Earlier this month, I travelled to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories with MEI chairman Bilahari Kausikan for an update on the political situation. The atmosphere was tense given that our visit coincided with the elections in Iraq and Lebanon, military action in the Golan Heights and in Syria; Jerusalem Day, Nakba Day, and the decision of the US to open an embassy to Israel in Jerusalem.

Despite the tension, the road to Ramallah was surprisingly open and we had little difficulty crossing the checkpoints. Our coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Palestinian Authority clearly helped. We were escorted by a police car through the outskirts of the city to our first meeting with Nasser al-Qudwa, who is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Yasser Arafat Foundation, and a prominent Palestinian politician (although, he told us that he had just resigned from Fatah’s central committee). al-Qudwa spoke frankly about the current political situation we he described as dire, and told us about the Yasser Arafat museum, a magnificent tribute to his memory, which was unfortunately closed on the day of our visit.

MEI chairmain Bilahari Kausikan and myself at the Yasser Arafat Foundation

Our next meeting was with Ghassan al-Khatib, Director of the Jerusalem Media and Communication Center. Al-Khatib gave us a detailed appraisal of Palestinian public opinion in different parts of the country and explained why organising elections is proving so difficult.

Our final meeting was with Shawan Jabarin, General Director of Al-Haq, an independent Palestinian non-governmental human rights organisation. After a presentation on the current human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, Bilahari and Shawan had a frank exchange of views on the subject of human rights in Singapore, which made for an interesting exchange.

We also visited the beautiful West Bank village of Taybeh, which is home to the Taybeh Brewing Company, and home to many churches.

In Tel Aviv, I visited the headquarters of Haaretz newspaper, where I met with Aluf Benn, the editor-in-chief.  I also met with former Supreme Court Judge and former Attorney General Aharon Barack who told me about his experience negotiating the peace treaty with Egypt. He told me that I was the first person to ever speak to him about his role as Legal Adviser at Camp David. He lamented that no one is interested in this subject in Israel anymore. I thought this was a shame.

In Jerusalem, I met with recently retired Supreme Court Judge Elyakim Rubinstein who told me about his time negotiating the peace treaty with Jordan. Rubinstein was coy. I gathered that he is writing his own memoir on the talks, so I guess he wants to leave the juiciest recollections for his book. A visit to the Israel National Archives was unfortunately not possible as it was closed for renovation.

Over the weekend, I got to meet with old friends in Jerusalem and was there during the demonstrations on Jerusalem Day. I had some difficulty avoiding the crowds given the number of people that turned up. But fortunately there were no incidents.

Palestinian legislator, activist and scholar Hanan Ashwari

Oxford Professor Eugene Rogan and myself

From Jerusalem I travelled to New York where I spoke at United Nations Headquarters on a panel on the history of the conflict organised by the committee on the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. There I caught up with Palestine’s UN Ambassador, the indefatigable Riyad Mansour. On the panel, I found myself seated between Eugene Rogan, the delightful Oxford University Professor, who was moderating the session, and Israeli historian Ilan Pappe. Also, on the panel was former Knesset speaker Yossi Berg, and the Palestinian legislator, activist, and scholar Hanan Ashrawi.

Palestine’s UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour and I catching up
Me speaking at the UN

For links to Senior Research Fellow Victor Kattan’s talk at the UN, please click here.