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Elusive And Turbulent Too By Dr. Hazem Nusseibeh Even though both Arabs and Israelis settled down to a hazy and elusive peace in the early 1950s, it was by no means free of violence, turbulence and plenty of blood shed across demarcation lines. I was as chief Jordan representative to the Jordanian-Israeli Mixed Armistice Commission in the mid–50s in a unique position, not only to observe but even more importantly, to tackle and strive to resolve those bloody clashes across armistice lines. Israeli military expeditions against Palestinian villages at the frontlines across more than 650 kilometers of Israeli-Palestinian, and Israeli-Jordanian flash points, caused appalling loss of life and material destruction to Palestinian and Jordanian villages. The village of Qibya in the Ramallah area of the West Bank was all but destroyed by dynamite and most villagers brutally massacred in the 1953 Israeli raid against this Palestinian village, led by no less than General Ariel Sharon (then a junior army officer). The world was shocked and the United Nations Security Council condemned it in the strongest terms. Also, another heavy raid against the village of Hussan, in the Bethlehem area, raids against the town of Qalqilia with heavy loss of life, a large scale Israeli attack on the Gaza strip on February 28, 1955 with heavy Egyptian and Palestinian loss of life, and last but not least, frequent eruptions of clashes shattering the serenity and beauty of Jerusalem. No wonder there were fewer tourists in either sector of divided Jerusalem, for who in his senses, would forsake his life by visiting an unsettled and unpredictable city? And yet, hoping against hope, our Palestinian Jerusalemites made brave efforts to launch and rebuild the tourist industry to a city, which is second to none in its appeal and spiritual attraction. New hotels went up and old premises converted to hotels and motels. Al-Zahira Hotel, the Ambassador, the National and scores within the old city and beyond its walls. Life in Jerusalem in the mid-50s was beginning to emerge from its lethargy, its loneliness, its abandonment, its economic and social stagnation, its sheer demoralization, having fallen in the fortunes of destiny from a world center of attention to a provincial town, from a state capital to an exotic spiritual an archaeological retreat. The steady and accelerating depopulation of the city followed almost inevitably. Opportunities for gainful employment became scarce and Jerusalemites scrambled in all directions seeking a resumption and renewal of a working life. By exiling themselves, they carried with them, wherever they went to the Gulf area, to Saudi Arabia, to Jordan, Syria and Iraq, to the Unite States of America, Australia and elsewhere their rich and learned experience in every walk of life and, alone all their sincerity and integrity for a Jerusalemite is always mindful of the unique legacy of his belonging to Jerusalem and determination to live up to its strictness. Dr. Hazem Nusseibeh has held a number of prominent government posts. He was a representative of Jordan at the Mixed Armistice Commission. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of the Royal Court and has served Ambassadorial posts to Egypt, Turkey, Italy, and Austria. He was also the Permanent Ambassador of Jordan to the UN. Dr. Nusseibeh is author of various books, including The Ideas of Arab Nationalism, Palestine and the United Nations and A History of Modern Jordan.
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