stranger in a strange land

2006-04-11T02:05:00.000-07:00

so i am wandering around Tiberius and i see a target range (underground , beneath a playground) so like a moth to a flame i blow two hundred sheckels and blow the crap out of a couple of targets which i am proudly bringing home...

2006-04-05T11:17:00.000-07:00

ok so more tourist type photos... sigh....

2006-04-05T10:37:00.000-07:00

here is another photo that i wasnt allowed to take, im getting better at the shot from the hip shot arnt i ? anyways its always wierd meeting the kids at places like this because they are all just kids. (18 -21 years old ) doing a very adult job.

while we were here we could hear the missles that Palestinians were launching at the crossing and the Israelies returning with tank fire. as hard as we tried we couldnt get past as we didnt have current press passes fromn the Israeli government.

2006-04-03T23:57:00.000-07:00

here we are preparing to hitchhike to Gaza becuase we have no idea when the bus comes. Tamara is writing "Gaza" in big letters in her notepad . we eventually got picked up by a cab who basically robbed us by charging 65sheckles for a 15 minuit ride ,oh well

2006-04-02T00:47:00.000-08:00

inside the presidential compound

2006-04-02T00:36:00.000-08:00

the future tomb of Yasser Arafat

2006-04-02T00:34:00.000-08:00

sentry at presidential compound

2006-04-02T00:31:00.000-08:00

drill some more

2006-04-02T00:28:00.000-08:00

drill

2006-04-02T00:23:00.000-08:00

women walking

2006-04-02T00:03:00.000-08:00

Bus to Ramalla

2006-03-31T09:55:00.000-08:00

my hotel and lobby , please send money...

2006-03-31T05:23:00.000-08:00

an Armenian priest...

2006-03-31T04:20:00.000-08:00

at the site of Christ's birth

2006-03-31T04:13:00.000-08:00

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and you thought i was kidding

MY FIRST TIME

2006-03-31T03:42:00.000-08:00

MY FIRST TIME

ok so now its getting good...I get off the train in Jerusalem and I am about to take pic of the view from the platform.This little shit in an army uniform tells me I cant take a photo, he is all of maybe 19 years old and looks like he hasn't started shaving yet, I POLITELY ask him why and he says because he says so.He is staring  at me and I am staring at him and a cab driver who was parked nearby jumps out of his cab and starts talking really fast(in Hebrew) to the brat with the gun and grabs my bags and tells me to get into the car. ( Really, I am not making this up). Well, I needed a ride anyways so we get into the cab and speed away. The driver (Moshe) asks me were I am going and I tell him I am going to the YMCA hotel in town. He tells me we should go to Bethlehem because tomorrow is Sabbath and everything is closed > I agree . I don't know why, I just did...Ok ?We get about a klick from the checkpoint and Moshe tells me its a very bad idea to take pictures of soldiers and now he is talking on his cell and telling me that he cant cross checkpoint but his friends will be waiting on other side , as he is doing this he smokes into a little roadside store and asks me if I want a coke .We drive further up through the hills and then we park ...I ask Moshe where the checkpoint is and he says with a smile that it was" back there, but I can go no further,,," my friends will be along shortly"I am trying to remember how this turns out in the movie that I seen it in but am interrupted by the arrival of Moshes friends. Two guys in a beat up van with Johnny's Souvenir Shop on the side . I have paid Moshe 200 shekels for the ride and he tells me that he will pay his friends to take me to the birth place of my lord and savior (my words) ...I grab my gear and get into the van and we head off ( sorry, poor choice of words)So now I am officially in Palestinian controlled territory and those immortal words of Dorothy came ringing through my ears as I start seeing posters of Yasser Arafat everywhere. It seemed that for every poster of Mr Arafat, there is a Palestinian policeman standing next to it, also on the list of things not to photograph…We drive for a short distance and then we stop again... at, you guessed it, Johnny's Souvenir Shop “I am really not making this up...

I am greeted at the door by Johnny himself and a young fellow brings me a cup of mint tea.  Not wanting to insult my hosts, I drink tea and spend money…all is good.

Johnny tells me that business is really bad since Israel started building the wall because tourists are scared. I ask him about the suicide bombers and he says it is the work of madmen .  Everyone wants peace , except the politicians. My tour guide, Essa tells me he has not  been allowed  into Jerusalem for over 6 years, the reason he does not know.

Anyways we finally get to the Church of the Nativity .  This, for you heathens, is the birth place of Christ and is the place were the television broadcast all over the world comes from at Christmas time.

Pretty spectacular place. I can say without a doubt is the oldest place I have ever been and it possesses an energy that you can feel. The church was literally built up around the manger and birthplace of Jesus.

So after an hour we return to the van, and a ride back to the checkpoint where Moshe is waiting for me on the other side . This time my cameras are in the bag.(damn) I wanted to do a long lens shot as we approached the checkpoint but when Essa and the driver saw my lens and camera they were horrified that I would point it at the Israeli soldiers. Apparently Israeli soldiers don’t like things pointed at them.  I thank my hosts and I get out of the van and walk across the checkpoint, and notice one soldier with a spotting scope watching the approaching traffic and at least three with their rifles pointed at either myself or the van. I have a feeling that more soldiers are very close .

These are not the cute Israeli girl soldiers I photographed in Tel Aviv. No, these are the real deal, expressionless with their dark wrap around shades, and fingers on the triggers of their weapons crouching behind well worn concrete bunkers. My first armed check point and I feel all tingly, I flash a peace sign at one of the soldiers and he just stares at me.
Moshe has brought his daughters car as he is off work…. I climb in and I ask him
“Do you want a coke Moshe?

2006-03-30T10:41:00.000-08:00

a really bad shot of me on a Tel Aviv bus going to the train station...

2006-03-29T05:53:00.000-08:00

when i was chatting with the soldiers the CO ,through an interpreter, told me that taking pictures was forbidden...as i walked away i thought about my nieces carrying automatic weapons , i didnt like the feeling...

2006-03-29T05:49:00.000-08:00

Mrs Wiessenstien at work at her late husbands studio...

2006-03-29T05:45:00.000-08:00

this is Mrs Weissentien, her late husband, Rudi Weissenstien, took this famous photo of the sighning of the Israeli decleration of independance

2006-03-29T05:36:00.000-08:00

if it aint news , its art...

2006-03-29T05:34:00.000-08:00

n this guy dosnt say much but when it comes to fresh grapefruit juice he is the best ...

2006-03-29T05:33:00.000-08:00

2006-03-26T02:33:00.000-08:00

2006-03-26T02:31:00.000-08:00

2006-03-26T02:30:00.000-08:00

i have found this in a couple of places

2006-03-26T02:29:00.000-08:00

street merchants...

2006-03-26T02:22:00.000-08:00

this is kinda creepy but what the hell.....

2006-03-26T02:20:00.000-08:00

the breakers two blocks from my hotel... i suck , dont i?

2006-03-26T02:00:00.000-08:00

ok here are a few pics from my first couple of days in Israel..

2006-03-24T04:17:00.000-08:00

a few pics of old Amsterdamn

2006-03-24T04:00:00.000-08:00

ok, now i am back on the ground in amsterdamn, this airport is the biggest shopping mall i have ever seen...

2006-03-24T03:57:00.000-08:00

this is Hudsons Bay (the canadian owned one )

2006-03-24T03:53:00.000-08:00

the start of the trip, an aged boeing 767, after 8 hours on bored it has all the charm of a grey hound bus, allthough i did get to watch the very first episode of cheers...

2006-03-19T13:08:00.000-08:00

My 17 day mission is to seek out new life and new civilizations, to go boldly where i have not gone before ....

profound apologies to sir isacc asimov and gene rodenberry