Old Jaffa

According to local historians, the king of Israelites lost Jaffa in 1468 to the Egyptians, "whose soldiers made their surprise entry hidden in clay pots". A once predominantly Arab town now only has six mosques where there were thirty-seven only forty years ago. Jaffa is my first getaway town.
The journey began last night at 1030 aboard an East Nile Delta Bus. Cramped and frozen by the a/c, we arrived in Taaba at 530 AM. After being questionned and escorted all the way to the Israeli border by another Egyptian mukhabarat (ie. police for the secret service), I patiently waited for the immigration manager, who was probably younger than I am, to decide whether or not I am a national security threat. I sat in a lounge chair overlooking the sunset above the Gulf of Aqaba. I was later approached by an off-duty officer. He was on his lunch break I think. Offering me coffee and tea, we talked about Vancouver, Canada and the ongoing conflict with Israel. He was a little busier at his last position, but that he loved Eilat (the border town) and the ocean. This 27 year-old used to be at the Erez Crossing - that's the only crossing with Gaza - "a little busier" was definitely an understatement. He was pretty choked that I had to wait so long and he even admitted that it was because I was Muslim and originally from Algeria. But, he liked me a lot and later invited me to stay at his place in Eilat for a few nights even though I had a hostel booked in Jaffa. Some other guard came by and dropped off the M16, looks like he was back on the clock. Well, within a matter of minutes, the boss accompanied by this friendly soldier gave me a stern talking about being an activists before giving me the much coveted Israeli stamp.
Another 6 hours of buses and I reached Jaffa. After dropping off my (well, Remie's) pack, I visited the local mosque. It was ancient but the inside looked more like a storage or a garage than a place of prayer. I asked the two bearded men, in broken Arabic-English, what was going on inside. They explained to me that the Mosque was used by Jews after 1948 as a factory. 6 months ago, when the building was locked up by the city, these men and a few of their friends broke in and began their occupation. They have already begun an extensive rennovation project and it will be a wonderful masjid in a few years.
Just north of Jaffa is Tel Aviv -the urban, funky, sexy Israel. The city could be place in the South of France and nobody would know. The beach is eternally sandy and surfers infest its waters. The young and hip take their turns modelling on the corniche.
I should be in Jerusalem in the next 48 hours. (pictures to follow)