November 22, 2000

A quick getaway from Zababdeh. We headed down to Nablus with our neighbor. The road was open the whole way their (a nice change). However, we were stopped by three plainclothes Palestinian soldiers in an unmarked car. Apparently the German plates and the red-headed guy in the front seat aroused some suspicion. Nevertheless, they were incredibly apologetic for having to pull us over and ask us for identification - something we've never encountered from Israeli soldiers.

The Old City of Nablus.

The Old City of Nablus looking onto the hills above.

It was a nice visit to wander around the Old City, eat kanaffe (a very famous very delicious Palestinian dessert) and msakhan (a very famous very delicious Palestinian main course). One of our fears in making such trips is that we will be mistaken for Israelis by Palestinian youths. But one moment in this visit seems to undercut this concern. When our Palestinian neighbor/friend/guide asked a young man for directions in Arabic, he was answered politely (and correctly) in Hebrew. We were mistaken for Israelis, but we were not attacked, harangued, assaulted, stoned. Nevertheless, we corrected his mistake.