It is early. It is hot. Billy has just left to teach. I am having breakfast in a little ” kiosque it is in the middle of a street. I like it.

I look around, hearing the people. It is so different than Sao Paulo. Belem is the city of Mangoes. It is in the north of Brazil. They have a dance called Carimbó.

I am eating tapioca, something like a pancake made of the root of cassava. It is common to eat this in the north and northeast. I love it. I am drinking coffee which for the first time has no sugar. I am happy. I am wondering where should I go next? And suddenly I hear from very far away bla bla bla bla netanyahu.

I stand up and walk towards the tv. I stop in silence. Of course, they also think I am Israeli. My phone vibrates. It is from the middle east. I ask my dear friend Michal what has really happened? She is in Jerusalem. I am in Belem.. Bethelehem in Brazil.

I immediately ask my Palestinian and Israeli friends what had really happened in Jerusalem.

I did not fully understand the news on TV, but also a life in academia leaves one always skeptical of papers and news.

I had many different answers on fb. I expected that. I feel so much sadness. An internal attack , it is not the first but I know what it means. It is very different than an attack from Gaza or the WB.

I knew unification of Hamas and Fatah was precisely what had unleashed the last Gaza war.

Could two states ever be possible? I feel so much sadness. It was never meant to be possible. I think of my friends. Who are suffering. I think it is hard to be objective when you are afraid. I think it is impossible to have peace under oppression. Anywhere in the world. I see it here. I see it there.

I look for the voice of a man I respect. Uri Avnery. He who has survived nazism, who has fought for Israel. He who was part of the Knesset and who was the first Israeli to meet Yassert Arafat.

No one can say he is a self hating jew, so they say he has lost his mind because he is old. I always search for him. I finally read him hours ago. So if you want to know about jerusalem through the voice of someone who has lived all sides, here it is.

You can find it in other languages in Gush Shalom.

http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1416602494/

Love,
Jules