If i came here as a tourist I would enjoy the ancient stones of Jerusalem walls , paths and streets, The night lights of the city hills expressed by the darkness of its walleyes. The songs of all religions at all times of the day all days of the week, arranged harmoniously to fill the city with sound. I blissfully in the heat of the sun and in the cooling breeze and shadow of the night life in West Jerusalem with good food and drink.
Yet I came here to work on a masterplan for a Palestinian neighbourhood in East Jerusalem . I stayed in a Palestinian Hotel in Ras al'Amud , a neighbourhood overlooking the Old Town of Jerusalem from the eastern side, I went out in West Jerusalem for dinner and on the 26th of June the workshop started. Reality of the conflict and ever present history of this place hit me hard in those first few days. I could see myself the differences in the quality of city fabric between west and east. But the site visits at the beginning of the workshop and the presentations by members and guests of IPCC added the understanding of the mechanism of municipal policies aiming at restricting Palestinian presence in Jerusalem. They also added facts and numbers to some vague impressions, clarified the role of history which is so crucial in the argument of Israeli and Palestinian People. After a few days the beautiful songs of prayer started sounding like a territorial songs of war. I hear them every day few times a day. It's Jerusalem.
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