Muslim Guide to Holiest Christian Sites Proved to be Good Samaritan to Shekel-less Tourists

We met Abdi, our Old City guide in Jerusalem, at the corner of Via Dolorosa as we were trying to orient ourselves. We were initially afraid of being over-charged by a guide that didn’t know much, but he quickly won our confidence and told us he had been guiding people most of his life, and “it really doesn’t matter what you pay me.”  

As we toured the 14 Stations of the Cross, he told us he was 70 years old, a retired elementary teacher and, it turns out, a Muslim who lived in the neighborhood all his life. “You’ve seen a lot of changes here,” I said. “Can you remember 1948…or 1967?” asking about two important wars between Israelis and Arabs.