Last month...

Yesterday we left Beit Sahour and drove for maybe 20 minutes into The western world, West Jerusalem. We'd driven through Jerusalem before, so I should have been prepared for the change in atmosphere, but I wasn't. People of every race and walk of life were out on the streets. There were dogs and bikers (I counted 27 in two hours) and businessmen and trams and mopeds, newly paved roads, purposefully planted trees and bushes. Walking through the market later in the afternoon I met an American couple. They were Jewish, originally from Washington D.C. When I told them I was from Lancaster, they said that they had family there, and we threw out names for a bit to see if we had any mutual acquaintances, which we did not. They were buying tulips from a flower shop in the market, and I commented on how beautiful the tulips were. The man replied, "Flowers in this country are beautiful." I don't know who that man was or why he was in Israel or how he feels about the situation between Israel and Palestine, but something inside of me flamed up at that reply, and I wanted to yell "This isn't your country! These aren't your flowers!"