As my Arabic studies progress, I catch myself trying more and more to pick out identifiable words from inscriptions around the city. While on the Temple Mount, I focused on the script that goes around the octagon building that supports the Dome of the Rock.
It is a particularly difficult script (for me), but I was able to identify a few things.
“Can you pretty easily read the script going around the Dome,” I asked. “Yes, because I have it memorized. We start memorizing it in first grade” was the answer I received.
That struck me.
First, memorizing the script on the Dome gives local Muslims a heart connection to the Dome of the Rock; or more correctly, the whole of the Al Aqsa Mosque compound. And that is particularly true when it is done at an early age. The social and political implications of such a connection are worth consideration as the issue of control of and entrance to the Temple Mount makes its way to the front page of the news cycle.
The second thing that struck me about children memorizing that particular script is that I know from talking to others that that script isn’t a stand alone memory verse for Muslims. Many Muslims around the world strive to and succeed at memorizing the Qur’an, which is about the size of the New Testament.
I don’t personally know any Christians who have memorized the New Testament. I’ve heard of not more than a handful who have done it, but I don’t know them. I’m familiar with various children’s ministries that “focus” on Bible memorization, but most of them focus on isolated verses. Which is to say, very few Christians memorize large sections of either the Old or New Testaments. Why is that?
I do have a few friends who have been an encouragement to me to do much better in Bible memory; they have endeavored to memorize whole chapters, even whole books. May their tribe increase, and may they continue to challenge me in Bible memory.
I Was Skeptical
One of the things that many tourists say after being in the Old City is “except for the Jewish Quarter, it’s so dirty.”
In fairness to the other quarters, it should be noted that the Jewish Quarter has been completely rebuilt since 1968, so if for no other reason, it simply looks cleaner and neater because it is much newer. It should also be noted that the Jewish Quarter also seems to get better municipal services.
Having offered that caveat, I want to add that the people in and around the Jewish Quarter don’t seem to throw trash on the ground to the degree that people in the other quarters do. Now, that statement is an observation, not the result of scientific data gathering. I simply see what I see: People in the Jewish Quarter tend to not throw trash on the ground, while those in the other quarters have historically just thrown their candy wrappers, coffee cups, cigarette packages, etc, on the ground.
So, I was skeptical when I noticed new trash cans (with liners) in the Muslim Quarter, specifically along the high traffic Al Wad Road, which connects Damascus Gate with the Western Wall Plaza. That the cans are chained down might suggest some higher ups in the municipality were skeptical as well. The cute stickers say (only in Arabic) “The city is your home, keep it clean.”
The Old City has several full time street sweepers, which probably accounts for some of the ease with which its residents toss their litter on the ground. Kids and teens seem to be the worst, but I see a lot of adult men modeling the litter dropping custom, too. I’ve also been told that in the Arab culture exists the idea that “what’s inside my home is mine, what’s outside is not.” And this maxim probably contributes to the acceptability of simply dropping litter wherever one may be when there’s litter to be dropped.
Further observation: While there is still a considerable amount of littering in the target area, the campaign does appear to be helping. I hesitate to use the word working, but slowly it might actually be working. Obviously time will tell, but there is already a noticeable difference in the appearance of Al Wad Road after the first month or so. And, to my great surprise, the cans are still in place and stocked with liners. I thought for sure they would have been stolen or destroyed within the first couple of weeks. I was wrong.
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