When I came here, I had the idea based on the news and internet, as well as my own preconceptions from my military service here twenty years ago, that the peace process would fail, a Palestinian State would be declared, and war would break out. I am happy to report, that I have totally discarded that assessment. Jerusalem today is nothing like I remember it. Peace is in the air. Hassidic Jews walk through the streets of the Muslim quarter on their way to synagogues there or to the Jewish quarter.
Muslim couples stroll through the streets of the Jewish quarter at night.
Secular Israeli tourists crowd out the pilgrims shopping in the Christian quarter. Jews and Arabs treat each other with tolerance and respect. Most people are prospering and few people want to ruin this happy state of affairs. Most of the 150,000 Jewish settlers in the areas slated for the Palestinian state are living in bedroom communities, built by Arab contractors. Even with the uncertainties of the peace process, real estate development is booming and the only ones suffering are new home buyers.