Nehad Ismail

I left Jerusalem in the mid 1960s, and I have been able to visit several times may be 5 or 6 times in the space of 40 years.

Each time Jerusalem looks more and more alien to me. Gone are the original smells and sounds. Gone the donkeys and camels. They have been replaced by noisy and dangerous mechanical tractors. The spice market is shrinking fast and a few shops still remain. Also gone are the smell of fried falafel and the sizzling honey balls (lukmat al-kadi), the Zalatimo pancakes, although Jaafar's Kinafa shop is still there; Jerusalem has never been the same. I guess the Israeli occupation had destroyed the fabric and spirit of Jerusalem.

In the 1950s and 1960s the landscape was truly biblical, you could see mountains, valleys and green pastures particularly in spring time. Also gone the three cinemas which showed Arabic Egyptian films as well as Westerns which were a favorite among the youngsters of Jerusalem. Cinemas were filled mainly Fridays and Sundays. It was a real treat to go inside with a bag of salty melon seeds and munch with my friends.

Silwan where I grew up as a child had a magnificent orchard (Albustan) which occupied the centre of the Kidron Valley, and there were thousands of fig trees, pomegranates and a variety of fruit giving plants, and hundreds of vegetable plots all irrigated by the waters of the Ein Silwan (Pool of Silom).

All this has gone. What you have now is a Jerusalem without a soul. You still have the churches and mosques, but none of the atmosphere. Outside the landscape has all but disappeared under the relentless onslaught of monstrosities which are called settlements and neighborhoods.

The Albustan in Silwan had vanished and dried up. Jerusalem the original is no more. Gone the Tarboosh wearing characters, the huge fruit and vegetable bazaar that was adjacent to the southern tip of the Old City Christian Quarters.

Jerusalem is not an open city as the Israeli government claims. I have friends in Beit Jala, Beit Sahour and Bethlehem who had to wait six months to get permits to visit friends or business associates, let alone to visit places of worship. The Separation Wall has physically emphasized the exclusion of Palestinians from the City.

The city has lost its appeal, but I keep going because I have roots, family and a dwindling band of friends and school chums who are now scattered all over the world.

Physically I exist in London England. Spiritually and emotionally I exist in Jerusalem and despite all the shortcomings and  the distortions of history and geography I still think of Jerusalem as my city.