- Title: VARIOUS: After 30 years of peace, Egypt-Israel divide still needs to be bridged
- Date: 6th April 2009
- Summary: CAIRO, EGYPT (RECENT) (REUTERS) ISRAELI AMBASSADOR IN EGYPT SHALOM COHEN TALKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAELI AMBASSADOR IN EGYPT SHALOM COHEN, SAYING: "I'm sometimes a little bit frustrated that I cannot do more. I would like to do much more at the field, in the field that what we call normalization between the two people, exchanges between the two societies
- Embargoed: 21st April 2009 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVAC2598LODV9NCMGVLSPAY1PGBA
- Story Text: After 30 years of 'cold' peace, Israeli ambassador in Cairo expresses "frustration", while Israeli academic tries to bridge divide between the two states through the promotion of education and Hebrew studies.
When Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat arrived to Israel 32 years ago and became the first Arab leader to visit the Jewish state, hopes for peace between the two countries were high.
But 30 years after El Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin signed a historic peace accord in Camp David, Israeli delegates in Cairo try to change what the Israeli media refers to as "cold peace", which Israeli ambassador to Egypt, Shlomo Cohen, finds frustrating.
"I'm sometimes a little bit frustrated that I cannot do more. I would like to do much more at the field, in the field that what we call normalization between the two people, exchanges between the two societies, much more sharing the knowledge between the two people, getting to know each other better. This field is, as I told you, a little bit lacking yet. And, in my view, it will take some more time but we are definitely working on that too," Cohen said during an interview at his high-walled villa in Cairo's leafy Maadi district.
Israelis see the embassy as a crucial foothold in a Middle East largely hostile or, at best, indifferent to them. Yet many Egyptians resent being the first to have engaged a Jewish state whose presence Arabs often consider anathema. The more moderate have their sympathies sapped by the plight of the Palestinians.
Egyptian forces are posted along Gaza's southern border, which militants breached last year, allowing tens of thousands of Palestinians to pour through in order to stock up on goods in short supply due to an Israeli blockade - an occurrence which forced Israel into a delicate diplomatic balancing act with its first Arab peace partner.
Ambassador Cohen's staff have been especially on guard since Israel's Gaza war, which killed 1,300 Palestinians and was extensively covered by regional media, triggering mass-demonstrations.
Egypt - along with Jordan and Mauritania, the only Arab states to have recognised Israel - clamped down on the protest.
In a ceremony held in Jerusalem to mark the 30th anniversary of peace between Israel and Egypt, Egyptian ambassador to Israel Yasser Reda said achieving a lasting peace between Israel and all its Arab neighbours demanded a just solution for the Palestinians.
"It is no secret that certain regional powers and non-state actors feed on the plight of Palestinians, and try to capitalise on it. In order to freeze their viscous plans to destabilise the region a just and comprehensive resolution of the Palestinian questions should be realised through creating a viable and independent state living in peace with Israel," Reda said.
Another Israeli who is trying to deepen the understanding between the two people is Gabriel Rosenbaum, the director of the Israeli Academic Centre in Cairo, where Egyptians can gain an introduction to Hebrew language and culture.
"When you don't know something you are afraid of it, you have concerns about it. When you get to know a place, when you get to know the people, when you get to know the culture you see that there is nothing to be afraid of. I think ignorance is a problem in both sides. Most Egyptians do not know us, we do not know them and i think that we should know each other. And that's what we do here at the academic centre, we get to know each other," said Rosenbaum, a professor on leave from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and also affiliated with Cambridge University.
Talk of historical conflict, or the more recent bilateral tensions over Israel's Gaza offensive and hawkish new government, is largely avoided in the Academic Centre, which consists of three reading rooms filled with books.
Funded by Israeli universities, the Academic Centre provides contemporary texts that may be unavailable on Egyptian campuses. Cairo's cultural unions have long boycotted Israel, partly in protest at its policies towards the Palestinians.
According to Rosenbaum, several universities in Cairo and beyond offer Hebrew classes, which are taken by 5,000 to 6,000 students a year.
One graduate was Amr Zakareya, an Egyptian who first came to the centre as an undergraduate in 1989 and wound up becoming its administrative director.
"I chose to study Hebrew in the university, so the teachers asked us to do researches and stuff like that about Hebrew and we studied Hebrew.
The centre was the only centre in egypt consisting of the books and all the material that we need to use. So I came to the centre as a student and they welcomed me very nicely. The centre helped me a lot," Zakareya said.
Meanwhile, the relations between Israel and Egypt remain tense.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak visited Israel just once during his 27 years in power, for the funeral of the slain statesman Yitzhak Rabin. Egypt's state media sometimes inveigh against Israel with images smacking of anti-Semitism. Cultural unions boycott Israeli productions. Police often grill Egyptians who request travel visas to Israel.
An editorial published last week in the Jerusalem Post newspaper marking the "melancholic" 30th anniversary, urged Mubarak to make his first state visit to Israel - retracing the footsteps of El Sadat whose surprise visit to the Jewish state in 1977 broke the mould of 30 years of war. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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