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I spent 10 days in Israel this summer, half in the Palestinian city of Acre and half the time in Jerusalem. I like both cities. I went to Christian sites like The Holy Sepulchre, Nazareth, and the Sea of Galalee. I don’t know if I was safe the whole time. But I felt safe. The old Jewish guy who owned the hotel in Acre always locked the door before and after I left. I walked the city without care at all hours. I did the same at the Waldorf outside the old city in Jerusalem.

Everyone was nice to me. The Palestinian areas were not nearly as clean. Not because they were poor. They are just not as clean as a people. The difference was stark. I looked in their houses and yards. They were always unkempt. The old women wore burkas, The young women were dressed like everyone else, not covered.

All the protests we saw were not Muslims. They were mostly Jews protesting other Jews. But there were Druze protesting or maybe just rallying. Hard to tell because I do not understand the language. I rarely saw Muslims praying even in the mosques. The mosques would sound and people kept on doing whatever they were doing. However I did see some Jews on the side praying to a side of a building at different times.

There was a strong police presence everywhere. Police were always in groups and one of them was almost always a girl. They had vests and carried machine guns. But I never saw them stop anyone for any reason. I had a good time wherever I was. Everyone was pleasant, and it was a interesting visit.

I’ve had a similar experience in Palestine. We were there for a week. Trash everywhere. We spent time with locals and dined in Palestinian homes, both Christian and Muslim. The people we met were kind and welcoming. My takeaway was the leadership is corrupt (little if any of the $ sent their way is used to help people) and inbreeding is real (birth defects were startling). If you want me to care and respect you as a nation, care for yourself. Even if you are poor, you can put trash in a wastebasket, not on the ground.