A Walk Through Jerusalem's Old City

JERUSALEM, Israel, June 30, 2008 — -- Throngs of tourists block the narrow alleys of the Old City in Jerusalem, wandering amid brightly colored scarves and dangling beads. Tour groups from all over the world are browsing the shops — a group from Indonesia wears newly bought head scarves, groups from America wear laminated name tags around their necks.

In the nearby Arab Quarter, men sit on chairs by their boutiques, smoking cigarettes and calling out to tourists to encourage them to enter their shops. Judging by what nationalities the tourists appear to be, the merchants try to address the visitors in their native language.

Eyal Kade has worked in a boutique in the Arab quarter for eight years, selling leather shoes and scarves. He said that business — while not great — is better than it was during the second intifada, an Arabic term meaning "shaking off," used to refer to the Palestinian uprising that began in 2000.

Kade said all the stores on his street had been closed for five years since the beginning of the intifada. "The tourists were too scared to come," he told ABC News, "so we had no business."

Now that the tourists are back, Kade said that there can still be problems. "A month ago, three young students were here touring and they were looking at some of the scarves in my shop," he said. "Ten minutes later, the security guard from their group came here and said to them, 'What are you doing? [You're] not allowed to be here!'"

The guard was Israeli, Kade said. "It's the Arab Quarter," Kade explained, "and some Israelis will say that it's not allowed to buy from Arabs, or be careful because Arabs are thieves.

"It's very funny, really," he said with a laugh. "But also a tragedy."

Kade said that one of the Americans in the store did not agree with the Israeli guard. "She told me not to worry, not to be angry," he said. "She said that he was speaking nonsense and that she didn't agree with it."

On the same narrow street, the Arab and Jewish Quarters meet. The Cardo, a road in the Jewish Quarter, is a covered market built with Jerusalem stone. The ambience is less hectic, and the stores are enclosed with glass windowpanes.