Blog-log Day 14 - Gaza

It's tricky to know where to start with this, and all I am really clear about is that my brain is about to burst, I have seen and heard so much.

But let me try and make a start and tell some of what I saw with pictures.

Today I went to Gaza, an early start to be there for the 8am crossing and a full day with UNRWA leaving Gaza at 3pm (it takes about an hour to get through security - not because it is busy but because it is a long and thorough process).

Can I also just say to all readers that this is very much written from what I saw - it's a complex set of experiences and the stories and accounts I heard need to be fully processed by me - not least by a night's sleep before being developed into firmer views - but let me try and give you an insight.

The first thing to say about the access is that it feels like an incredibly efficient but cold airport - but the other element I now understand is bar soldiers, just how few Israei's actually know what goes on within Gaza. I spent tonight having dinner with friends in Jerusalem and none of them have been to Gaza or the West Bank in at least the last 10 years - those that had been to Gaza went as soldiers (during service rather than during recent conflicts) and Ramallah or the West Bank was somewhere they had been to as much younger children.

I should add that I had absolutely no real or clear understanding of what to expect - it's the first time I had been to anything that might be described as a war zone, but all the reading of history didn't give me a clear image of what to expect.

I was struck by the devastation in the 'buffer zone' - nothing was left standing - there are a few almost ironic features left - a tap in a field of ruins - but largely crumbled concrete and mangled metal from the building sturctures. The building construction time has rendered destroyed buildings near useless for re-using the materials.

The second is that this all lies within what is clearly incredibly verdant landscape - it's clear that the north of the Gaza strip has/had the potential to be incredibly fertile agricultural land yet this is a community that relies on food vouchers from the UN - on a simplistic level - the contrast is just too stark to pass by without comment.

Next is the wider wider prosperity and potential of Gaza (and I only saw northern Gaza in the time I had). It was clear to me, and reflected in conversation with virtually everyone, that this is a community that is well educated, educationally ambitious for their young people, entrepenurial and innovative and dogged. But the war has set back such economic hopes and left a wake of distruction, mistrust and significant food and fuel poverty.

The blockade is having the effect of giving massive leverage over the local economy (if it can be called that) by the operators of the tunnels - the tunnels I now understand are not some determined small operation of a few parcels here and there - they are full scale passages enabling the illegal passage of fuel, building materials (cement, blocks etc) as well as commodities and food stuffs and inevitably arms and weapons. It's a full scale operation. The illegality of the operation is opposed by many of the traders and merchants of Gaza who see their business being undermined by Hamas.

Now I'm sure it is possible to get contrary opinions but some of the messages I heard were pretty clear and almost pleas to me at least (in no particular order):
- we (Palestinians) are not all terrorists, we are as much terrorised as Israel is.
- the vast majority of people here have no truck with extremism.
- there is little love for the British MP George Galloway and he is percieved by the people as stirring up anger and negative passions
- before the war there was strong and growing trade with Israel and that was good for trade, work, skills and opportunities
- the building destruction that has taken place has left an indelible mark as there are no rebuilding materials
- what is the next move/next stage if the "idiots" ( a direct quote) keep firing rockets: what do we "residents" do?

I think I'll pause there - I want to sleep further and think about what I saw and heard. Going was one of the best things I have done and I'm grateful to friends and contacts who made the links to enable me to get the permit and see something of it for myself and to the team who made my visit possible today.

Blog-log day 11 - into the Knesset, seeing for myself

So just how do you go about getting a balanced view of Israel and the conflict here in the Middle East?

I'm not sure there is a clear answer, but I'm here in Israel and there's no ducking some of the issues here.

So over the last 10 days I have been meeting up with residents (many of whom are not politically active), I have met with a number of interest groups, I've discussed domestic affairs like health and education and I have met with a range of politicians.

Going to the Knesset (The Israeli Parliament) was really interesting. I visited 15 years ago when I was President of the Students' Union at Nottingham University on a trip organised by the Union of Jewish Students. But this time my understanding of paliamentary democracy is a tad more attuned - and I've come under my own steam. I have met with a range of MKs (Knesset Members - equivalent to MPs) of many parties/factions and heard a wide spectrum of opinions and views.

I've been getting The Jerusalem Post and Ha'aretz newspapers each day (both in English) and they are at different ends of the Israeli political spectrum. I've been avidly reading and consuming news and conversation.

This weekend - my last few days here - I'll be in Ramallah on the West Bank and hopefully will get into Gaza as well - a mixture of seeing for myself as well as deepening my understanding. The walls, the Hamas rockets, the Israeli airstrike yesterday, the heightened sense of tension and even the Hamas in a stand-off against Egypt - all have a very different impact when they are taking place a few miles away from where you are staying.

One of the major concerns here is international opinion - not as some voice of conscience, but because of the role politicians play in shaping peace and aggression. So Barack Obama, not unsurprisingly, looms large. The general view, as far as I can ascertain it, is that at last America has a President capable of understanding complexities and nuances - that not everything is black and white - and nuance isn't a bland subtlety but a crucial part of effective diplomacy.

So the remaining issue to explain through this blog post is why I'm here - specifically. On that first visit 16 years ago I was totally taken by the heady mix of dust, history, religion and heat - my degree on Ancient History helped to instill me with an understanding of the age of the emotions and conflicts (it's useful knowing your Titus from your Hadrian!). I have a strong belief that even hard problems can be solved - it's years of playing chess, I think, that has forced that home.

So I'm visiting Israel with just 12 or so weeks before Gordon Brown finally goes to the polls. And I return to the UK (snow permitting!) charged up with enthusiam and passion - but also with understanding and empathy. Anyone can make a speech on a subject, but to speak from experience and knowledge is far more convincing. In Hampstead and Kilburn local residents want an MP who knows the issues, understands their concerns and who can engage in the dialogue.

Having renewed my links here in the Middle East, gained a better and fresher understanding and seeing much much more for myself I'm ready for the challenge and I'm willing to go further. I say to local residents in north west London - I know the issues, I understand your concerns and my views are drawn from personal experience and a preparedness to get out into the field and see it for myself.

Note: The trip is organised, planned and funded entirely by myself - I have had no official support from anyone in arranging appointments or meetings - it is all at my own initiative. I have been on the buses, met in the cafes, walked the markets - it has not been about chauffered cars or going where someone else wanted me to go. A snapshot, but I hope a valid one. The final clarification is that I'm neither jewish nor muslim, I have a faith but it is my own.

Blog-log Day 9 - in the Kidron Valley

Between the Mount of Olives and the Old City of Jerusalem - near the Dung Gate is the Kidron Valley. It's quite dramatic and quite steep - at least to walk into and out of and makes traversing from the two locations quite hard.

But in the Kidron Valley is some ancient rocks out of which have been carved memorials - semi-mausoleums. One is known at the Pillar of Absolom and the other is the Tomb of Zechariah - between them are the Cave of Bene Hazir - none of the three: pillar, tomb or cave are in fact of the people they are attributed to - but as local historical - probably 1st century AD (CE) they are pretty impressive.

Because of the valley they also feel like they are slightly off of the tourist trail and so where pretty quiet and worth visiting if you're passing these ways.

Blog-log Day 8 - Old Gower, Liberal and Jewish...

In the annals of British History Herbert Samuel does not feature large - he's important but not a household name.

But let's re-cap:
- the first Jewish Cabinet member in Britain
- an Old Gower (pupil of UCS)
- First Governor of the Palestinian Mandate
- First Jew to govern 'Israel' since ancient times
- Liberal Party Leader 1931-1935
- First Jew to lead a political party in Britain

So on my journey to Israel I was pretty excited to find this plaque still up at the start of King George V Street.

KING GEORGE V AVENUE
OPENED BY
HIS EXCELLENCY SIR HERBERT SAMUEL
HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR PALESTINE
IN THE PRESENCE OF
SIR RONALD STORRS
GOVERNOR JERUSALEM-JAFFA DISTRICT
RAGHEB BEY EL NASHASHIBI
MAYOR OF JERUSALEM
9TH DECEMBER 1924
(it's in Hebrew to the left and Arabic to the right - immediately behind my head - but was quite hard to get me in the pic as you have to virtually stand in the road!)

Excited at this was one thing - but when I was in a bookshop and asked about the Mandate days the woman behind the desk revealed she had interviewed Herbert's son - Edwin - as an old man in Jersusalem in the 1970's. I'm now onto finding the person who has the notes an tapes of that interview...

Blog-log Day 7 - history, current affairs, future hopes all in one

Readers of this blog will know I have always tried to illustrate a story with a picture - but it can be quite hard t use just one picture - sometimes the local history find is such that I have a bonanza of pictures. Today, my excuse is that I am in Jerusalem...

[A reminder that where it's a small picture the reader should be able to double click on the photo and it open up at full size so you can see the detail].

Here you are quite literally walking on history and walking on layer upon layer of the stuff. But this isn't history as some cool, detatched even academic perspective - this is the stuff of current affairs, international diplomacy and religious passion.

But of course the other thing about Jerusalem and the history is that it is SO important to those today that it is still living and breathing and all around.

So this picture of the Dome of the Rock - one of the most venerated of Muslim sites - photographed here from the roof terrace. This is in fact a few hundred yards away and the modern satellites betray that there are people living amidst, what in the rest of the world would be historical sites and just historical sites. In this charged environment they are residential, precisely because they are so so important.

So you walk away from the Western Wall plaza, take a staircase, wander on aimlessly a bit - gazing at your guidebook trying to work out what appears next and you find you are literally on a roof and there are three layers of shops and residency and worship beneath you and due to the landcape of the mountain up to four storeys of archaeology under that!

In fact I was so high up that this massive spire of the Lutheran Church was almost at eyesight level - and this is one of the highest points in the city! It's amazing.

And it was that point that got me thinking - the issue here is what has gone before. It's not what happens today, it's not yesterday - it's who has been here before. On one level it is the pilgrims, the residents, the soldiers (too many soldiers) and the generations of events and activity - but most of them were/are here for the religious devotions that are undertaken in memory of the historical figures who were themselves here.

So this graffiti - devotional, dated, carved into the wood and the marble and the stone of the door frames of many and most of the churches gives you a powerful realisation that your steps are but two steps amongst literally millions of others.

But the challenge is making those traditions of the past work today shoulder to shoulder, cheek by jowel. And it would seem to the tourist eye that there is an equilibrium.

But that in itself risks being a deception. The Israeli governance over Jerusalem only really dates from 1967 in modern terms and that led to the clearing of the old housing that clustered in front of the Western Wall [aka the Wailing Wall]. So what is now a great visitors plaza is in fact a highly political space - for all Jews - perhaps it is now the most precious religious space. In fact in that context one of the great outstanding issues in the peace talks of the future is the Temple Mount.

But right now you have the Western Wall and nest to that a convoluted wooded construct walkway that leads to the Dome of the Rock - all to accomodate the various histories that currently co-exist.

Now the general assumption over the years was that history - whilst it is grasped and clutched to the breast of each cause and faction to their advantage - that in fact time is a healer of sorts, in that the human memory forgets knowledge and fails to pass it on.

The Western Wall is significant for two factors - the first is it significant because it is the closest wall to the former site of the Holy of Holies - this was the temple built upon the site where Abraham was going to sacrifice his son. The destruction of the temple by the Roman Emperor Titus after the first Jewish rebellion was pretty complete - some 50 years later a more intense form of destruction was wreaked by the Emperor Hadrian to surpress another revolt.

Both of these events have led to a human recollection that says that the bit of the Western Wall visible from the Plaza (above) is the only surviving structure.

Two issues with that. First is that in fact bits of the other walls - north, west and south all survive but for Jews it's the proximity to the Holy of Holies that is religiously significant. Secondly archaeologists have confirmed and now opened up the full length of the Western Wall as a tunnel and with it the site of the earliest synagogue - and that tunnel was my experience today. Pictured here are the stones of the Herodian 2nd temple, still standing, still acting as foundation stones to the constructs of subsequent generations over them.

So being in Jerusalem - in Israel - listening to issues around the conflicts of the middle east - I was really struck today that with the history live and in front of us - it's also above and below us, all around and is a relevant now as ever before.

Blog-log Day 1 - the beach at Tel-Aviv

At first glance this could be any holiday snap taken anywhere - beach, inclement weather, historical features, art galleries, meals out - but somehow its not just anywhere: it's Israel.

The beach is stunning - fine sand, lovely depth, surfers, animal lovers, swimmers and families - all the usual components.

But being Israel there's a significant hesitation in people's voices when they ask 'why holiday there?'

But as you can see a beach is a beach is a beach.

But of course, as we all know it's not quite that simple - Tel Aviv is only 100 years old this year and Israel as a modern state was only founded in 1948. That first year was no simple delcaration of independence - in the days immediately after Israel found itself at war for it's very survival. This monument, on the beach at Tel Aviv, speaks of the role of the Altalena ship.

My short hand version is that the Israeli Government shelled the ship, which was carrying arms and ammunition for Israeli paramilitaries and it was the show of force between the Government (establishing itself) and the paramilitaries not yet incorporated into the mainstream army.

It's all pretty heady stuff and part of the rich tapestry that comes about at the formation of states, however controversial...