By Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
"JERUSALEM, Nov 18 (IPS) - Along a wall not about to come down - a hotel no longer a hotel, but an outpost.
(Left: what used to be the Cliff Hotel)
The three-storey, 36-room Cliff Hotel used to be a favourite for Western pilgrims in quest of the 'authentic Holy Land flavour' because of its extensive gardens; it was a favourite also among Jerusalem Palestinians for wedding parties.
Perched on a hillock opposite the biblical Mount of Olives, The Cliff offered (still offers) imposing views - eastward through the Judean desert down to the Dead Sea and up the mountains of Moab across the Jordan River; southwards to the church spires of Bethlehem; and westwards to the walled Old City and the Golden Dome of the Rock.
Five years ago, in the wake of the Palestinian Intifadah uprising, Israel began to build its concrete security wall to fend off would-be bombers coming into Jerusalem. Border police seized the hotel and turned into a security outpost.
Last week, the world united in celebration of the coming down of another infamous wall......
"There's no hope here, no point of staying," Deif adds, "I plan to move to the U.S. to further my studies, and from there to Canada."
The prevailing sentiment about living in Jerusalem is one of impotence: "Nothing can change here - they hold all the cards." Back in 2005 just at the time of The Cliff takeover, Condoleezza Rice was making her first trip to the region as former president George W. Bush's secretary of state. In meetings with Israeli leaders, she warned against one- sided actions that could influence the city's status: "We do believe that unilateral steps in Jerusalem, particularly those that might appear to prejudge future discussions, would be unhelpful at this time."
Same old same when Barack Obama's secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, made her first visit to Jerusalem earlier this year.
Nothing changed indeed, except a deepening of Palestinian incapacity, and of pain - as the wall graffiti says, around "This Wall of Tears". "
"JERUSALEM, Nov 18 (IPS) - Along a wall not about to come down - a hotel no longer a hotel, but an outpost.
(Left: what used to be the Cliff Hotel)
The three-storey, 36-room Cliff Hotel used to be a favourite for Western pilgrims in quest of the 'authentic Holy Land flavour' because of its extensive gardens; it was a favourite also among Jerusalem Palestinians for wedding parties.
Perched on a hillock opposite the biblical Mount of Olives, The Cliff offered (still offers) imposing views - eastward through the Judean desert down to the Dead Sea and up the mountains of Moab across the Jordan River; southwards to the church spires of Bethlehem; and westwards to the walled Old City and the Golden Dome of the Rock.
Five years ago, in the wake of the Palestinian Intifadah uprising, Israel began to build its concrete security wall to fend off would-be bombers coming into Jerusalem. Border police seized the hotel and turned into a security outpost.
Last week, the world united in celebration of the coming down of another infamous wall......
"There's no hope here, no point of staying," Deif adds, "I plan to move to the U.S. to further my studies, and from there to Canada."
The prevailing sentiment about living in Jerusalem is one of impotence: "Nothing can change here - they hold all the cards." Back in 2005 just at the time of The Cliff takeover, Condoleezza Rice was making her first trip to the region as former president George W. Bush's secretary of state. In meetings with Israeli leaders, she warned against one- sided actions that could influence the city's status: "We do believe that unilateral steps in Jerusalem, particularly those that might appear to prejudge future discussions, would be unhelpful at this time."
Same old same when Barack Obama's secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, made her first visit to Jerusalem earlier this year.
Nothing changed indeed, except a deepening of Palestinian incapacity, and of pain - as the wall graffiti says, around "This Wall of Tears". "
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