Israel - Jerusalem

We had heard horror stories about how tough the Israeli border is; the British lady we talked to had gotten her bra sent through the x-ray machine because it was the metal under-wire kind. But it wasn't so bad for us; at our request, they even stamped a separate paper rather than our passports so we would not run into problems visiting other countries after Israel. (In this region, all countries, other than Turkey, Jordan and Egypt, refuse to admit anyone who has visited Israel previously. Travelers try to get around this by not having an Israeli stamp on their passport.)

Jerusalem is a fascinating city. It is divided into three parts - the walled Old City, predominantly Palestinian East Jerusalem and the Israeli West Jerusalem.

The Old City is divided into four Quarters - Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Armenian. I am pretty sure it's the only place where you can buy a cross, a yarmulke (small skullcap worn by Jewish men) and a guthra (white, red & white checks or black & white checks head-covering worn by Arab men) all at the same store.

This is the Western (Wailing) Wall, the only remnant of Judaism's holiest shrine:

This is the Dome of the Rock in the Temple Mount, the third most important Islamic holy site, after Mecca and Medina (the latter two are in Saudi Arabia). You can see the gold top of the Dome of the Rock from above Western Wall picture:No, I don't remember why I was so annoyed in this picture; Bill probably did something wrong.

This is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the site where Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Ethiopian and Coptic churches believe that Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected. Different church communities divide control over various parts of the church, with times and places of worship for each community strictly regulated in common areas. However, the church door is kept by two Muslim families - in 1192, Saladin assigned responsibility for it to two neighboring Muslim families and this arrangement has persisted into modern times - twice each day, a Joudeh family member brings the key to the door, which is locked and unlocked by a Nusseibeh:

Every Friday, the Franciscan monks walk down the fourteen Stations of Cross, the route that tradition claims was where Jesus walked bearing his cross to the site of crucifixion. We started off following the monks, but it was just too crowded so we broke off on our own. As the result, we still haven't found Stations Nine and Fourteen:
This is the Church of the Dormition, where Jesus' mother Mary fell into 'eternal sleep':

This is the Coenaculum, held to be the site of the Last Supper:
Yes, it seems that even dirt in Old City Jerusalem has some sort of historical and religious significance.

Politics & Commercialism: