13th September
East Jerusalem.
On this day in 1993, Arafat and Rabin shook hands on a ‘peace deal’. Here is how it was reported by the BBC, at the time…
“The Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin, and the PLO leader, Yasser Arafat, have shaken hands before cheering crowds on the White House lawn in Washington.
The handshake - the first ever in public between the two former arch enemies - marked the signing of a Declaration of Principles for peace between the Arabs and Israelis.
Under the terms of the deal, Israel has agreed to withdraw its troops from Gaza Strip and West Bank by April 1994. Elections will be held in the territories to allow the Palestinians some form of self-government. A deadline for a final settlement has been set for February 1999.”
I’m not sure how I feel about this, reading it 14 years later. Is it simply regretful that things didn’t work out, or was it wishful thinking? Either way, it didn’t happen and that is a great pity, for everyone involved.
At the end of the first day of Ramadan, the mood here is excitable. Last night I walked over to Borderline, the bar near the conservatory, and there were a lot of people hanging around. It seemed like a cross between an average Friday night in Britain (if you can imagine such a thing without alcohol) and a special occasion such as New Year. All day the Muslim population ate, drank and smoked nothing until the sun went down, and now it sounds like a cross between a party and a war. There are many loud bangs, from the firecrackers being set off now that the breaking of the fast is finished. As I walked home from the city, the Israeli Police weren’t letting any traffic except buses along Sultan Suleiman Street, which leads from the direction of the area where I live (At-Tur) into the city centre along the northern edge of the Old City. In general, there has been an increased presence of the police over the last 36 hours or so.
I’m going to Bethlehem first thing tomorrow, and hopefully the way will be clear, but the combination of Ramadan as well as the Jewish New Year means the checkpoints may well be slower than normal, I’ll need to leave plenty of time.
On the subject of time, one strange consequence of the independence of the Palestinian Authority is that the West Bank changes the clocks to wintertime a few days before Israel, so tomorrow’s journey of about five kilometres will take me across a time zone. It’s just symbolic I suppose, as it’s one of the few things that the PA actually controls.
