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Tim Marshall

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Tim Marshall,

Tim Marshall

Opinion

You can't help thinking, I'll be stabbed next

Letter from: Jerusalem

March 31, 2016 09:56
2 min read

While walking from Jerusalem's Jaffa Street to the Old City, I spent the first three minutes looking at everyone and wondering if they were going to stab me. This was stupid on the grounds of it being highly improbable, and because, in those moments of distraction, I was more likely to be hit by a tram.

However, it reminded me of the effects of the "knife intifada" on the human psyche, and partially explains why the number of tourists visiting Jerusalem is dropping.

Officially, there is no problem. Unofficially, there is.

For the country as a whole, visitor figures are slightly up on the first three months of last year, albeit well below pre-2014 Gaza war levels. However, the overall statistics do not tell the story of what is happening in specific areas.