[East Jerusalem, Palestine] I wanted to totally forget the intifada today, so I walked around West Jerusalem and took a couple photos of young girls. Nothing like a cute girl to make you forget the war, right? (By the way, since I am 39, I realize that I am walking a very thin line here

It make me really sad to see young kids with rifles walking through the open mall. I"m disturbed because it just doesn"t seem right. If you go almost anywhere in West Jerusalem, there are kids with guns. Take a trip to the Jerusalem Mall Burger King and you"ll find a dozen kids with rifles eating hamburgers. Go to the movie theater and look at the guys holding guns. These appear to be kids having a good time with their friends, not soldiers on duty. (A nice lady I talked to did tell me they were soldiers taking a break

ديدن دختران جوان در حالي که با تفنگ در بازارها قدم مي زنند مرا محزون مي سازد . ذهن من آشفته است ، به نظر مي رسد اين صحيح نباشد هرطرف که بروي در بيت المقدس غربي دختران مسلحي را خواهي ديد . بازديدي کوتاه از برگرکينگ ، يک دوجين جوان با تفنگ هايشان را خواهي ديد که همبرگر مي خورند . در سينما پسرهايي را مشاهده خواهي کرد که تفنگ به دست دارند . اينها جواناني هستند که با دوستانشان تفريح مي کنند ، نه سربازان وظيفه . (خانم نجيبي که با او صحبت کردم با اصرار مي گفت : که آنها سربازاني هستند که به استراحت آمده اند) 

Walk into any restaurant and you"ll find a young guard on duty. He"ll wave a metal detector wand over your body. He will also ask you if you are carrying a gun. Routine question -- "Are you bringing any guns into our restaurant today?" I wandered up to the Sbarros on Jaffa Street that was bombed about six months ago. It was in business, but during lunch only one guy was drinking a Coke inside. Two guards were posted outside. The Jerusalem Mall recently had three layers of security outside the building -- one row of armed men and women, one row with armed men and a metal detector, and finally a third row of guards at the door of the mall. (The nice lady told me that she guesses about 25% of the men in Israel carry a gun