Today’s the big day. My father tries once again for the n-th time unsuccessfully to tie my tie symmetrically. I smile at the people surrounding me at my last moment preparations and ask my father why the tie has to be so tight, almost strangles me. He replies with a smile: ”Starting today, you will have limited freedom only. For the past 25 years I have been wearing a tie every day. I’ve also been married to your mother this long.” As usual, I laugh at my father’s silly joke.” I’ll go get some fresh air” I say.
In the house entrance I light a cigarette and look at the wall with Jerusalem on the other side. The wall is almost finished. Soon I will see the city very rarely-actually only with special permission and reasoning. “I’m getting married today,” I say to myself as I continue to study the wall, “today is my wedding day”
four kids are running around with toy guns, playing hide and seek
”The soldiers are here!! Open fire!” I hear them yell. “Yeah, we have to show them who’s boss!!” I hear the other one answer. This is a great place for children to play hide and seek. Some of the old buildings were rebuilt following their destruction through conflicts between Israeli and Palestine. Others were abandoned by their owners and are now completely empty
In the background I hear the happy voices of the old women who have come to sing the wedding songs. At weddings, they gather around the oldest one who usually has the strongest voice. She starts to improvise and the others repeat what she chanted, slowly and full of melody. They are more chanted verses than sung songs
In vain, I try to locate the playing children again. Instead, not far from me I spot a little child, playing alone with a kite. Its windy today, and the kite flies dangerously close to the wall. The smile on the boy’s face turns to horror, he struggles a little with the kite when it tries to fly onto the other side, and then suddenly lets go of it
He turns to me and smiles- almost apologetically. Then he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his toy pistol. He holds it, almost triumphantly in the air for a while, and then runs off to find his playmates
The new army recruits are being educated
In the house entrance I light a cigarette and look at the wall with Jerusalem on the other side. The wall is almost finished. Soon I will see the city very rarely-actually only with special permission and reasoning. “I’m getting married today,” I say to myself as I continue to study the wall, “today is my wedding day”
four kids are running around with toy guns, playing hide and seek
”The soldiers are here!! Open fire!” I hear them yell. “Yeah, we have to show them who’s boss!!” I hear the other one answer. This is a great place for children to play hide and seek. Some of the old buildings were rebuilt following their destruction through conflicts between Israeli and Palestine. Others were abandoned by their owners and are now completely empty
In the background I hear the happy voices of the old women who have come to sing the wedding songs. At weddings, they gather around the oldest one who usually has the strongest voice. She starts to improvise and the others repeat what she chanted, slowly and full of melody. They are more chanted verses than sung songs
In vain, I try to locate the playing children again. Instead, not far from me I spot a little child, playing alone with a kite. Its windy today, and the kite flies dangerously close to the wall. The smile on the boy’s face turns to horror, he struggles a little with the kite when it tries to fly onto the other side, and then suddenly lets go of it
He turns to me and smiles- almost apologetically. Then he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his toy pistol. He holds it, almost triumphantly in the air for a while, and then runs off to find his playmates
The new army recruits are being educated