Scenes at the Damascus Gate

Quite a lot of activity at this famous gate, security forces socializing with vendors.  Children playing soccer.  Muslims smoking and chatting.  Tourists taking a breather and showing off what they overpaid for at the shops.
We had no idea, but a 16 year old Arab girl attempted to stab a border police guard at this very gate sometime during the afternoon.  Could have been five minutes after we left, or several hours.  This is still most certainly a contested city in a contentious land.