Relaxing in Nablus

My friend Afaf in her home

I am having a relaxing day in Nablus. Since it rained, we were not needed to help pick olives. Some of my ISM colleagues went this afternoon to help protect a farmer from settler harassment, but they had enough without me.  I took a cab to visit Afaf, a local Christian whom Jean and I met here in 2008, and who stayed at hour home for a week the next year. She came with the Nablus group to Trinity Presbyterian Church and gave the church one of her needlepoints. (She also gave one to us.)

Afaf told me that the Israeli Defense Forces continue to enter Nablus, and she heard shooting only this week. The ISM coordinator told me they regularly enter the nearby Balata Refugee Camp.

I strolled this afternoon through the labyrinth of little stalls in the covered market in the old city of Nablus, which seemed even larger than the one in Jerusalem. There appeared to be thousands  of shops, selling everything you think of--clothing, toys, appliances, hardware, and food. There was even two mosques. [I was going to add pictures from the market but the next image didn't finish loading in an hour so I decided not to bother.]