Border dove

Just inside the Palestinian gate at Rafah border, there is this impressive clay mural which depicts airplanes dropping bombs over Gaza, the al-Aqsa mosque, prisoners breaking free of their prison bars, and this dove of peace.

Off to Cairo for a three-day workshop on using Information Communication Technology to promote human rights. It's nice to have a trip out of Gaza, though the journey is always an ordeal. Today, it lasted 14 hours, 6 of them in the border, waiting.

When I got to Cairo, the driver who had brought me from Rafah picked up his girlfriend, a pretty Egyptian girl. She offered me chocolate and fruit juice, and phoned a friend to laugh with her about how she was with an Irish girl with a German name who pronounced Arabic with a Palestinian accent.

After such a long journey, it was a relief to finally reach my hotel room. I ordered room service of a burger and a beer (happy days!), and crashed.