park hotel and after dressing went to the common dining saloon for a “Buffet Breakfast” and as usual, “Israeli sushi fish” was my favourite. After breakfast boarded the “Tour Bus” for a tour of “Old Jerusalem Walled City”, the holiest city for the world’s three religions.As reference for history buffs I have inserted media information from “Wikepedia commons” on Jerusalem as I myself have co- authored a few sights on “Wikepedia Commons” which include “Mahalaxmi race-course(Mumbai)” and the “Worli Fort(Mumbai)” .Today, the Old City is roughly divided into the Muslim Quarter, the Christian Quarter, the Jewish Quarter and the Armenian Quarter.
The Jewish Quarter of the Old City was largely destroyed by Jordan following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War,[5][6] but was later restored by Israel following the Six Day War. In 1980, Jordan proposed the Old City to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site List.[7] It was added to the List in 1981.[8] In 1982, Jordan requested that it be added to the List of World Heritage Sites in danger.[9]
The current walls of the Old City were built in 1538 by the Muslim Ottoman Empire Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. The walls stretch for approximately 4.5 kilometers, (2.8 miles), and rise to a height of 5–15 meters, (16–49 feet), with a thickness of 3 meters, (10 ft).[11] Altogether, the Old City walls contain 43 surveillance towers and 11 gates, seven of which are presently open The tour bus stopped outside the fortified walls of “Old Jerusalem City” and we all alighted the bus with Israeli Tour guide Mr Eliezer Gilboa leading the way towards the “Via Dolorosa” route into the holy city of Jerusalem.The “Via Dolorosa” is supposed to be the final journey taken by Jesus Christ , carrying the cross on his way to the crucifixion at calvary , now situated inside the “Church of the Holy Sepulchre ” and consists of the “14 stations of the Cross”. We entered "Old Jerusalem city” from Lion Gate also known as St Stephens Gate and walked the “Via Dolorosa” route as explained by guide Mr Eliezer, the narrow alley-ways and hawker shops on either side of these narrow corridors resembling a typical bazaar atmosphere complete with a butchers shop and fish and poultry products for sale.

"Coat of Arms"  on the wall of "St Stephens Gate" in Old Jerusalem.

                                                                                                                                                   .The fortified walled city of Jerusalem is divided into various quarters and St Stephens gate entrance is situated in the “Muslim Quarter” of the city and winds its way through narrow alleyways and at times wide pathways into the “Christian Quarter” of the “Church of the Holy Sepulchre”. I had carried some of my deceased parents clothes and along with a few of my own used clothes intended donating the same to some poor or charitable organization in “Old Jerusalem City” as my parents were devout Catholics, unlike me, a believer but also a a “Amateur Historian” verifying facts and making my own analysis on a subject or a belief. I am definitely not a “DAN BROWN”, totally challenging the authenticity of the very foundation of the “Christian Church” through his semi-fictional book “The Da-Vinci code” in order to profit “FINANCIALLY” by creating a “Religious Controversy”, and as Mumbai born novelist “Salman Rushdie” also understands, nothing sells better than a novel on “Religious Controversy”! I normally donate all old clothing to “Asha Dhan” run by the “Sisters of Charity” of Mother Teresa, a person whom I personally met at the Mumbai airport in 1986 while catching a plane to Cochin for joining a ship during my “Merchant Navy employment career”.I was absolutely stunned by her simplicity and lack of “Body-Guards” although a “World recognized” religious leader.On reaching Israel I realized the stupidity of carting “Old Clothes” for charity as Israel was a “First World country” and poverty as seen in India or Egypt was totally invisible to the tourist and even the churches in “old Jerusalem” never accepted donations in kind but only cash.I gave the old used clothes to a local hawker informing him to donate it to some poor people, since the walled city of the “Muslim Quarter” resembled a typical “Indian bazaar” with a mixture of wealth and middle-class co-existing but no “Beggary” visible to the tourist unlike at Indian temples, mosques or churches. As usual, Purchased some curio’s from a hawker and also a “Jerusalem wallet”, my hope for minting money, the “Jewish way”, world famous for generating wealth! Visited an “Antique shop” owned by a Palestinian and handled a 200 year old Moroccan rifle worth US$’s 15,000 and I was surprised at such costly invaluable merchandise being stored without the normal security devices nor security guard. Seems “Mossad” is really feared, even by local crooks! In Jerusalem,only articles above 500years old are considered antiques unlike India where it is 100 years hence almost every article in this shop was a antique, some genuine, some frauds ,as is my presumption of most “Antique dealers”.We all clicked a lot of photo’s en-route to the “Church of the Holy Sepulchre” and as usual I clicked a photo of a pair of stray Jerusalem cats, confounding guide Eliezer and the rest as to my interest in strays. I observed that “stray dogs” were non-existent in Old Jerusalem city unlike the “stray cats”. Cost of living is very expensive in Israel akin to Europe which I have visited frequently, besides, I didn’t come across any “Indian Jews”, a sizable number that have settled in Israel since 1947 after its creation. I was later informed that even “Jewish society" has its own communal system where immigrant Jews from various different country’s have the tendency to reside together within their own diaspora in the entirely “JEWISH STATE OF ISRAEL”, with Jerusalem consisting more of the “European Jewish Diaspora”, a form of our very own Indian caste system, unspoken, but still existing. Finally visited the “Church of the Holy Sepulchre”, the holiest church of Christianity and also the cause of numerous battles between the Christian crusaders and the Muslim invaders with Saladin being the most successful and having his own present day disciples in late Saddam Hussein and the invisible Ossama Bin Laden, creating the modern 21st century "Crusader-Extremist Muslim Wars”. Ironically Saladin was a very benevolent rulers and “Extremist

"WAILING WALL(WESTERN WALL) " ,one of the holiest religious sites in Judaism.

 Muslims” fail to study that even though he conquered Jerusalem from the Christian crusaders he never destroyed any Christian religious site and allowed the “Church of the Holy sepulchre” to exist alongside the “Al-Aqsa Mosque”.He even solved a dispute regarding the ownership of the key’s for opening and closing of the main doors of the “Church of the Holy Sepulchre”, which was entrusted to a “Muslim Family” in 1192, whose protocol is observed even in the 21st century by the ancestors of these custodians. The Joudehs and the Nusseibehs, two of the oldest Muslim families in Jerusalem, are the guardians of the 10 inch key and door entrance of the "Church of the Holy Sepulchre".The church of the Holy sepulchre was filled with religious pilgrims and tourists of every nationality including other “Indian tour groups”, a booming religious tourism business benefiting 3 country’s and formerly closed for decades due to the conflicts between Israel and its Arab neighbours Egypt and Jordan.Hope eternal peace continues and the World becomes a safer place.Description and religious protocol of the church of the Holy sepulchre is complicated and is an encyclopedic study by itself. Viewed the infamous ladder at the entrance of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre placed there sometime in 1852 and which has no religious significance but has stood on a ledge for over a century just because of “Church Religious politics” between the different "Christian sects" occupying the church, which is another encyclopedic study of its own.Later visited the “Jewish Quarter” of the walled city of Jerusalem and the difference in surroundings and shopping methods were absolutely different compared to the "Muslim or Christian quarter”, clean and systematic despite the huge crowds.Visited the “Wailing Wall(Western Wall)” , the holiest site in Judaism and was surprised to note that “tourists” of any sect were allowed to touch the "Wailing wall” and remove photographs provided they wore a “Prayer cap” which was a “cardboard paper cap” for tourists.

"AL AQSA MOSQUE(DOME)" holiest site for Muslims and Jews.

   “Al-Aqsa mosque” also called the “Dome” is the third most significant religious mosque for Muslims situated inside the “Old City of Jerusalem” but does not allow “Non-Muslims” entry, hence tourists can view this ancient historical mosque externally.After visiting the “Wailing wall” and also seeing authentic “Hassadic orthodox jews” in their resplendant attires for the first time, barring “Hollywood movies” we made our way through the exit gate of the old walled city from the “Jewish Quarter”.Boarded the “Tour Bus” and later visited the “Church of John the Baptist” and the “Church of Visitation”, all these holiest of holy historical churches becoming more of “Tourist Churches” rather than practicing Christian churches barring a few clergymen who maintain these ancient relics, a result of the mass migration of “Arab Christians” from the “Holyland”.Today in the 21st century,Christianity is the World’s largest religion but the original Arab Christian from the “Holy Land” is almost non-existent and none makes this more obvious than a simple “Tourist visit" to Old Jerusalem, the holiest of holy Christian city’s.Our last visit of the day was to the “Yad Vashem Museum”, a museum dedicated to the victims of the holocaust.The “Yad Vashem Museum” was huge and designed in the shape of a corridor with continuous images of various aspects of the “2nd world War” and “2nd world war Atrocities” against the Jewish population depicted on flat-television screens whose conversations could be heard with the aid of “ear-phones”.It was similar to being in a theater and watching a “holocaust movie” only difference that this was reality depicted and not fiction.Strangely, Israelis are very fond of greenery and trees and all over the desert landscape there are oasis of greenery amidst the vast desert sand , a classic example being the “Kalia Kibbutz hotel” in Dead Sea resort. In the “Yad Vashem holocaust Museum” compound there were a variety of trees planted as memorials by wealthy Jewish patrons, most of them Americans, as remembrances to victims of the holocaust. We left for our hotel after the museum visit and after a sumptuous dinner went to our room and scanned the television programmes.The television programmes were totally “U.S.A Based” with "Zee T.V” being the only hindi Indian channel on the hotel network.Took some local Israeli magazines from the hotel and browsing through it made me realize the sexual permissiveness of sin city “Tel aviv” and also the liberal culture of the average Israeli.Crashed to a good-nights sleep after a hectic days tour.

                                                                                                                                                           The

"OH JERUSALEM":- The fortified outer boundary  walls of "Old Jerusalem".