Rare Snowstorm Blankets Holy Land
By: NBC News
Updated: January 10, 2013
The worst snowstorm in 20 years shut public transport, roads and schools in Jerusalem and along the northern Israeli region bordering on Lebanon on Thursday.
Jerusalem was transformed into a winter wonderland after heavy overnight snowfall turned the Holy City and much of the region white, bringing hordes of excited children onto the streets.
In neighboring Syria, the snowfall that covered Damascus in white on Wednesday sparked an overnight outbreak of playfulness among Syrians, who momentarily ignored their bloody civil war and forgot their affiliations as dissidents, loyalists and even soldiers.
"Last night, for the first time in months, I heard laughter instead of shelling. Even the security forces put down their guns and helped us make a snowman," Iman, a resident of the central Shaalan neighborhood, said by Skype on Thursday.
For more pictures:
