A Fading Flower

Jerusalem

Monday, October 20, 2003

To the casual observer Jerusalem is as alluring and lustrous as ever. A more critical look, however, reveals that increasingly it is a city of two halves. The western portion – the Israeli sector – has lost its spark. The atmosphere is anaemic, the people fearful and angry. By contrast, the eastern half - the Palestinian section - remains vibrant. The traffic there is still chaotic, horns honk, pavements are crowded, voices are raised in greeting or anger and the air is rich with the aroma of herbs and spices and grilling street side kebabs. The plaintive cry of the muezzin calling the faithful to prayer adds to the sensory assault.

What is going on? Could it be that with so much to lose the Jewish community is less resilient than the deprived Palestinian community? Is it possible that thirty years of occupation have immunized Palestinians from pain, and that family and community bonds, as well as spiritual resources have actually been strengthened in the process? Could it be that the consumer based material hopes and aspirations of Israeli society are providing vulnerable and that the occupation and its ramifications are more corrosive to the occupier than to the occupied? If that is so, then Israel has much to worry about.

In Israel the economic outlook continues to be bleak. Strikes are widespread, unemployment is high and looks to rise further. Deflation – as per the Consumer Price Index – is running at an eye watering annualised rate of minus 4.6% and there are no obvious remedies in sight. Senior treasury and bank officials are quoted in the press as believing that the difficulties stem largely from the Intifada – the Palestinian struggle - and the associated political/security problems. Given the Israeli government’s hard-line attitude towards the peace process, that is a definite downer. The government displays every intention of maintaining its unyielding attitude. Having successfully undermined the Roadmap by continuing the policy of extra judicial killings – then blaming the Palestinians for retaliating – it is now busily engaged in rubbishing the Geneva Accords, the latest peace initiative.

Perhaps Prime Minister Sharon is drawing comfort from the sight last week of three thousand Christian Zionists from around the globe celebrating the Feast of the Tabernacle in the streets of Jerusalem as a show of solidarity with Israel. Christian Zionists oppose any territorial concessions to Palestinians due to their belief that Jewish settlements built on Palestinian territory in the Holy Land will bring about the Second Coming of Christ. If Ariel Sharon and his government are relying on support like that for their hard-line policies, Israelis must be sleeping uneasily in their beds.