Sixth night of Hanukkah

[topum]

In Athens, Greece

Comments

[asher63.livejournal.com]

How awesomely cool!

[topum.livejournal.com]

It was. It was difficult to get to though. The whole street was cordoned off by the police. To get through you had to be interrogated by a police officer. Why are you going there? You don't have your passport? So how can you prove you are Jewish? Wow. Well, how do you think my passport is going to help with that? Do Jews in Greece have yellow stars in their passports? Why do you think that only Jews might want to come? And why Gentiles cannot come? I thought Gentiles were welcome at synagogues and there even was court of Gentiles at Jerusalem Temple itself, no? The guy just stared at me in silence for 15 seconds after that and waived me through. I know that security is necessary but I felt a little sad that somehow these days in Europe we need such horrific security just to allow people to celebrate Hanukkah in peace.
And what happened when I raised my camera to take the first picture is a separate story. I was interrogated for the second time.

[asher63.livejournal.com]

How bizarre. And yet, not bizarre for so much of the world.

Your story reminded me of what happened to my friend Michael Totten on one of his visits to Iraqi Kurdistan a few years ago. (The Kurdish Autonomous region is officially part of Iraq, but functionally a sovereign state of its own.) He traveled there hoping to interview Baghdad-born blogger Omar Fadhil in Erbil. Michael got in just fine, but Omar was turned away at the border because he is an Arab. Crazy world.

http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001058.html

[odnaansika.livejournal.com]

have solemnly brought in hotel?)))))

[doomcookie99.livejournal.com]

Hanukkah is the best. :-)