Travel Jerusalem: A Modern Guide To An Ancient Wonder

Posted on January 30, 2015 by Holly Thomas

by Holly Thomas. All images by iPhone, copyright Holly Thomas [Twitter, Instagram: @HolstaT]

Jerusalem is in our consciousness from earliest childhood. But it’s a place that, for many of those who have never been, occupies the same mental space as fairy tales. Something which we’ve known of since we can remember, but can’t imagine being real. I’m not religious, and in Jerusalem you are met at every turn with things which described second-hand would sound preposterous. But when you’re there, the history of it all is immediate, indisputable, and alive.

It helps that so much architecture is – against all odds – beautifully preserved. Jerusalem has amplified since the days of crusades and crucifixions and the new city and West Bank stretch far, swaddling villages and towns, including Bethlehem. But step inside the Old City, home to the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the site of the Last Supper, and you’re plunged into another world.

So, you should go to the Old City first

The Old City stands east of the (busy) Hebron Road, which runs through the centre of Jerusalem. The sections of Hebron Road which north and south of the West Bank, and through Jerusalem, are barred to green – Palestinian – license plates. Israeli license plates are yellow. Jerusalem feels safe, and as a traveller, you have nothing to fear.

The first thing you see when you walk through Jaffa Gate on the Western side of the city is King David’s Tower, which was built (bar an extension courtesy of the Turks) by King Herod – a crack architect, it turns out. Every night the sand-coloured building plays host to a light show which tells the 3000-year story of Jerusalem accompanied by music. It’s a beautiful show, well worth spending 30 minutes on to get a sense of the city’s roots. It’s a tiny place but the concentration of marvellous things is so high that I couldn’t possibly recommend them all in this space. So here are a few unmissables. Everything is so close together that I promise you’ll discover your own in-between hunting these out:

The Western (wailing) Wall

For obvious reasons, this is the only area of the Old City which you must pass though some security to enter. Standing against a backdrop of the Mount of Olives, and with the Call to Prayer echoing regularly just next door, it is plain why this is a site of high emotion for so many. But it’s so worth seeing. Dress conservatively – knees covered – and behave with respect for the three thousand years of history the wall represents.

The Cenaculum of the Last Supper

This is just down the street from the Western Wall, but for the full experience, head to the Church by way of the Stations of the Cross. These days the path is lined with shops and stalls, but there are still lasting signs, such as the Church of Simon, built on the spot where its namesake apparently helped a fatigued Jesus make his final steps.

A few treasures in the Church

The first thing you see when you Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the stone of the anointing, where Jesus is said to have been prepared for burial. To reach the site of the crucifixion itself, you must pass through a small, dark archway and climb a short winding staircase. There you’ll find the Alter of the Crucifixion, and next to it a hole in the floor covered by glass, exposing the bare ground below. Be prepared for a crowd, particularly in the evening and on Sunday. Descend the other side, and you’ll see what looks like a sensationally ornate hut – that’s the Aedicule, which contains the Holy Sepulchre itself. The Aedicule has two rooms, one holding the Angel’s Stone, which is believed to be a fragment of the large stone that sealed the tomb, and another holding the tomb itself. Be prepared to queue for entry.

The roof

This was my favourite place in Jerusalem. I was lucky in that I met someone who showed me how to get up there, but it wouldn’t be hard to find someone to point the way (you might have to be prepared to buy a trinket off one of the street stall vendors). Go at dawn or sunset, if you can. Unlike the walls walk, the roof is never closed.

Away from the bustle of the tourist-jammed streets below, this is where you’ll feel you’re in the Jerusalem the Romans found. Schoolboys park their bikes up there, people hang their washing (oddly like Edinburgh, Jerusalem is stacked in layers, house atop house atop street), and you can quite literally see everything from a perspective you’d never otherwise have known existed.

Don’t forget the new city

I’ll admit I biased my time in Jerusalem pretty heavily in favour of “old stuff”, but there’s a whole lot beyond that to see if you fancy a dip into the 21st century between biblical ruins. Try the market, unlikely jazz cafes in the evenings, and the adorable hipster quarter. There are a few decent clubs, but if you want a wild one, go to Tel Aviv (about 40 minutes in a taxi). And don’t be perturbed by all the teenagers with guns – they’re in the middle of their compulsory military service.

Further afield

The Holocaust Museum

If you only have time for one excursion beyond Jerusalem’s city centre, make it to the Holocaust Museum. It was the first stop on our trip, and it lingered in the back of our minds until long after we’d left. The building is stark, and beautiful, clean lines which stand in the midst of quiet serpentine grounds dotted with trees, overlooking the valley. Entry is free, but children under ten years old aren’t permitted inside.

Set at least 4 hours aside for it if you can. If you have a day spare, this could fill it. There is a staggering amount to see, plus over 11 hours of video footage playing throughout the main exhibition alone. It’s all riveting, beautifully presented, and will tug powerfully at your heart. The extraordinary breadth and delicacy of the subject matter is handled exquisitely, covering the historical prelude to the Shoah, the Nazi’s rise to power and gradual attrition of Jewish liberties, and at last the gruesome unfolding of the Holocaust across Europe in horrifying detail. The collection is acutely personal, packed with details which will knock your breath out. Like mementoes from the ghetto, set next to a video interview describing first-hand the sight of emaciated bodies littering the street, no clothes spare to protect their final modesty. There are letters flung through train windows bidding farewells which were never known, and charred shoes from the death camps piled in a heap on the floor. There is more to take in than you possibly could in one viewing, but once you start you will continue, wrapt, until you are saturated. Make sure that you leave time at the end for the children’s memorial, a cave in the grounds with candles reflected to infinity on its mirrored walls. Also, the Avenue of the Righteous Among The Nations, where you’ll find a tree dedicated to Oskar Schindler and his wife Emilie.

Out of town

Go to the Jordon Valley. Sinking 400 kilometres below sea level is like arriving onto another planet, conversely a drier, hotter, desert Mars-like planet, dotted with thin donkeys and ibexes. If you can, pass Jericho on your way to the beach. It’s one of the oldest cities in the world, dating back 11,000 years. It was Alexander the Great’s private estate, and King Herod later leased it from Cleopatra (who received it from Mark Anthony as a gift). Even if you just drive past it, it’s worth planning your West Bank route around. And you must an hour or two aside for a trip up to Herod’s fortress on Masada.

Masada (Herod’s fortress)

You can either climb or take a ski lift up the mountain to see this spectacular evidence of Herod’s final paranoia (he built the fortress in -reasonable – anticipation of a rebellion by his long-suffering subjects). The view is unparalleled, and to Herod’s credit as a mad architect, the fortress remains in fantastic condition millennia later. See if you can spot the lockers in the wall next to the old indoor swimming pool (really). Also remember to walk right up to the edge (it’s obvious where that is once you’re up there) and shout something into the canyon for a wicked echo.

The beach

The Dead Sea calls for a couple of hours at most. Spend longer and you’ll get bored, but a dip and a splash is uplifting and delightful. It’s smaller than you’d imagine – so much so that iPhones became confused, and O2 welcomed me to Jordon (which was visible through the mist which hung over the water). The beaches are concurrently small, dotted along the shore, and have a vaguely dated resort-like feel. A hint of Butlins lingers over the deserted playground behind the beach huts. The water, though, is magical. Slather yourself in thick mud, wait for it to dry, and then wade in to rinse it off. You *really* can’t sink, and Jesus’s feats suddenly appear less fantastical as you realise the impossibility of not floating. Lie on your back and you feel supported, safe, and importantly, warm.

Where to stay

The Arthur Hotel has resided comfortably on Tripadvisor Jerusalem’s top five list for some time now, and it’s instantly clear why. This boutique hotel – just 15 minutes’ walk (or a three minute tram ride) from the Old City maintains an intimate, private atmosphere, tucked down a side street of one of the most buzzing neighbourhoods in Jerusalem. The service is lovely – you hardly notice it’s there until you need something, at which point help materialises immediately. The rooms have an individual, luxurious feel, and are decorated with obvious care, a world away from the homogeny of so many elite chain hotels. Breakfast, served as a daily buffet from 7am-10am, is delicious, with regional delicacies such as shakshuka, grilled vegetables, and fish offered alongside more familiar pastries, cereal and fruit salad. For explorers who have been too busy gaping at their surroundings to stop for lunch during the day, there is also a ‘happy hour’ in the restaurant from 5pm-7pm, where you can enjoy snacks and sandwiches with your complimentary wine.

Final note

Jerusalem is a complicated place, no mistake. There isn’t space here to dwell on the implications that one of the holiest sites on earth, sacred to so many, is perplexed on all sides by strife. There is pain in Jerusalem, both older than the ruins, and newer than the Hebron road. If you ask why it isn’t advised to go to the Mount of Olives on a particular day (this is sometimes the case, though visitors really are the safest people in the city), the answer you get will vary hugely depending on who you ask. Wounds are deep, and though I fell for Israel heart and soul, I think it is necessary to stay mindful of your surroundings. This shouldn’t be a deterrent – on the contrary, it should be an incentive to go to this important and fascinating country. Just be respectful and cautious with your opinions when you are talking to the people for whom it is home. “It sounds silly, to call a four-day trip ‘life changing’,” said my friend on the plane back. “But it was.”

Gensler unveils Design for Museum of Bond vehicles and espionage {Cult}

Posted on July 16, 2010 by Catherine Balavage

LONDON — International architecture, design and planning firm Gensler today, unveiled its design for the Museum of Bond Vehicles and Espionage, which is slated to open in Momence, IL, in 2012, on the 50th anniversary of the first James Bond movie, Dr. No.

The 14,000 square foot museum will house the exclusive collection of the Ian Fleming Foundation, including the world’s largest collection of vehicles used in Bond films. A partnership between the Ian Fleming Foundation, the Kankakee County Museum and the City of Momence, this Gensler-designed museum will also feature cultural artefacts of espionage with exhibits exploring contemporary culture’s impact on the Bond films as well as Bond’s influence on popular culture.

With projections of 20,000 visitors per year, the museum hopes to revitalize Momence, Illinois, a historic border town located 50 miles south of Chicago.

The project itself is a bit of a double agent, says Gensler Design

Director Brian Vitale. At face value, we¹ve designed a showcase for a world-class collection of James Bond vehicles and the culture that surrounds them. But its real mission is to become a powerful catalyst for the revitalization of a once-vibrant city.

With a limited budget, Gensler focused on a single bold design move to make a statement against a simple backdrop. The result is the 007 window (named so because the windows angled jamb resembles a 7), located at the buildings prominent corner. The window does quadruple-duty, providing exhibit display space, signage, a day lit interior, and an iconic backdrop for photographs. The remainder of the building is clad in black horizontal corrugated metal. It’s a mysterious silhouette that reveals very little of the museum’s content, much like James Bond himself, said Vitale.

Get more info at the Museum Of Bond Vehicles Facebook Page

Carl on the Israeli – Palestine conflict {Politics}

Posted on June 9, 2010 by Carl Packman

Surprise of all surprises, there are left wing groups in existence today who are pro-Israel. J-Street is a not for profit advocacy group in the US who campaign for a peaceful two-state solution on the Israel-Palestine conflict, supports refined petroleum sanctions on Iran to curb their achieving nuclear weaponry, encourages border negotiation of Jerusalem, and views illegal Israeli settlements as a constant obstacle to peace.

It’s president, Jeremy Ben-Ami, recently said on the subject of the blockade: “There wouldn’t have been a flotilla if Gazan children had enough food, had schools and clean water to drink.”

Through the frivolity with which certain neoconservatives and Zionists like to throw around the term anti-Semite (where anti-Zionist, pro-Palestinian or pro-two state solution, all different concepts, might have sufficed) the sensible, anti-fascist, left (often, rightly, exemplified in distinction to the socialist workers/Respect party, as mentioned here and here) have to be careful when criticising Israel so as not to be tarred with such a rancorous brush.

Earl Raab, founding director of the Nathan Perlmutter Institute for Jewish Advocacy at Brandeis University, was so very far from the point when he mentioned that prejudice against Israel is often a bridge to anti-Semitism, though became closer when he distinguished this from antisemitism as such.

Tariq Ali, historian and political activist, once mentioned that: “the supposed new ‘anti-Semitism’ [in Europe today, is a] “cynical ploy on the part of the Israeli Government to seal off the Zionist state from any criticism of its regular and consistent brutality against the Palestinians…. Criticism of Israel can not and should not be equated with anti-semitism.”

I recognise leftist appeals to anti-Semitism, or trace elements of Islamist appeasement in the ranks of so-called left wing movements, preferring victim idolatry to reasoned political standpoint, but I’m still tempted by what Ali recognises that a certain few Israel supporters often obfuscate, with their liberal use of the paranoia sword, what is criticism of the crimes committed by the state of Israel and what crosses the line into anti-Semitic strokes. But to be sure, many people now find it difficult to tell one from the other, and it is a thorn in the side of the left.

The centre-right have an easy time of it though. Just look at our current Foreign Secretary William Hague. He recently condemned what he called Israel’s “unacceptable” blockade around the time of the flotilla deaths, causing little stir, and not much more than the word “astonishing” and “wobble” as criticism, from former speccie editor Matthew d’Ancona.

In 2003 Hague described America’s foreign policy as “bleeding away,”and in 2006 Hague opined that: “In some instances, such as attacks on the Lebanese army or on parts of the civil infrastructure, Israeli actions have been disproportionate, and our Foreign Office should not be afraid to say so”.

He is supported by a Prime Minister who chose September 11 of 2006 to announce reservations of the UK-US special relationship, not to mention the untrustworthy characters inside the European Conservatives and Reformists that he defends.

I don’t think Hague is an anti-Semite, but nor do I think a lot of leftists who are branded this are, either. I wonder why Hague is getting let off for his critical eye on Israel and American foreign policy while the left get cuts and bruises for it. Have the dubious voices who wrongly liken left-wing criticism directed at Israel being anti-Semitic won their little battle?

James Yardley on The Elusive Peace – An examination into the future of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Part 2.

Posted on June 1, 2010 by James Yardley

The Elusive Peace – An examination into the future of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Part 2 – What are the internal divisions within Israel and how does this affect the chances of a future peace settlement with the Palestinians.

Israel

At first glance Israel appears a united country but when it comes to the question of the Palestinians, Israel is deeply divided. These divisions are exacerbated by Israel’s electoral system which is one of proportional representation. Israel has a wide range of different political parties. Many are very small special interest parties often campaigning on a single policy. The Israeli parliament, the Knesset is made up of 120 seats. To form a government a party needs to gain 61 seats. However because of the system of proportional representation no party ever forms a majority. In 2009 the largest party Kadima achieved only 22% of the vote gaining 28 seats. Miles short of the 61 needed for a majority.

Israeli governments tend to be a fragile coalition of various parties and as a result tend to be weak. Often the main body of a coalition may struggle to appease more radical elements. Unsurprisingly the average Israeli government has only lasted 25 months as inevitably elements within the coalition fall out with one another. A series of weak governments has made it difficult for an Israeli prime ministers to take decisive action regarding the Palestinian question.

An important point to consider in regard to the Palestinian question is that Israel is surprisingly only about 70% Jewish. There is a substantial and growing Arab minority making up around 20% of the population. There are two Israeli Arab political parties, United Arab List (4 seats) and Balad (3seats). Some commentators have speculated there is potential for internal conflict should this minority continue to grow. The strained situation is heightened by the fact that the Arab minority maintains very close ties with those in the occupied territories. There have already been incidents of rioting and unrest during the first intifada (1987-1993) and the second intifada (2000- ).

Many in Israel are also very much aware of this threat. This is illustrated by Yisrael Beiteinu, a secular nationalist party which uses the slogan, ‘no loyalty, no citizenship’ towards Israeli Arabs and is described by the Israeli media as ‘far right’. The party wants to create a new Palestinian state and then transfer areas of high Arab population in Israel to this new state in exchange for Jewish areas in the West Bank. Despite being a very new party founded in 1999, which initially only achieved 4 seats, it has now grown to be the third largest party in the Knesset gaining 15 seats in the 2009 general election. Israeli Arabs remain vehemently opposed to the idea. Israel has a much greater standard of living compared the occupied territories.

Likud (27 seats) the party of the current prime minister Netanyahu continue to oppose the creation of a Palestinian state and supports the building of more settlements within the West Bank. Shas (11seats) a religious party also tends to support this policy.

It has always been Likud’s policy to seek the whole land of Israel including in particular the areas of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank). They believe Israel has a right to own this land. This is why Israeli settlement building continues.

In the past their have been big internal divisions within the party and the country regarding the policy. This was most famously highlighted when Ariel Sharron (then prime minister and leader of Likud and previously known as the champion of the settlers) abandoned the policy and his party in 2005 forming a new centrist party (Kadima) in order to carry out a disengagement plan. Removing Israeli settlements from Palestinian areas in Gazza and some areas of the West Bank.

The withdrawal has been heavily criticised within Israel for many reasons and many view it as a failure given the Hamas rocket attacks from Gazza in 2008. Since the withdrawal Israeli public opinion has seen a large shift in support back towards the right. In the most recent elections Likud more than doubled its number of seats.

A combination of deep internal divisions and successive weak governments continue to contribute to the lack of progress regarding a settlement with the Palestinians. Although these are by no means the only or most important factors. In the next article we will examine the impact of internal Palestinian divisions on a future peace settlement.

by James Yardley

James Yardley on The Elusive Peace – An examination into the future of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Posted on April 26, 2010 by James Yardley

The Elusive Peace – An examination into the future of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Part 1 – What are Israel’s Options Regarding the Occupied Territories of the West Bank and Gazza?

Its now almost 75 years since the first attempt was made to divide Palestine into separate Jewish and Arabic states. Back then the British Peel commission recommended that 80% of the land in Palestine should make up part of a new Arab state. Today it’s hard to imagine such a proposal was ever considered. Since the Peel proposal a Jewish state has been created and gone on to prosper but the Palestinians remain without the state they have been seeking for so long. But Israel’s options over what to do with the occupied territories are limited and diminishing. Has the time finally come for the creation of the elusive Palestinian state?

In 1988 King Hussein of Jordan renounced all claims and ties with the occupied territories (Gazza and the West Bank). This ruled out one of Israel’s major options for the territories which they had been occupying since the 1967 war. Many Israeli’s had hoped that the Palestinian problem could be solved with a peace agreement with Jordan. The West Bank would be divided between Israel and Jordan. Jordan would then take on the difficult responsibility of governing the Palestinians.

After Jordan pulled out of the West Bank calls for a Palestinian state became increasingly vocal. It was much harder for Israel to ignore the Palestinians and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) since Jordan stated, ‘the PLO is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people’. Prior to the withdrawal Israel had always been able to avoid dealing with the Palestinians directly, dealing instead with Jordan. After 1988 this was no longer an option.

Jordan’s decision left Israel with only 2 options over what to do with the occupied territories. The first is a one state solution, whereby the Israel annexes the West Bank and the Gaza strip, thereby assimilating them with the rest of Israel. However this is never considered a realistic option by the Israeli government or Israeli Jews. To assimilate the millions of Palestinians would defeat the purpose of a Jewish state and many fear it would threaten its existence.

This leaves Israel with the only one viable option, a two state solution. The creation of a separate Palestinian state encompassing both the West Bank and the Gazza strip, alongside the existing Israeli state. This is what the Palestinians want and given we know a one state solution is not an option, this is surely what Israel wants as well. A poll in 2007 showed that 70% of Israeli Jews were in favour of a two state solution. So why is it so hard to implement if both sides want the same thing? Why are negotiations always at a permanent stalemate?

Despite that lack of options remaining most Israeli’s are certainly in no rush to create a Palestinian state. It has been 22 years since Jordan renounced it ties with the West Bank and it still appears as if a Palestinian state is a long way off.

There is also a third option for Israel which we have not yet considered. That is a policy of maintaining the status quo or consolidation. A number of the right wing parties openly endorse this policy some of whom are part of Benjamin Netanyahu’s (prime minister of Israel) fragile coalition government. Likud itself (the right wing party Netanyahu leads) does not believe in a fully sovereign independent Palestinian state.

The Palestinian situation is also much more complicated. Many still refuse to recognise Israel’s right to exist. Some will settle for nothing less than the complete replacement of Israel with a Palestinian state.

The situation has been severely complicated by large divisions within both sides. The next article will take a closer look into these internal divisions. Why do some Israelis fear a Palestinian state and should they? Why is Israel still building new settlements in East Jerusalem? Will Hamas moderate? What is the future for Fatah? Is there any hope for a settlement in the near future?

Our writer, Francesca, meets Israeli-Arab journalist Khaled Abu Toameh,

Posted on April 17, 2010 by Catherine Balavage

On Tuesday, I attended a talk by the noted Israeli-Arab journalist Khaled Abu Toameh, held in the flocked wallpaper glory of Westminster. What he said was interesting, relevant, and worthy of a larger audience than that which he attracted. He is not an impartial observer by any means – an Arab Muslim who lives in Jerusalem, and is West Bank correspondent for the Jerusalem Post – he is unashamedly pro-Palestinian. For him, though, being pro-Palestinian does not automatically mean vilification of Israel. As he put it, indelicately – if a man, woman or child in Gaza or the West Bank needs a heart transplant, the only country in the Middle East that will provide medical care is Israel. He excoriates the surrounding Arab countries for so completely abandoning their brothers in Palestine (Jordan is presently revoking citizenship for hundreds of Palestinian families who have been resident in Jordan since 1948 and before), and blames EU and American miscalculations in 2006 for the present situation.

If the US did not want Hamas in government, why did they encourage free and fair democratic elections in Gaza in 2006? Fatah went to Condoleezza Rice and said: “We are perceived as corrupt and spineless in Gaza. There’s a real possibility we might lose this”. The Americans ignored this, and when Hamas won by a clear majority, appeared to back-flip on its commitment to the democratic process – condemning the result and boycotting the new government of Gaza. The Palestinians in Gaza were all at once the victims of the most egregious hypocrisy – elect your own government, but if it’s not the one we want, we won’t be doing business with them. Meanwhile, Fatah groups in Gaza were coming under immense pressure from the new Hamas coalition, and fighting broke out on the streets of Gaza City between the rival factions. Hundreds of Fatah members fled Gaza, heading for the Egyptian border, which was promptly closed. Then they turned to Israel for rescue, and were allowed into southern Israel, only to be swiftly dumped in the West Bank.

Hamas swept to victory on an anti-Fatah, “time for change” platform – which Toameh thinks has now been largely dismissed in favour of hard-line Islamist policies and secretive international diplomacy (mainly with the Iranians and Syrians). The people suffer just the same, only now they are forced into Islamist contortions that many of them dislike and fear. There’s one good thing about Hamas though – they say pretty much the same thing in English as in Arabic. They stand for the destruction of Israel, entirely, and then, for a khalifa-style Arab kingdom, of the sort beloved by Muslim Brotherhood groups everywhere. Abu Toameh reminisces about a newspaper he picked up in Toronto, the headline of which proclaimed that Hamas was becoming more moderate, and about to recognise the state of Israel. Amazing! he thought – what have I missed at home? Upon his return, he headed straight to the house of a senior Hamas politician in Ramallah, and asked what had happened in his absence. The answer was nothing. The newspaper’s headline was the cause of much hilarity that week.

A two-state solution appears to have been implemented already –the Palestinians have two states: one in the West Bank and one in Gaza. Fatah is weak and divided, propped up by the desperate Americans and Europeans. Toameh is quite clear: Mahmoud Abbas calls for Israeli troops to be withdrawn from the West Bank on a daily basis; the moment this happens, he is likely to be dragged into Ramallah’s main square and hung. The bitterness of the Hamas/Fatah struggle is so acute, they appear to have forgotten about the Israelis – they now call each other pigs and dogs, and ignore the Jews. Unless significant pressure is put on both sides to compromise and come together there is no partner for peace for Israel, and more importantly, no chance of a true Palestinian homeland.

The last, and most depressing point: Toameh is constantly amazed by the level of anti-Israel vitriol he experiences in Britain and in Europe. He once telephoned British newspaper editors with a story about Fatah’s corruption and was asked, point blank, whether he was working for the ‘Jewish lobby’. What lobby? he exclaimed – and how much do they pay? Joking aside, he says he is saddened that being ‘pro-Palestinian’ in this country does not mean doing anything for the Palestinian people, it means hating Israel and settling comfortably into a morally righteous narrative that finds facts and reality confusing. When the situation on the ground is this complex, there can be no easy ‘right’ way to think about the conflict. He asked: what do boycotts do to help Palestinians? What do rallies do to help Palestinians? What do changing the lyrics to Christmas carols and passing anti-Israel motions at London universities do to help the Palestinians? Nothing. If you’re really interested in helping the Palestinian people, go to the West Bank and teach in schools, donate books about liberalism and freedom (if you’re a liberal and believe in freedom), donate money to organisations that encourage Arabs and Jews to sit down in the same room and realise their similarities and not their differences. And recognise that no Jew in Israel (who is not a lunatic) has no interest in re-occupying the West Bank or Gaza, and that no Jewish mother wants to send her son into street combat in Gaza.

The best we can hope for is a period of stability, coalition building on the Palestinian side, and improving the internal Palestinian economy. Netanyahu can freeze settlement building, or not, but it will make no difference to the quest for real peace in the region until the Palestinians resolve their rift and start a real campaign for statehood.

By Francesca Rose-Lewis.

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Travel Jerusalem: A Modern Guide To An Ancient Wonder