Farewell from the Holly Land*

We had a little time to spare today, our last day, so thought we would have an emotionally relaxing time by visiting Yad Veshem followed by a light tour of the Museum of the Seam.

Liz is currently in the recovery position in the Hashimi.

I am saving my recovery for a few beers later in the Jerusalem Hotel - the refuge of free thought, tolerance and resistance (we know you're great, Raed Saadeh, Our Man in Jerusalem).

Yad Veshem, the Holocaust Museum, an acutely painful and monumental experience: two quotes from there -

"In Eastern Europe, the Germans incarcerated the Jews in severely crowded Ghettos, behind fences and walls. They cut [them] off from their surroundings and their sources of livelihood, and condemned them to a life of humiliation, poverty, degeneration and death"

"A country is not just what it does - it is also what it tolerates..." (Kurt Tucholsky, German essayist of Jewish origin)

Enough of that.

The Museum of the Seam is on the Israeli side of the road splitting East and West Jerusalem. It is thoughtful and provocative exploration of how our denial of the humanity of the (marginalised) other makes exploitation possible (inevitable?). It was also a lot less pretentious than this sounds because it was all done through multimedia arts, with the odd quote from Edward Said et al.

There was also free coffee and biscuits on the roof. Which was very nice.

Wish us luck on leaving. We have left a copy of the material on our memory sticks with Mo in Nablus, which takes some of the worry out of the exit strategy. But I really don't want to miss the flight, I think it leaves about 9am.

Thank you thank you thank you to all the fine people who have given us time and patience. We know this is precious time in places where all resources are stretched to the limit. We will try to honour that time.

Goodbye.


* This final post is brought to you courtesy of the Holly Land Cafe, Ramalla.