HUSEIN MASHNI -- Notebook

* EDITOR’S NOTE: Former Daily Pilot reporter Husein Mashni, who left the

paper in February 1999, now pursues missionary work in Israel. This is

one in an occasional series of his columns sent from Jerusalem.

I don’t usually spend much time on the western portion of Jerusalem,

which is the Jewish sector. I live in East Jerusalem and work there as

well.

But I like to go to West Jerusalem every now and then to do laundry or to

get a feeling of “America.” There’s a McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken

and we’re anticipating a Starbucks.

Today, I just need to do laundry. I wheel my suitcase full of dirty

clothes to a scuzzy, eight-machine, back-alley Laundromat. It’s usually

busy, but today is a continuation of the Purim celebration and no one’s

doing laundry, except me.

Purim, for those who aren’t familiar with the Old Testament, is a holiday

to commemorate the victory of the Jews in Persia over the evil forces of

Haman, who attempted a genocide of the Jews who had been exiled from

Judah years before.

Queen Esther, risking her own life, went into the king’s throne room and

successfully pleaded for the salvation of the Jews.

To commemorate the great woman’s courage, Purim was instituted and is

celebrated with other great holidays of the Jewish people.

As I wheeled my dirty laundry through the busy downtown area -- called

Ben Yahuda Mall -- I have to stand back and observe for a few minutes.

It’s a hedonistic fair. Youth with brightly colored, wildly styled hair

wore far-out costumes ranging from aliens and streetwalkers to the

world-famous Tinkerbell -- who was foisted upon the world by my own

Orange County.

Very Halloween-ish, the holiday has all the Western flair of the Burger

King further up the strip.

Holidays are a dime a dozen in these parts. The large Islamic holiday

when pilgrims visit Mecca was yesterday. A few days ago, Catholics marked

the beginning of Lent, which is taking on a special meaning as the Pope

will soon be visiting the Holy Land.

But what motivated me to write about this one was something that made me

sad about this Purim celebration.

I was walking out of Second Cup, a coffee bar near the Laundromat, when a

firecracker exploded. The sound was quite a bit louder than a standard

firecracker and a group of girls in their cat and punker costumes started

screaming.

It didn’t last long when they realized it was just a firecracker, but

everyone knew why they screamed. The laughter was muzzled by a sense of

anger because it just wasn’t funny.

Security is on full alert in both the Jewish and non-Jewish sectors of

the city, just in case a human bomb will attempt to spoil the

frivolities.

I started hearing louder-than-normal firecrackers going off all over the

downtown area. I hope none of them were real. But the sense of relief in

knowing that none of the explosions were real didn’t compete with the

anger inside me over the very real fears that are exploited for the sake

of excitement and fun.

Pray for peace in Jerusalem -- East and West.