Nablus

I live near the city center. right up from what’s considered the “old city”. whenever the Israeli forces come into Nablus they like to post up in the city center so as to have control.
and right near the city center is the old city, filled with alleyways and shops. that’s where the Israeli’s fear entering because it’s a cramp and intricate maze. during the day it’s packed of course, with shops and food places doing business as usual. but at night everything is shut down, and when you walk it , you really get a feel for it. cats are every 50 steps, eating from the remnants of food and litter from that day’s market transactions. and the lighting is faint. and you see posters of martyrs every 20 steps you take. it’s nice. but eerie. an authentic experience. you can see holes in the walls and doors where bullets once entered / ricocheted.
there’s this one guy, whose photo is sprawled across the downtown area of Nablus. he was well regarded and well respected as a fighter, a sharpshooter and strategic leader. about 4 days ago in the afternoon i was strolling down the street mid-afternoon when a kid amidst the traffic on his bike stopped and asked me what time it was. then yesterday, as i’m hanging out right outside my grandmothers apartment home with a kid who runs his convenient store, a kid is there with his little remote control car toy just hanging around us as he’s friends w/ the other kid who runs his father’s convenient store. one thing leads to another and i look up the street at a large photo of 2 martyrs that are hanging up, and i ask the convenient store kid the name of the leader on the left side, mentioning that his photo - i see it everywhere..,. he replied, “that’s his father”, pointing to the kid with the remote control car. it turns out this was the same kid on the bike who asked me what time it was days previous.