# 28 – Walking in Gimmel

April 17, 2004

I live on the northern perimeter of Tel Aviv. If I walk, as I did yesterday with my younger daughter and her dog, perhaps 500 meters due north, past the shopping centre and ‘Gimmel’ residential area, I am in an open area, overgrown fields, wild flowers, and roaming horses. (They do presumably belong to someone, but they’re always there, quietly grazing, happy to be petted).

There’s an interesting twist to the existence of this open area, which is now threatened with development. A further km northwards is a area of giant fuel tanks. 2 years ago, Palestinians remotely exploded a fuel tanker as it was driving among the containers. Happily, it contained diesel. It caught fire, but did not explode. Otherwise I would not be writing this. It was estimated that 10,000 local residents would have been killed or injured as a result of the bang.

We had been lobbying for removal of the fuel dump for many years, exactly because of this danger. This near-miss caused the immediate emptying of the tanks, and soon they will be removed. (Locking the door after the horse has bolted?).

But those dangerous tanks had been the means to prevent further housing development. Goodbye open area? Come back the tanks?

These have been tragic weeks in Iraq, and Bin Laden has threatened Israel, after they had assassinated his religious colleague. Bin Laden is also offering a truce to European countries. This Osama-guy is oozing altruism.

And now 2 Israelis have been arrested in New Zealand on spying charges. Surely exposing the secrets of sheep-grazing. Has the wool been pulled over the World media’s eyes?

And BBC interviewed 2 Israeli women who have been deeply affected by the security fence. The Arab woman, who has grown up with and among Jews; speaks perfect Hebrew, appears to be the kind of citizen that we all wish for in this area. Except she appears to be as naive and apparently ignorant as a decent person in the hamlet of B in Nebraska (some guy has just been on the radio, in advance of his cycle trip from A in Norway to B in Nebraska). She says that the wall is driving a wedge between the 2 communities.

I would have thought that over 100 years of conflict, 56 years with Israel as a Nation, horrible conflict, including targeted assassinations and suicide bombing, etc, etc., have driven the wedge between the 2 people.

It is a reminder how incredible it is that there IS a decent relationship between the 2 communities, despite the horror.

Stephen