In her own way, Leela IS the new Middle East. She’s a dancer, performing in that unmistakably Arab tradition in Arab East Jerusalem. But Leela is an Israeli, a Jew.
It’s fair to say that the Middle East is changing -- dramatically and fast!
But today’s Middle East peace is still fragile and the pressure on Terje Larsen, its nurturer, to strengthen it, is enormous.
And he knows it.
The next 6 to 8 months are very very critical and the worst case scenario could be a state of civil war in Gaza.
When -- against all the odds -- Larsen got the Israelis and the Palestinians to sit down last year and talk peaceful co-existence, this ostensibly ordinary Norwegian pulled off a modern miracle.
LARSEN: Basically the reason why I took the job is I feel a moral obligation to continue. Because if this process collapses I’m quite sure the chances for a new war in the Middle East are very very large and that will affect economies and politics throughout the world.
Mona Juul -- the other half of the Norwegian husband and wife “peace team” -- is still very much part of the action. In Oslo, she told me they feared a personal anti-climax after the drama of the Whitehouse handshake. But, it hasn’t happened.
MONA in hotel corridor But even Mona, a high flying diplomat herself, can get lost in Larsen’s frantic wake.
MONA knocking on
MONA: He’s not letting me in.
LARSEN: Both Mona and I are close friends of key personalities on both sides, and that’s why we are frequently and consistently asked to join in. The next 24 hours are all-important. Larsen’s plotting a top-level lunch -- in fact, a diplomatic coup.
While he goes to work on the politics, his aides are laying the logistical groundwork.
MARK, NEIL, CLIFF: There’ll be the Foreign Minister’s security, the Israeli security, the Palestinian security. The other aspect is we want to keep the security as discrete as possible. The plan is to get the key players -- Israel’s Foreign Minister, Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat together over lunch in, of all places, the Gaza Strip -- normally a no-go area for an Israeli minister like Peres. There’ll be Israeli people checking who comes in or out. His hand-picked assistants -- an Englishman and a Canadian -- are old Middle East hands. I think the foreign minister is going to have a shower there, so he can get back on the plane clean.
Ext. UNTSO building - Tape 2: I would suggest that you go down to Gaza as early as possible tomorrow morning.
Down to the details, his two assistants are coming to grips with the idiosyncratic Larsen style: assume no hurdles, brook no obstacles ... the good guys always win!
LARSEN: How long then do we have with him then, half an hour?
At 47, Larsen’s a classic Scandanavian product of the 60’s -- a democratic left babyboomer who cut his ideological teeth on the whole idea of changing the world ... Now, you could say, he’s actually doing it!
LARSEN: two, three, four ... that’s 12 for lunch.
LARSEN: The two old foes, Arafat and Peres, have grown to trust Larsen ...
If it wasn’t HIS plan being put to them, it’d be out of the question ...
LARSEN: So if we schedule maybe 10 or 15 minutes ... It’s possible it depends how long you need with Arafat. 15 minutes. OK, no problem.
BEILIN: I think he is the right man in the right place. He is committed, he became Mr Peace...
It was Yossi Beilin -- Peres’ deputy -- who first put his faith in the audacious Larsen. Beilin was Israel’s man behind last year’s secret Oslo talks.
BEILIN: It’s his almost personal interest that the peace process will succeed.
ASFOUR: Now, he’s some historic man of the world. Yes indeed.
Hassan Asfour, an old-school PLO Marxist, was also ‘in the channel’ as the insiders describe the Oslo talks.
Q.When I was talking to Yossi Beilin he described Mr Larsen to me as Mr Peace, how would you describe him?
ASFOUR: It’s not only Mr Peace, cos that’s only thinking. But when you see the man he can understand the peace with loving the two peoples - it’s more than peace cos Larsen loves the Palestinian and the Israeli.
In dusty, dirt-poor Gaza before the Oslo Accord -- little love was lost between the Palestinians and their Israeli occupiers ....
The fledgling peace has brought some relief to Gazans -- but, Larsen knows all too well that they need more...
The big day beings with his excellency, the UN Co-ordinator in the Occupied Territories, doing his stuff in the international spotlight.
LARSEN to press: I do hope I’ll be back with more money next week for this very important project.
It’s a new and strangely public life for the Oslo back channel boy ... but, unphased, he’s ever the opportunist...
LARSEN: My best pleasure here today is to see that full predictions of failure of the implementation of the Oslo Accord were wrong because we are standing here today with General Arafat as the leader of the Palestinian authority in full charge of Gaza, and Jericho.
LARSEN: I work better back stage than front stage but actually I’m comfortable with both actually.
CATERING Manager: Here’s this plate, the soup with this one, serve the swan neck towards the table. On the desert side served on the shell, this is facing the customer side, the decoration is on the top.
The curtain-raiser at Arafat’s headquarters over, preparations are under way at Larsen’s official Gaza residence for the main event of the day -- the Larsen lunch, hopefully, another milestone in the peace process.
LARSEN: Let’s have a look at the table.
AID: Is this too high? If you sit down is it going to cut you off.
LARSEN: Hello Mr Arafat, how are you this morning.
It’s the Larsen way of doing things -- the convivial mood, the relaxed atmosphere -- crucial in Norway last year and crucial again today here in Gaza.
LARSEN: Communications between parties must be based on trust, you cannot do a sort of scientific research and establish the imperative facts here, all the critical issues must be based on assumptions, belief, trust and the person to person relationship is vitally important to carry such a process.
LARSEN: Is there another loo here?
AID: There’s a loo up there for everyone, this is the staff loo here. Fine.
It might look like a lot of trouble over one small lunch ... but, you have to keep reminding yourself that Larsen’s not just building trust and confidence ... he’s breaking down generations of hostile mind-sets...
LARSON: Are there some security over there? There’s a guy in this house. There isn’t one in that one yet...
Unfortunately, however, it’s not just diplomacy that has to be kept alive.
Outside -- with an influx of both Israeli and Palestinian security -- came a quite extraordinary, almost Middle Eastern surreal scene ...
With their conspicuously different styles and demeanour, they congregate on opposite sides of the street -- sizing each other up.
A year ago, this lot would’ve had each other in their gun sights ... Today -- in one of those great paradoxes of our time -- they’re on the same mission, protecting each other’s leaders.
Then, with appropriate high drama, Peres -- once a sworn enemy of the PLO -- arrives in Gaza, as the welcome guest of the Palestinian leader. As we’ve said, nothing in the Middle East these days is the same.
Diplomacy -- as Larsen’s well aware -- demands the two leaders arrive at precisely the same moment -- and they do.
A short, slightly chaotic -- but nonetheless historic photo opportunity ... including this quick question from the Australian media ...
Q. What do you think of this man Larsen who’s involved himself in your affairs?
ARAFAT: I can’t speak in front of his face. (Laughter)
As the final toast is being made, we’re allowed back in.
It’s obvious that Larsen has worked his Nordic magic -- yet again!
Coats off .. shared jokes ... good-natured laughter ... not a sign of formality or tension.
Larsen entices Arafat and Peres to pose for “happy
snaps” with the Palestinian waiters -- Larsen’s idea of a
politically symbolic finale for an occasion like this.
Peres seeks out the ubiquitous Mona...
PERES: Bye Mona, have a safe trip
MONA: Thank you very much.
LARSEN: I just wanted to say to everybody it was a great show today and absolutely superb.
LARSEN: OK, cheers everybody.
The United Nations Special Co-ordinator is pleased with the day’s work ....
I was so afraid yesterday because it was so massive, it was absolute chaos and I thought it was going to be a bloody catastrophe. And, it really went so well.
The man himself is flushed with the warm glow of success.
LARSEN: It was a really amazing experience, very moving as well. The reason why it’s great is that if the atmosphere is like that it’s possible to move ahead.
Jerusalem shots They might be on top of things in Gaza, but there’s still the problem of Jerusalem .... The Israeli leader, Yitzhak Rabin is adamant that Jerusalem is just not negotiable. Yasser Arafat has promised his people this place will be the capital of the new state of Palestine. So Larsen’s work as the gentle persuader, is clearly far from over.
LARSEN: There will be a solution on Jerusalem because the sort of historical structures for this are so strong that neither of the parties can live for long with an unsolved Jerusalem question.
Go back one year, and you look at what Yassar Arafat said one year ago about Gaza and the West Bank and you look at what the Israeli politicians said about Gaza and the West Bank they were just as far apart but in the end I think they will find a solution. It has to be a compromise between those two positions.
Last year -- thanks to the secret Oslo channel they set up -- the Middle East TOOK OVER Terje Larsen and Mona Juul’s life ....
.... Now, having brought at least a kind of peace to that tense and tinder-dry part of the world, the Middle East IS their life ....
LARSEN: It’s been going so fast that yesterday I really had to pinch my arm and say it’s a dream, this is Hollywood, its not the real life, but fortunately it is. This is one of the most interesting and most spectacular political and social experiments in our time. Touch wood and cross fingers it will last but, so far so good.
It’s fair to say that the Middle East is changing -- dramatically and fast!
But today’s Middle East peace is still fragile and the pressure on Terje Larsen, its nurturer, to strengthen it, is enormous.
And he knows it.
The next 6 to 8 months are very very critical and the worst case scenario could be a state of civil war in Gaza.
When -- against all the odds -- Larsen got the Israelis and the Palestinians to sit down last year and talk peaceful co-existence, this ostensibly ordinary Norwegian pulled off a modern miracle.
LARSEN: Basically the reason why I took the job is I feel a moral obligation to continue. Because if this process collapses I’m quite sure the chances for a new war in the Middle East are very very large and that will affect economies and politics throughout the world.
Mona Juul -- the other half of the Norwegian husband and wife “peace team” -- is still very much part of the action. In Oslo, she told me they feared a personal anti-climax after the drama of the Whitehouse handshake. But, it hasn’t happened.
MONA in hotel corridor But even Mona, a high flying diplomat herself, can get lost in Larsen’s frantic wake.
MONA knocking on
MONA: He’s not letting me in.
LARSEN: Both Mona and I are close friends of key personalities on both sides, and that’s why we are frequently and consistently asked to join in. The next 24 hours are all-important. Larsen’s plotting a top-level lunch -- in fact, a diplomatic coup.
While he goes to work on the politics, his aides are laying the logistical groundwork.
MARK, NEIL, CLIFF: There’ll be the Foreign Minister’s security, the Israeli security, the Palestinian security. The other aspect is we want to keep the security as discrete as possible. The plan is to get the key players -- Israel’s Foreign Minister, Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat together over lunch in, of all places, the Gaza Strip -- normally a no-go area for an Israeli minister like Peres. There’ll be Israeli people checking who comes in or out. His hand-picked assistants -- an Englishman and a Canadian -- are old Middle East hands. I think the foreign minister is going to have a shower there, so he can get back on the plane clean.
Ext. UNTSO building - Tape 2: I would suggest that you go down to Gaza as early as possible tomorrow morning.
Down to the details, his two assistants are coming to grips with the idiosyncratic Larsen style: assume no hurdles, brook no obstacles ... the good guys always win!
LARSEN: How long then do we have with him then, half an hour?
At 47, Larsen’s a classic Scandanavian product of the 60’s -- a democratic left babyboomer who cut his ideological teeth on the whole idea of changing the world ... Now, you could say, he’s actually doing it!
LARSEN: two, three, four ... that’s 12 for lunch.
LARSEN: The two old foes, Arafat and Peres, have grown to trust Larsen ...
If it wasn’t HIS plan being put to them, it’d be out of the question ...
LARSEN: So if we schedule maybe 10 or 15 minutes ... It’s possible it depends how long you need with Arafat. 15 minutes. OK, no problem.
BEILIN: I think he is the right man in the right place. He is committed, he became Mr Peace...
It was Yossi Beilin -- Peres’ deputy -- who first put his faith in the audacious Larsen. Beilin was Israel’s man behind last year’s secret Oslo talks.
BEILIN: It’s his almost personal interest that the peace process will succeed.
ASFOUR: Now, he’s some historic man of the world. Yes indeed.
Hassan Asfour, an old-school PLO Marxist, was also ‘in the channel’ as the insiders describe the Oslo talks.
Q.When I was talking to Yossi Beilin he described Mr Larsen to me as Mr Peace, how would you describe him?
ASFOUR: It’s not only Mr Peace, cos that’s only thinking. But when you see the man he can understand the peace with loving the two peoples - it’s more than peace cos Larsen loves the Palestinian and the Israeli.
In dusty, dirt-poor Gaza before the Oslo Accord -- little love was lost between the Palestinians and their Israeli occupiers ....
The fledgling peace has brought some relief to Gazans -- but, Larsen knows all too well that they need more...
The big day beings with his excellency, the UN Co-ordinator in the Occupied Territories, doing his stuff in the international spotlight.
LARSEN to press: I do hope I’ll be back with more money next week for this very important project.
It’s a new and strangely public life for the Oslo back channel boy ... but, unphased, he’s ever the opportunist...
LARSEN: My best pleasure here today is to see that full predictions of failure of the implementation of the Oslo Accord were wrong because we are standing here today with General Arafat as the leader of the Palestinian authority in full charge of Gaza, and Jericho.
LARSEN: I work better back stage than front stage but actually I’m comfortable with both actually.
CATERING Manager: Here’s this plate, the soup with this one, serve the swan neck towards the table. On the desert side served on the shell, this is facing the customer side, the decoration is on the top.
The curtain-raiser at Arafat’s headquarters over, preparations are under way at Larsen’s official Gaza residence for the main event of the day -- the Larsen lunch, hopefully, another milestone in the peace process.
LARSEN: Let’s have a look at the table.
AID: Is this too high? If you sit down is it going to cut you off.
LARSEN: Hello Mr Arafat, how are you this morning.
It’s the Larsen way of doing things -- the convivial mood, the relaxed atmosphere -- crucial in Norway last year and crucial again today here in Gaza.
LARSEN: Communications between parties must be based on trust, you cannot do a sort of scientific research and establish the imperative facts here, all the critical issues must be based on assumptions, belief, trust and the person to person relationship is vitally important to carry such a process.
LARSEN: Is there another loo here?
AID: There’s a loo up there for everyone, this is the staff loo here. Fine.
It might look like a lot of trouble over one small lunch ... but, you have to keep reminding yourself that Larsen’s not just building trust and confidence ... he’s breaking down generations of hostile mind-sets...
LARSON: Are there some security over there? There’s a guy in this house. There isn’t one in that one yet...
Unfortunately, however, it’s not just diplomacy that has to be kept alive.
Outside -- with an influx of both Israeli and Palestinian security -- came a quite extraordinary, almost Middle Eastern surreal scene ...
With their conspicuously different styles and demeanour, they congregate on opposite sides of the street -- sizing each other up.
A year ago, this lot would’ve had each other in their gun sights ... Today -- in one of those great paradoxes of our time -- they’re on the same mission, protecting each other’s leaders.
Then, with appropriate high drama, Peres -- once a sworn enemy of the PLO -- arrives in Gaza, as the welcome guest of the Palestinian leader. As we’ve said, nothing in the Middle East these days is the same.
Diplomacy -- as Larsen’s well aware -- demands the two leaders arrive at precisely the same moment -- and they do.
A short, slightly chaotic -- but nonetheless historic photo opportunity ... including this quick question from the Australian media ...
Q. What do you think of this man Larsen who’s involved himself in your affairs?
ARAFAT: I can’t speak in front of his face. (Laughter)
As the final toast is being made, we’re allowed back in.
It’s obvious that Larsen has worked his Nordic magic -- yet again!
Coats off .. shared jokes ... good-natured laughter ... not a sign of formality or tension.
Larsen entices Arafat and Peres to pose for “happy
snaps” with the Palestinian waiters -- Larsen’s idea of a
politically symbolic finale for an occasion like this.
Peres seeks out the ubiquitous Mona...
PERES: Bye Mona, have a safe trip
MONA: Thank you very much.
LARSEN: I just wanted to say to everybody it was a great show today and absolutely superb.
LARSEN: OK, cheers everybody.
The United Nations Special Co-ordinator is pleased with the day’s work ....
I was so afraid yesterday because it was so massive, it was absolute chaos and I thought it was going to be a bloody catastrophe. And, it really went so well.
The man himself is flushed with the warm glow of success.
LARSEN: It was a really amazing experience, very moving as well. The reason why it’s great is that if the atmosphere is like that it’s possible to move ahead.
Jerusalem shots They might be on top of things in Gaza, but there’s still the problem of Jerusalem .... The Israeli leader, Yitzhak Rabin is adamant that Jerusalem is just not negotiable. Yasser Arafat has promised his people this place will be the capital of the new state of Palestine. So Larsen’s work as the gentle persuader, is clearly far from over.
LARSEN: There will be a solution on Jerusalem because the sort of historical structures for this are so strong that neither of the parties can live for long with an unsolved Jerusalem question.
Go back one year, and you look at what Yassar Arafat said one year ago about Gaza and the West Bank and you look at what the Israeli politicians said about Gaza and the West Bank they were just as far apart but in the end I think they will find a solution. It has to be a compromise between those two positions.
Last year -- thanks to the secret Oslo channel they set up -- the Middle East TOOK OVER Terje Larsen and Mona Juul’s life ....
.... Now, having brought at least a kind of peace to that tense and tinder-dry part of the world, the Middle East IS their life ....
LARSEN: It’s been going so fast that yesterday I really had to pinch my arm and say it’s a dream, this is Hollywood, its not the real life, but fortunately it is. This is one of the most interesting and most spectacular political and social experiments in our time. Touch wood and cross fingers it will last but, so far so good.