My First Monday

Had a nice, uplifting Monday...or not.
We did a tour of the Palestinian neighborhoods (that is, slums) in East Jerusalem this morning. Saw the Wall nice and close. Read some graffiti in Arabic.

One incredibly fun (at least, that's the way I choose to see it) saying written repeatedly on the Wall:
لن نرمل عنك يا قدس
This is my translation and interpretation of the saying, so I'm not exactly sure of it. But some general thoughts:
لن is the Arabic negation (not, no, etc.)
رمل the noun means "sand," "grit." The نرمل means it's a verb applying to the person the sentence is addressing.
عن is "about," "on," "for;" the ك is a second person plural. So عنك=for/about you.
يا comes before you name someone/something you're addressing.
قدس=consecrated/holy/sanctified; it is the Arabic name for Jerusalem.
So they're saying something along the lines of "You will not ____ for you, oh Jerusalem." I am still trying to figure out what they're trying to say. I shall keep you updated, because it's now going to be on my mind all night. It's complicated by the fact that they're talking to Jerusalem, not to Israel. Though the Palestinians may be speaking in anger against the municipality of Jerusalem...

Got home decently early and wrote a bunch of stuff...so go read the many new entries on the "Issues in Development" page!