0:00:08 > 0:00:13100 years ago, a British promise, just a few words in a letter,
0:00:13 > 0:00:15lit a fire in the Holy Land.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22The Balfour Declaration ignited one of the most bitter and intractable
0:00:22 > 0:00:24struggles of modern times.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27The Arab-Israeli conflict.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32As a journalist, I've watched the consequences of that promise
0:00:32 > 0:00:34unfold over the last 30 years.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40I've seen the wars and the bloodshed, the grief and the agony.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44I've seen peace within touching distance...
0:00:46 > 0:00:48..replaced by barriers to a resolution.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56It's a far cry from the vision of those who wrote
0:00:56 > 0:00:57the Balfour Declaration -
0:00:57 > 0:01:00amongst them, one of my own relatives.
0:01:00 > 0:01:04He was convinced that Jews and Arabs could live and prosper together
0:01:04 > 0:01:06as equals.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14So, how has it come to this?
0:01:16 > 0:01:21Did the British bestow a blessing or a curse on the two peoples?
0:01:37 > 0:01:41- RADIO:- Israeli police say two Palestinian gunmen have opened fire
0:01:41 > 0:01:43in the city of Tel Aviv, killing four people.
0:01:43 > 0:01:45The shooting took place in...
0:01:45 > 0:01:49I've been covering wars across the globe for nearly 40 years,
0:01:49 > 0:01:52but most of all I've been drawn to the struggle between
0:01:52 > 0:01:55the Palestinians and Israelis.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58- RADIO:- The crisis grows over additional security measures
0:01:58 > 0:02:00in the old city of Jerusalem.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03Three Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli
0:02:03 > 0:02:04security forces...
0:02:05 > 0:02:09Now, I'm going back to my roots to uncover a family connection
0:02:09 > 0:02:10to the conflict.
0:02:12 > 0:02:14It's so strange driving on this road.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18This is the road I came down every day when I was small
0:02:18 > 0:02:19in the school bus.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24And this is my grandparents' house where my mother,
0:02:24 > 0:02:26Olive Amery, was born and brought up.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30It looks wonderful.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32I'm not stopping at my mother's old house today,
0:02:32 > 0:02:35I'm going on just a little bit further to the village of Lustleigh,
0:02:35 > 0:02:38which is really where the Amerys come from.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44Growing up, there was one Amery in particular my mother would tell
0:02:44 > 0:02:47stories about - Leopold, or Leo, Amery.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50Ever since my schooldays,
0:02:50 > 0:02:53I've known this relation of mine played a role in the creation
0:02:53 > 0:02:58of Israel and what followed, but I've never fully explored his story
0:02:58 > 0:03:00and how it fits with my own experiences.
0:03:01 > 0:03:02- Good morning.- Morning.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05- You must be Peter?- Yes. Welcome to Lustleigh.- Thank you very much.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09- I'm Jane.- So, shall we go in and have a look?- Yeah.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12I'm hoping I can start to do that today with the help
0:03:12 > 0:03:14of a local historian.
0:03:14 > 0:03:20And there we have the memorial to Leopold Amery that was put up at
0:03:20 > 0:03:25the time when his ashes were brought back to Lustleigh to be buried here.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28It says he devoted his life "in peace and war to the service of the
0:03:28 > 0:03:30"British Commonwealth and Empire."
0:03:31 > 0:03:34And then we have the words of Winston Churchill.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37"I mourn the loss of my friend Leo Amery.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41"Statesman and man of letters, he was, above all, a great patriot."
0:03:41 > 0:03:45There's a family coat of arms there and a motto.
0:03:45 > 0:03:46My Latin's not very good,
0:03:46 > 0:03:50but I do know this because my mother gave me a copy of the family coat of
0:03:50 > 0:03:55arms and I know that it says tenacity of purpose.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57It's really interesting to see that there.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00- It is.- And to put it in the context of Leo Amery and his life.
0:04:00 > 0:04:01Yes.
0:04:03 > 0:04:04I haven't seen that in years.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11One thing I know about Leo Amery is that his mother was Jewish,
0:04:11 > 0:04:15but she converted and brought Leo up a Christian,
0:04:15 > 0:04:18and he would go on to study Islamic culture.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23As a British reporter covering the conflict,
0:04:23 > 0:04:26Israelis and Arabs have always been quick to tell me that
0:04:26 > 0:04:30the Balfour Declaration is behind everything that's happened to them,
0:04:30 > 0:04:32good and bad.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39I know only that Leo Amery played some part
0:04:39 > 0:04:41in producing this historic document.
0:04:43 > 0:04:48The declaration was actually a letter written in 1917,
0:04:48 > 0:04:51from then Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour
0:04:51 > 0:04:54to one of Britain's most prominent and wealthy Jews.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59That man was Lionel Walter, Lord Rothschild.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03There was a lot going on, too.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07Yes. His great-nephew Jacob is the current holder of the title.
0:05:08 > 0:05:14He was the obvious person because of a famous name to send the eventual
0:05:14 > 0:05:18letter to, but he was an eccentric choice.
0:05:18 > 0:05:25He became passionately involved in natural history, and he had this
0:05:25 > 0:05:31zebra-drawn carriage in London, and then he careered about in a top hat
0:05:31 > 0:05:32on a tortoise.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35Hardly careering, I think, on a tortoise.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38- Slow, I think.- Well, maybe.
0:05:38 > 0:05:43The letter was just 67 words long and pledged support from the British
0:05:43 > 0:05:47government for the creation of a national home for the Jewish people
0:05:47 > 0:05:49in Palestine.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52What do you understand to be the message of the Balfour Declaration?
0:05:52 > 0:05:57The message is that there would be a national home to which
0:05:57 > 0:06:03Jews could go, and return to the place which they'd left
0:06:03 > 0:06:082,000 years ago, and which many of them had yearned to go back to.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10They'd been spread throughout the world,
0:06:10 > 0:06:14had suffered a great deal from persecution,
0:06:14 > 0:06:16and this was their dream.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20I know that one of my ancestors, Leo Amery, was involved in
0:06:20 > 0:06:24the Balfour Declaration, but what you know about that?
0:06:24 > 0:06:27There was a lot of discussion about the very precise wording of the
0:06:27 > 0:06:29Balfour Declaration.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33The second part of the letter, which is to protect Arab interests,
0:06:33 > 0:06:38was inserted at the request of the Cabinet by your relation Amery.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42Leo Amery added a sentence.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44"Nothing should be done," he wrote,
0:06:44 > 0:06:48"which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing"
0:06:48 > 0:06:50"non-Jewish communities."
0:06:50 > 0:06:54The line was intended as a safeguard for the majority population in
0:06:54 > 0:06:56Palestine - the Arabs.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01But they would interpret it as anything but.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09The Balfour Declaration threw Britain's weight behind Zionism,
0:07:09 > 0:07:13the nationalist Jewish movement that called for a return of its people
0:07:13 > 0:07:14to their homeland.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18Shortly after its publication,
0:07:18 > 0:07:23the British occupied Palestine as a result of the First World War.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26It gave them the opportunity to fulfil their pledge
0:07:26 > 0:07:29and they were generally optimistic about their chances.
0:07:32 > 0:07:38At the end of 1919, the chief British official in Palestine reported,
0:07:38 > 0:07:42"In my view, there will be no serious difficulty in introducing
0:07:42 > 0:07:46"a large number of Jews into the country, provided it is done
0:07:46 > 0:07:48"without ostentation."
0:07:48 > 0:07:52He went on to say that given the right finances and resources,
0:07:52 > 0:07:57"I can promise you a country of milk and honey in ten years, and I can
0:07:57 > 0:08:01"promise you will not be bothered by anti-Zion difficulties."
0:08:05 > 0:08:09The Balfour Declaration's potential to transform the future
0:08:09 > 0:08:12for the Jewish people soon became clear.
0:08:13 > 0:08:14In 1920,
0:08:14 > 0:08:18Britain was formally handed control of Palestine,
0:08:18 > 0:08:22and the doors began to open for Jews to emigrate to the country.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27100,000 arrived in the first few years alone.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34I've come to Israel to find out what effect the Balfour Declaration
0:08:34 > 0:08:36has had to this day.
0:08:38 > 0:08:39Soon after its publication,
0:08:39 > 0:08:43regeneration began as Jewish immigrants bought land.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49The first farming community established after the declaration
0:08:49 > 0:08:51was in this valley in northern Israel.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57It was named Balfouria in honour of Lord Balfour.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09SINGING
0:09:09 > 0:09:13Amongst the early settlers were Yudit and Ruth Slutsky.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16Today they are 96 and 91.
0:09:16 > 0:09:21They'd invited me to join a Friday night Shabbat, or Sabbath gathering.
0:09:21 > 0:09:28SINGING
0:09:28 > 0:09:31The sisters are the only surviving members of the first generation of
0:09:31 > 0:09:35their family to emigrate to Palestine.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38Their parents came here in 1924.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41They'd escaped persecution in Russia.
0:09:41 > 0:09:42They had nine daughters.
0:09:43 > 0:09:52SINGING
0:09:52 > 0:09:55Yudit and Ruth still return to visit.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57How do you feel when you come here?
0:09:57 > 0:09:59Like I came home.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02Honestly. Like I came home.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06SINGING
0:10:06 > 0:10:11My father promised my mother they will go to Israel
0:10:11 > 0:10:13and deport all the family from Russia.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17For Hannah and Mordechai Slutsky,
0:10:17 > 0:10:20Balfouria was the fulfilment of the Zionist dream,
0:10:20 > 0:10:23free from anti-Semitism.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27They bought 25 acres of land and built the home still owned
0:10:27 > 0:10:29by their extended family.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32Amnon is one of their grandchildren.
0:10:32 > 0:10:37They bought the land to raise up Israel from the land again
0:10:37 > 0:10:39after 2,000 years.
0:10:39 > 0:10:44And, so, he wrote here, "The land is not to sell, ever."
0:10:44 > 0:10:47As a family we have to keep the land.
0:10:47 > 0:10:52We are now 350 members.
0:10:52 > 0:10:53- In 100 years.- It's amazing.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56In 1925,
0:10:56 > 0:11:00Lord Balfour made his first visit to Israel and Balfouria was of course
0:11:00 > 0:11:02on his itinerary.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04The Slutskys played host to him,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07preparing a banquet for over 70 dignitaries.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10This is the great day.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13Yes, a great day. He came like a hero.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15They treat him like a hero.
0:11:15 > 0:11:20Only the Lord Balfour give the reason to Jews from all over
0:11:20 > 0:11:22the world to come to Israel.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26Touring the length and breadth of the country,
0:11:26 > 0:11:29Balfour received a rapturous welcome from the Jews
0:11:29 > 0:11:32and he was impressed by what he saw.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35He believed Jews would bring about the regeneration of the
0:11:35 > 0:11:39Middle East, and create not just a strong civilisation,
0:11:39 > 0:11:41but an ally for Britain in the region.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44"This is a new experiment," he declared.
0:11:44 > 0:11:49"Unless I have profoundly mistaken the genius of the Jewish people,
0:11:49 > 0:11:52"the experiment is predestined to inevitable success."
0:11:57 > 0:12:02Israel has succeeded beyond Balfour's wildest dreams.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06This tiny country is in the top 20 in the world when it comes to living
0:12:06 > 0:12:09standards, better than many European states.
0:12:13 > 0:12:17Israel's the start-up nation of the 21st century.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20A hub for computer industries with a booming economy.
0:12:23 > 0:12:29And this invention is the latest proof of its hi-tech achievements.
0:12:29 > 0:12:30My hands are off the steering wheel.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33- What...? Oh!- I'll reactivate it.
0:12:33 > 0:12:35- Hands-free?- Hands-free.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38It's-It's a strange sensation.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41My feet is not on the pedals, my hands are not on the steering wheel.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45- Fantastic.- It will maintain a set speed, change lanes when necessary.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49- Yeah.- Read the traffic lights and stop at the junction.
0:12:49 > 0:12:50And it's 100% safe?
0:12:50 > 0:12:53- Tell me it's safe.- No, no, it's not 100% safe.
0:12:53 > 0:13:00The plan is 2019 to activate this kind of technology in a 100% safety
0:13:00 > 0:13:07on highways, and 2021, to activate it in urban settings.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10I have to say, Amnon, conducting an interview with somebody who's
0:13:10 > 0:13:15waving their hands about while driving a car is very...
0:13:15 > 0:13:18- Unnerving.- ..unnerving and...
0:13:18 > 0:13:21But it's amazing at the same time.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25Amnon Shashua a professor of computer science, is a co-founder
0:13:25 > 0:13:29of Mobileye, which makes autonomous driving technology.
0:13:29 > 0:13:34Earlier this year the company was purchased by US giant Intel for more
0:13:34 > 0:13:39than 15 billion, the biggest deal in Israeli history.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43Why do you think Israel has been such a successful
0:13:43 > 0:13:45technological nation?
0:13:45 > 0:13:48I think it's kind of a prosperity under adversity.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52When you are under constant adversity,
0:13:52 > 0:13:54you appreciate how much life is fragile.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56Because of all the wars that you've been involved in?
0:13:56 > 0:13:58All the wars and terror.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01So, you either give up or you become more efficient.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05You want to succeed against all odds.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09The British thought that bringing a sort of Jewish energy here was going
0:14:09 > 0:14:11to transform the place.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14The place has been transformed. It was an arid piece of land.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17- Look at it today.- But look at the Palestinians.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20They feel that it's been...
0:14:20 > 0:14:21..you know, Israel's gain, their loss.
0:14:21 > 0:14:26Well, I think the defining story of the last 100 years
0:14:26 > 0:14:29is a zero sum game, you know?
0:14:29 > 0:14:32The success of one party is the failure of the other party.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43Most Palestinians have certainly failed to reap the benefits
0:14:43 > 0:14:45of Israel's success.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47Their living standards are far lower.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50There's a crisis in their economy and public finances.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56It all stems, many Palestinians believe,
0:14:56 > 0:15:00from the unfair hand that Britain dealt them 100 years ago.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15I first met Jawad Siam, a Palestinian activist, seven years
0:15:15 > 0:15:20ago, protesting against the takeover by some Israelis of a building
0:15:20 > 0:15:21in an Arab area of Jerusalem.
0:15:29 > 0:15:34For Jawad, his battle over the land today is a continuation of the
0:15:34 > 0:15:36struggles of his grandparents.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42And they lived in Silwan, here on the edge of Jerusalem?
0:15:43 > 0:15:46Can you explain how your grandparents' generation felt about
0:15:46 > 0:15:48the fact that more and more Jews were coming?
0:16:03 > 0:16:06As Jewish immigration increased in the 1930s,
0:16:06 > 0:16:09Jawad's grandparents were involved in a backlash.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14The new arrivals fuelled Arab resentment.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16They felt their existence here was threatened.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30Your grandfather was there at the time.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05Many Palestinians believe the Balfour Declaration promised
0:17:05 > 0:17:09a nation to the Jews, but that same commitment was never made to them.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13It's not how the British saw it,
0:17:13 > 0:17:16which is perhaps why the violent reaction of the Arabs
0:17:16 > 0:17:18took them by surprise.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21Train wrecking is the latest weapon of the Arab terrorists.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23The Crag Haifa express was derailed with a toll of
0:17:23 > 0:17:24many killed and injured.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30By the late 1930s, there was a bloody all-out Arab revolt
0:17:30 > 0:17:32against British rule
0:17:32 > 0:17:35at a time where their forces were thin on the ground.
0:17:40 > 0:17:45Britain's dream of a land of milk and honey had turned sour.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48And no-one was more shocked than my relative, Leo Amery.
0:17:50 > 0:17:54He had become the cabinet minister responsible for Palestine.
0:17:54 > 0:17:55Thinking all was well,
0:17:55 > 0:17:59he'd overseen the disbanding of the British Military Police.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01He quickly realised his mistake.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06Leo Amery blamed himself and the British Government for not leaving
0:18:06 > 0:18:09enough troops here when the violence first broke out
0:18:09 > 0:18:10between Jew and Arab.
0:18:10 > 0:18:16In his diary, he said, "It initiated a belief in the success of violence,"
0:18:16 > 0:18:18"which increasingly affected the Arabs,"
0:18:18 > 0:18:21"and subsequently, by reaction, the Jews."
0:18:23 > 0:18:26Time and again here, I've seen that successive violence
0:18:26 > 0:18:31on both sides that Leo identified so early on.
0:18:31 > 0:18:32But if, as he believed,
0:18:32 > 0:18:36British troops could've kept the peace between Arabs and Jews at that
0:18:36 > 0:18:41time, it makes me wonder whether the dream of the Balfour Declaration
0:18:41 > 0:18:42might have succeeded.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48Back then, what Britain did next would fuel the conflict.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56In 1939, the British Government bowed to the pressure
0:18:56 > 0:19:00of the Arab revolt, drastically restricting Jewish immigration.
0:19:02 > 0:19:07The immediate consequences were to be disastrous for the Jews.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09The timing could not have been worse.
0:19:12 > 0:19:18Hitler's Final Solution was soon to come into devastating effect.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22I was less than eight years old when the American troops,
0:19:22 > 0:19:27led by General Patton, broke in the Buchenwald concentration camp.
0:19:29 > 0:19:30My brother said to me,
0:19:30 > 0:19:37"Tell them to take you to a place called Eretz Yisrael.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39"This is our old homeland.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43"This is a place where they don't kill the Jews."
0:19:44 > 0:19:47As World War II came to an end,
0:19:47 > 0:19:51Yisrael Meir Lau was one of the few to escape Hitler's
0:19:51 > 0:19:53extermination camps.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57Just weeks after his liberation, he and his brother,
0:19:57 > 0:19:59the only survivors from their immediate family,
0:19:59 > 0:20:02arrived by boat in Palestine,
0:20:02 > 0:20:06but the welcome was not what they'd dreamed of.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08The soldiers, British soldiers...
0:20:09 > 0:20:14..screaming, pushing us with their guns.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16"Faster, faster, faster!"
0:20:17 > 0:20:21And they pushed us from the boat to a cattle car.
0:20:22 > 0:20:27We were like sardines standing - no bench, no chair, no one window.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31And the vehicle stopped here, and here again,
0:20:31 > 0:20:34"One, two, three, four, five!"
0:20:34 > 0:20:39And we were pushed into these huts, surrounded with a fence...
0:20:41 > 0:20:42..again a fence.
0:20:42 > 0:20:47We are inside. Soldiers, guns,
0:20:47 > 0:20:51counting us - we are numbers, not human beings.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53No-one name, only numbers.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57I looked at my brother and asked him,
0:20:57 > 0:21:03"This is what you promised to me? Is this the promised land?"
0:21:06 > 0:21:08Like many Jews fleeing to Palestine,
0:21:08 > 0:21:12Yisrael and his brother found themselves here in Atlit,
0:21:12 > 0:21:14a British detention camp.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21For me, it's really shocking to be here and see the disinfectant units,
0:21:21 > 0:21:24the showers, that the Jewish immigrants would have had to go
0:21:24 > 0:21:27through, and for many of them it must have served
0:21:27 > 0:21:30as a terrible reminder of the Nazi concentration camps.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34In fact, Yisrael was lucky.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36He was one of the few legal immigrants,
0:21:36 > 0:21:40and spent just a couple of weeks here before being settled
0:21:40 > 0:21:41in the country.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44He would go on to become Chief Rabbi and chairman
0:21:44 > 0:21:46of the Holocaust Museum.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51Many others who came via illegal Jewish networks were deported.
0:21:51 > 0:21:52Some, back to Europe.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57It was against humanity.
0:21:58 > 0:22:02After six years of horror, this limit.
0:22:02 > 0:22:07How can you not permit survivors at least of the Holocaust -
0:22:07 > 0:22:13their homes are destroyed, their families are liquidated,
0:22:13 > 0:22:17and the very few who survived - let them come back home? No.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22Where was the nation of the United Kingdom?
0:22:22 > 0:22:27I believe that Lord Balfour wouldn't believe it, if you would ask him.
0:22:37 > 0:22:42Many Jews saw the British change in policy as a betrayal of the Balfour
0:22:42 > 0:22:46Declaration, and some were determined to defend their gains
0:22:46 > 0:22:48at any cost.
0:22:48 > 0:22:53Now, it became the turn of the Jews to revolt against the British,
0:22:53 > 0:22:5620 years after they had opened the door to the promised land.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04The tragic scene is like a serious incident during the Blitz.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07The hotel housed the British Army headquarters and the Palestine
0:23:07 > 0:23:11government offices, and casualties were very heavy.
0:23:11 > 0:23:1365 deaths are reported.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17The Jewish terrorist organisation Irgun Tsvai Leumi openly admitted
0:23:17 > 0:23:18responsibility for the bombing.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20Many arrests have been made.
0:23:23 > 0:23:28In the 1940s, a Jewish underground movement waged war on the British,
0:23:28 > 0:23:31to force them to leave and throw open the country
0:23:31 > 0:23:34to unrestricted Jewish immigration.
0:23:34 > 0:23:42As each day passed, more bombs were thrown, more trains were wrecked,
0:23:42 > 0:23:44more lives were lost.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46As the casualties mounted,
0:23:46 > 0:23:50Britain looked for a way out of its Palestine problem.
0:23:50 > 0:23:55The Balfour vision of Arabs and Jews living together in the same country
0:23:55 > 0:23:57looked increasingly unworkable.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07Even those who had passionately believed it could have worked,
0:24:07 > 0:24:11like Leo Amery, had already privately accepted the inevitable.
0:24:13 > 0:24:18But, as I discovered at an archive in Jerusalem, he, like others,
0:24:18 > 0:24:20was now working on another solution.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26This is a map, and it's called the Amery Scheme,
0:24:26 > 0:24:32and it looks as if Leo Amery had his own plan for partitioning Palestine
0:24:32 > 0:24:35into a Jewish state and an Arab state.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38The date here is 1946.
0:24:38 > 0:24:39You've got the West Bank.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43He called it an Arab state, it's coloured blue on the map.
0:24:44 > 0:24:48Then the Jewish state that he proposed is coloured in in red -
0:24:48 > 0:24:50it's sort of faded to pink now.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54And it actually says "state" - Arab state, Jewish state.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56And, in a way, Leo Amery had come a long way,
0:24:56 > 0:24:59because originally he thought the two peoples could live side by side,
0:24:59 > 0:25:01and this makes it clear that...
0:25:02 > 0:25:05..the two peoples will have to be separated -
0:25:05 > 0:25:07there'll have to be a partition.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09He was kind of bowing to the inevitable, I suppose.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14In a sense, the spirit of the Balfour Declaration lived on
0:25:14 > 0:25:16in the idea of partition.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19The Jews wouldn't just have a national home,
0:25:19 > 0:25:20they'd have a country.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23And they'd live side by side with the Arabs,
0:25:23 > 0:25:24who'd been given the same.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30Partition of Palestine ends seven months of deliberation by the United
0:25:30 > 0:25:34Nations, and 2,000 years of political homelessness for the Jews.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38The newly formed United Nations was left to work out a solution
0:25:38 > 0:25:40in Palestine.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43Soviet Union - yes.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46United Kingdom - abstain.
0:25:46 > 0:25:51In 1947, the UN voted to establish two states there.
0:25:51 > 0:25:52Yes.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55A Jewish state covering 56% of the land.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59The rest - an Arab state, for the Palestinians.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02The city of Jerusalem would be governed by an international body.
0:26:03 > 0:26:08In 1948 the Jews declared their state of Israel,
0:26:08 > 0:26:11but the Arabs would not sign up to the UN plan.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16All-out war followed,
0:26:16 > 0:26:22as Arab armies from neighbouring countries invaded in support of the Palestinians.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25In the violence, and after attacks by Jewish forces,
0:26:25 > 0:26:28hundreds of thousands of Palestinians,
0:26:28 > 0:26:31whose homes lay within the new state of Israel,
0:26:31 > 0:26:33fled or were forced to flee.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43The village of Lifta, on the outskirts of Jerusalem,
0:26:43 > 0:26:44was abandoned.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10Lifta has lain empty for nearly 70 years.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16Palestinians have never been allowed to return to live here.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20But, every year they come back with their children and grandchildren
0:27:20 > 0:27:22to remember.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25I was about seven years old.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28We heard the attacks. They killed about six people
0:27:28 > 0:27:29and then shot others.
0:27:29 > 0:27:34For that they were afraid and preferred to leave because they
0:27:34 > 0:27:37have seen what has happened in many cities of Palestine.
0:27:41 > 0:27:46It's very important for my children to see what we have left here,
0:27:46 > 0:27:48what my father has left.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54Coming here, I've realised how important it is to know the history
0:27:54 > 0:27:58of the houses here, to retell it to people who come here
0:27:58 > 0:27:59for the first time.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02And when you come and you hear the stories, do you feel angry?
0:28:02 > 0:28:05Yes, angry and sad at the same time.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10I hope that they will come and we will have
0:28:10 > 0:28:12the right to come back and live here in peace.
0:28:23 > 0:28:28Lifta was just one of hundreds of villages given up by Palestinians
0:28:28 > 0:28:31in the bloody conflict between the new State of Israel
0:28:31 > 0:28:32and its Arab neighbours.
0:28:32 > 0:28:37MUSIC
0:28:37 > 0:28:41This annual march in the West Bank is one of many held
0:28:41 > 0:28:45to commemorate the war, and the wider Palestinian losses,
0:28:45 > 0:28:47known as the Nakba.
0:28:47 > 0:28:49MUSIC
0:28:49 > 0:28:53They're lighting a torch for every year since the Nakba -
0:28:53 > 0:28:56the catastrophe - 69 torches.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59They still remember that so many Palestinians had to leave
0:28:59 > 0:29:01the State of Israel.
0:29:03 > 0:29:06Three quarters of a million Palestinians fled their homes
0:29:06 > 0:29:08during the fighting, never to return.
0:29:12 > 0:29:17Door keys to their houses are still a potent symbol of their loss.
0:29:33 > 0:29:37Though the war to secure the State of Israel ended in 1949,
0:29:37 > 0:29:39the conflict continued.
0:29:43 > 0:29:48Israel's Arab neighbours invaded again in the '60s and the '70s.
0:29:48 > 0:29:51In 1967, Israel had launched a pre-emptive strike,
0:29:51 > 0:29:53fearing an attack.
0:29:53 > 0:29:58More bitter battles were fought with Syria, Jordan and Egypt.
0:29:58 > 0:30:00Across the deserts of Sinai,
0:30:00 > 0:30:04a biblical prophecy comes to pass as the forces of Israel sweep on in an
0:30:04 > 0:30:06astonishing triumph of strategy.
0:30:07 > 0:30:11Israel won those wars, expanding its territory further,
0:30:11 > 0:30:15occupying the Palestinian areas of Gaza and the West Bank,
0:30:15 > 0:30:19and Israel took control of all of Jerusalem when it annexed
0:30:19 > 0:30:21the east of the city.
0:30:21 > 0:30:25The UN declared some of Israel's actions as an occupying power
0:30:25 > 0:30:27were illegal under international law.
0:30:30 > 0:30:33The occupation sparked an armed struggle by the
0:30:33 > 0:30:37Palestinian Liberation Organisation, under its leader, Yasser Arafat.
0:30:39 > 0:30:40Exiled from Palestine,
0:30:40 > 0:30:45the PLO carried out hijackings and bombings on the international stage.
0:30:49 > 0:30:53They killed Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics.
0:30:55 > 0:30:59Israel sent hit squads to hunt down those responsible.
0:31:04 > 0:31:08In the late 1980s, I began reporting from the region.
0:31:08 > 0:31:12There was still a bitter stand-off between Israel and the Palestinians
0:31:12 > 0:31:14over this territory.
0:31:14 > 0:31:18Both Jew and Arab realise that unless a settlement is reached
0:31:18 > 0:31:21over the future of this land on which the olive tree grows,
0:31:21 > 0:31:24there can be no offering of the olive branch of peace.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29There wasn't any sign of an olive branch then.
0:31:29 > 0:31:33Israel and the PLO refused to even recognise each other,
0:31:33 > 0:31:34let alone meet and talk.
0:31:36 > 0:31:41But then, in 1993, I heard rumours of a back channel.
0:31:41 > 0:31:44Secret negotiations going on in Norway.
0:31:46 > 0:31:50It was all the idea of this man, Yossi Beilin,
0:31:50 > 0:31:53a junior minister in the new Labour government in Israel.
0:31:55 > 0:31:58I was the only journalist allowed behind the scenes to witness
0:31:58 > 0:32:02what became the Oslo peace process.
0:32:02 > 0:32:07The main idea was that Israel should talk to its enemies,
0:32:07 > 0:32:11and speaking about the Palestinians, the enemy was the PLO.
0:32:12 > 0:32:16On the other side, a veteran PLO official, Ahmed Qurei,
0:32:16 > 0:32:20known as Abu Ala, headed up the talks in Norway.
0:32:20 > 0:32:22It is the first time
0:32:22 > 0:32:25in the history of this conflict that officials from
0:32:25 > 0:32:30both sides sit together, not to meet just on a day alone,
0:32:30 > 0:32:34to negotiate about substance and issues, and that's very important.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40The historic Oslo peace deal was made possible
0:32:40 > 0:32:43by two powerful leaders.
0:32:43 > 0:32:46Prime Minister Rabin, Chairman Arafat...
0:32:47 > 0:32:51Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel - a tough soldier,
0:32:51 > 0:32:54respected by his people - and Yasser Arafat,
0:32:54 > 0:32:56who led the Palestinian armed struggle.
0:32:58 > 0:33:03Today we bear witness to an extraordinary act
0:33:03 > 0:33:07in one of history's defining dramas.
0:33:07 > 0:33:11The principle behind Oslo was land for peace.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15Israel committed to a step-by-step withdrawal of its forces
0:33:15 > 0:33:18from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank.
0:33:18 > 0:33:20The Palestinians would govern themselves,
0:33:20 > 0:33:24in return for the PLO taking responsibility for security
0:33:24 > 0:33:26within those areas.
0:33:28 > 0:33:33In 1994, I joined Yasser Arafat in his inner circle,
0:33:33 > 0:33:35as they prepared to go back to Gaza.
0:33:37 > 0:33:41I was on the plane with him as he returned after nearly three decades
0:33:41 > 0:33:43exiled from his homeland.
0:33:45 > 0:33:47Can Yasser Arafat deliver peace
0:33:47 > 0:33:49and a better life for his people,
0:33:49 > 0:33:53and can the Israelis and Palestinians overcome the harsh
0:33:53 > 0:33:55realities of a divided land
0:33:55 > 0:33:58after the euphoria of the homecoming?
0:34:00 > 0:34:04The mood was jubilant, but there were doubts about Yasser Arafat's
0:34:04 > 0:34:08ability to deliver security on the ground.
0:34:08 > 0:34:10Because you were such a famous revolutionary leader,
0:34:10 > 0:34:13people now say you will find it very difficult to adjust to being the
0:34:13 > 0:34:16leader of people with so many problems?
0:34:16 > 0:34:18I have full confidence
0:34:18 > 0:34:22that our people will be able to carry on
0:34:22 > 0:34:24in this line.
0:34:24 > 0:34:29No doubt Mr Arafat is my partner,
0:34:29 > 0:34:35and I hope that both of us will try our best to avoid failure.
0:34:35 > 0:34:37So, are you optimistic?
0:34:37 > 0:34:40I'm realistic.
0:34:41 > 0:34:44The Palestinian chief negotiator, Abu Ala,
0:34:44 > 0:34:47went on to become their Prime Minister.
0:34:47 > 0:34:51Today, he's still an influential figure and lives on the West Bank.
0:34:52 > 0:34:54Hello, Abu Ala.
0:34:54 > 0:34:56- Welcome.- Thank you, thank you very much.
0:34:56 > 0:34:58- Welcome.- How are you?
0:34:58 > 0:35:00- How are you?- I'm very well, a long time since...
0:35:00 > 0:35:02- Long time!- Too long, too long.
0:35:02 > 0:35:05Nice to see you, shall we sit down?
0:35:05 > 0:35:06If we go back to Oslo,
0:35:06 > 0:35:11I believe at that time both sides were convinced that it is the time
0:35:11 > 0:35:15to start really a credible peace process.
0:35:15 > 0:35:23We were full of hope that, really, the first step is being achieved.
0:35:25 > 0:35:27It is land for peace,
0:35:27 > 0:35:31and you give the Palestinians their land and take peace.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34Without it, there will be no peace for the Israeli.
0:35:38 > 0:35:42The Israeli architect of the Oslo peace accords, Yossi Beilin...
0:35:42 > 0:35:46- Hi.- Hi.- ..is now retired and lives in Tel Aviv.
0:35:46 > 0:35:49The whole idea was we need a border,
0:35:49 > 0:35:54we need a border because without partition we cannot stay as a Jewish
0:35:54 > 0:35:55and democratic state.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58This is the heart of Zionism,
0:35:58 > 0:36:01this is the heart of the Balfour Declaration.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03This is the whole story.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06And you were giving redress to the Palestinians, in a way?
0:36:06 > 0:36:10Right - to look at them as equal partners.
0:36:12 > 0:36:16Despite the hopes, the peace deal was quick to unravel,
0:36:16 > 0:36:19under pressure from extremists on both sides.
0:36:20 > 0:36:25The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas rejected the peace deal and set out
0:36:25 > 0:36:28to undermine it by bombing Israeli buses.
0:36:30 > 0:36:34And Yasser Arafat's security forces failed to prevent the attacks.
0:36:35 > 0:36:37Things went wrong on the Palestinian side, didn't they?
0:36:37 > 0:36:43Believe me, I'm speaking honestly, Yasser Arafat, he tried his best.
0:36:43 > 0:36:46But why did he fail to stop the violence, after the agreement?
0:36:46 > 0:36:50Because it is the Israelis who pushed the situation...
0:36:51 > 0:36:53It is the Israelis, It is not Yasser Arafat.
0:36:55 > 0:36:59It is for the side who has the power,
0:36:59 > 0:37:03and who use it wrongly.
0:37:03 > 0:37:06Yasser Arafat, although he was, in my view,
0:37:06 > 0:37:08sincere in his wish to have an agreement with Israel,
0:37:08 > 0:37:11he did not give up on the other option.
0:37:11 > 0:37:15- Violence, you mean?- Which is violence, which was violence.
0:37:15 > 0:37:20There were factions who were not ready to listen to him,
0:37:20 > 0:37:23so it was convenient for him to...
0:37:24 > 0:37:29..you know, turn a blind eye or something like this, to violence.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32And, he also thought, apparently,
0:37:32 > 0:37:39that a certain amount of violence might deter Israel or incentivise
0:37:39 > 0:37:45Israel to move towards an agreement, and that he needed such leverage.
0:37:46 > 0:37:50It wasn't just Palestinian violence that scuppered Oslo.
0:37:50 > 0:37:55Yitzhak Rabin insisted it be an interim agreement for five years
0:37:55 > 0:37:58while a permanent settlement was negotiated.
0:37:58 > 0:38:06We believed that they would be some opposition but we never envisaged
0:38:06 > 0:38:11the depth of and the hatred of the extremists.
0:38:11 > 0:38:12And we did not understand...
0:38:13 > 0:38:19..profoundly enough that if we gave them five years, it may go on for
0:38:19 > 0:38:25much longer, because they will use every day in order to kill
0:38:25 > 0:38:26the idea of peace.
0:38:30 > 0:38:34Tonight at 11:10, the Prime Minister
0:38:34 > 0:38:39of Israel, Mr Yitzhak Rabin, passed away.
0:38:39 > 0:38:42Two years after the agreement, a Jewish extremist
0:38:42 > 0:38:47opposed to giving up land for peace, assassinated Yitzhak Rabin.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51It was like the end of the world, in a way.
0:38:51 > 0:38:53It was like the end of the world.
0:38:53 > 0:39:00When he was killed, I couldn't stop it, I cried for Israel.
0:39:00 > 0:39:02Not necessarily only for him.
0:39:02 > 0:39:03I couldn't understand,
0:39:03 > 0:39:07I couldn't believe that something like that happened to us.
0:39:08 > 0:39:10Not in my home, not in my country.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17But here we are nearly 25 years later.
0:39:17 > 0:39:22Unfortunately it's 25 years and a waste of time.
0:39:24 > 0:39:29They are still controlling the country and the Palestinian territory,
0:39:29 > 0:39:33they are controlling the Palestinian people.
0:39:33 > 0:39:38The Israelis used it to take more land and to confiscate more rights
0:39:38 > 0:39:41and to keep the Palestinians frustrated.
0:39:42 > 0:39:48Mentality, unfortunately, the Israeli mentality of occupation.
0:39:49 > 0:39:51Oslo changed everything.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54There are those who say they changed it to the worst and there are those
0:39:54 > 0:39:57who are saying that it was changed to the better.
0:39:57 > 0:40:02It will hopefully be conducive to a permanent agreement, much,
0:40:02 > 0:40:07much later than our original idea.
0:40:07 > 0:40:12And it created the legitimacy for Israel in the Arab world.
0:40:12 > 0:40:16I think that the process that we began in Oslo is irreversible.
0:40:22 > 0:40:27The Oslo Accords are the closest I've ever known to the kind of peaceful ideal
0:40:27 > 0:40:30that Balfour and Leo Amery had for Palestine.
0:40:31 > 0:40:34But for me, despite the progress made,
0:40:34 > 0:40:39the death of Yitzhak Rabin spelled the end of the Oslo peace process
0:40:39 > 0:40:42and that's why it's so poignant to come here.
0:40:45 > 0:40:47Built in the hopeful time after Oslo,
0:40:47 > 0:40:53this was to have been the Palestinian parliament on the edge of East Jerusalem.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57And this room, Yasser Arafat's office,
0:40:57 > 0:40:59with its view of the Dome of the Rock,
0:40:59 > 0:41:01one of the holiest sites in Islam.
0:41:02 > 0:41:04Not only was the building never finished,
0:41:04 > 0:41:08it's now surrounded on all sides by the wall,
0:41:08 > 0:41:12the separation barrier cutting it off, effectively, from East Jerusalem.
0:41:15 > 0:41:20This other structure symbolises the different approach taken when a
0:41:20 > 0:41:23permanent peace deal was not reached.
0:41:26 > 0:41:30The two sides blamed each other for a new wave of violence...
0:41:30 > 0:41:31CROWD SHOUTS
0:41:36 > 0:41:37..for reneging on their agreements.
0:41:43 > 0:41:47The barrier was built under more recent right-wing Israeli governments
0:41:47 > 0:41:51to secure the country from Palestinian suicide attacks.
0:41:52 > 0:41:57700km long, it divides Israel from the West Bank.
0:42:03 > 0:42:09Today, most Palestinians living on the other side can't enter Israel.
0:42:09 > 0:42:12Those who do face severe restrictions.
0:42:13 > 0:42:17But the same isn't true of Israelis travelling in the opposite direction.
0:42:20 > 0:42:24Well, it may not look much but I'm actually now crossing over from Israel
0:42:24 > 0:42:27into the West Bank where the Palestinians live.
0:42:28 > 0:42:33And here, an even greater barrier to any peace deal has emerged.
0:42:33 > 0:42:37Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian land.
0:42:38 > 0:42:42Since Oslo, Israel has more than tripled the number of settlers
0:42:42 > 0:42:44in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47There are now more than 500,000 Israelis
0:42:47 > 0:42:49living in around 140 settlements.
0:42:52 > 0:42:57Heading north, I'm on my way to an Orthodox Jewish settlement called Tappuah.
0:42:57 > 0:43:03The international community considers all Israeli settlements illegal.
0:43:03 > 0:43:08It's very different today than when I first came on the West Bank 30 years ago.
0:43:08 > 0:43:12So many more Israeli settlements on all the hills around and so many
0:43:12 > 0:43:14more Israeli settlers.
0:43:15 > 0:43:18There's a long history of hatred and violence in Tappuah,
0:43:18 > 0:43:21with people killed on both sides.
0:43:22 > 0:43:24Access is strictly controlled.
0:43:25 > 0:43:30But I know someone on the inside who agreed to see me again.
0:43:30 > 0:43:32Hi, Lenny. How are you doing?
0:43:32 > 0:43:34- I'm good.- I'm good. Good.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36- Great.- Still alive.
0:43:36 > 0:43:41Lenny Goldberg moved to the West Bank from New York 25 years ago.
0:43:41 > 0:43:45He's a follower of an ultranationalist Orthodox rabbi,
0:43:45 > 0:43:49a rabbi who's inspired modern Jewish militants.
0:43:49 > 0:43:51People would say, looking at this,
0:43:51 > 0:43:54these are all the great Jewish terrorists of history.
0:43:54 > 0:43:56Oh, no. Jewish terrorists, God forbid.
0:43:56 > 0:44:00Jewish freedom fighters for a lofty and holy cause.
0:44:00 > 0:44:01They fought for the Jewish people.
0:44:01 > 0:44:06These are Jews that will go down in history for their self-sacrifice.
0:44:06 > 0:44:10The international community says there can only be peace when Israel
0:44:10 > 0:44:14withdraws from illegal settlements like Lenny's.
0:44:14 > 0:44:16Would you ever leave this land?
0:44:16 > 0:44:20What about if there is two states, Palestinian and Israeli,
0:44:20 > 0:44:22side by side, and you have to leave?
0:44:22 > 0:44:25It shouldn't get to that point. Give them a Palestinian state? I mean,
0:44:25 > 0:44:29there's no Palestine, there never was, we won this land, it's ours,
0:44:29 > 0:44:33historically ours, it's biblically ours, it's logically ours,
0:44:33 > 0:44:36so why should we give it to a bunch of murderers?
0:44:36 > 0:44:38This is an illegal settlement.
0:44:38 > 0:44:40Well, illegal by whose law?
0:44:40 > 0:44:43I don't go by the secular law here.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46According to the Bible, which is God's law, which is the real law,
0:44:46 > 0:44:47this belongs to the Jewish people.
0:44:47 > 0:44:51Abraham walked here. The only reason we have a country is not because of
0:44:51 > 0:44:55the Balfour Declaration, it's because the Jews sacrificed themselves with
0:44:55 > 0:44:56blood and fire and bullets,
0:44:56 > 0:45:00and Holocaust survivors who lost everything and they fought for this country.
0:45:00 > 0:45:02That's the only reason there's a state.
0:45:02 > 0:45:04That's the way any state is made.
0:45:04 > 0:45:07Not through papers but through fighting and self-sacrifice.
0:45:07 > 0:45:11The fact is there is a time to get up and fight and if a Jew fights for
0:45:11 > 0:45:13his land that's a positive thing.
0:45:13 > 0:45:15And is this the time still to get up and fight?
0:45:15 > 0:45:19It says in the Bible, one comes to slay you, slay him first.
0:45:19 > 0:45:23Lenny's views are those of the most extreme minority of settlers.
0:45:23 > 0:45:27But many of them reject the idea that there can be two states here
0:45:27 > 0:45:33side by side, and they form a powerful lobby in Israeli politics today,
0:45:33 > 0:45:38supporting the conservative coalitions who have mostly governed here since Oslo.
0:45:42 > 0:45:45I've certainly found more hardline voices
0:45:45 > 0:45:49have come to dominate the public debate in Israel in recent years.
0:45:53 > 0:45:59And on the Palestinian side, too, more extreme views have gained ground,
0:45:59 > 0:46:01particularly in Gaza.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06This is the executive force of Hamas,
0:46:06 > 0:46:08the military wing of the Islamist group
0:46:08 > 0:46:11that Britain considers a terrorist organisation.
0:46:11 > 0:46:15Ten years ago, I filmed with them, just after Hamas won
0:46:15 > 0:46:20elections in Gaza and then ousted Yasser Arafat's more moderate Palestinian
0:46:20 > 0:46:22Authority faction in bloody fighting.
0:46:34 > 0:46:36Israel had withdrawn from Gaza,
0:46:36 > 0:46:40imposing a physical and economic blockade.
0:46:40 > 0:46:43They had tightened it extensively when Hamas forced out the PLO.
0:46:46 > 0:46:50Hamas fired rockets and mortars into the country,
0:46:50 > 0:46:54refusing to recognise the Israeli state, even to this day.
0:46:56 > 0:47:00This time, when I tried to get into Gaza again, I couldn't.
0:47:00 > 0:47:01Hamas had sealed the border.
0:47:03 > 0:47:07But an old contact of mine, a founder of Hamas, Dr al-Zahar,
0:47:07 > 0:47:09agreed to speak to me from there.
0:47:11 > 0:47:15The Palestinian Authority are prepared to make peace with Israel.
0:47:15 > 0:47:16Why can't you?
0:47:16 > 0:47:21Hamas is believing the negotiation method failed.
0:47:21 > 0:47:23I think the alternative will be armed struggle.
0:47:23 > 0:47:25Palestine is our land.
0:47:25 > 0:47:27This is an Arabic land.
0:47:27 > 0:47:29This is an Islamic land.
0:47:29 > 0:47:32And, therefore, what do you want?
0:47:32 > 0:47:34Want whole Palestine.
0:47:34 > 0:47:36You want all of Palestine?
0:47:36 > 0:47:41- Yes.- Will Hamas ever recognise Israel's right to exist?
0:47:41 > 0:47:46We are not going to recognise Israel by any means because this is our land.
0:47:46 > 0:47:51That means the fight will continue as far as Hamas is concerned.
0:47:51 > 0:47:54This is an armed struggle against occupation.
0:48:00 > 0:48:03As the prospect of peace has faded,
0:48:03 > 0:48:08ordinary Israelis and Palestinians find themselves on the of new wars.
0:48:10 > 0:48:15Hila Fenton lives on the border between Israel and Gaza with her family and runs a large farm.
0:48:19 > 0:48:21How close are you here to the border with Gaza?
0:48:21 > 0:48:25From here we're about half a mile to the border itself.
0:48:25 > 0:48:29Unfortunately, of three people that died from rockets in our village,
0:48:29 > 0:48:32two of them died while working in the farms.
0:48:32 > 0:48:35But there's a new threat and that's the tunnels.
0:48:35 > 0:48:37The threat of tunnel is very nearby.
0:48:39 > 0:48:42This one is 14 metres deep.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47Three years ago, on their side of the border, the Israeli army
0:48:47 > 0:48:51showed me Hamas's network of military tunnels.
0:48:52 > 0:48:55So, you see it's well-designed.
0:48:55 > 0:48:57So it works very well.
0:48:57 > 0:49:00They were being used to kidnap and murder Israelis.
0:49:03 > 0:49:10In 2014, Hamas attacks killed six Israeli civilians, one a child.
0:49:10 > 0:49:13But Israel's response was condemned as disproportionate.
0:49:19 > 0:49:25Israel launched a ground offensive into Gaza that destroyed more than 30 tunnels.
0:49:29 > 0:49:30During a lull in the fighting,
0:49:30 > 0:49:35I travelled there to meet Palestinians on the front line.
0:49:35 > 0:49:38This was the fourth war in Gaza in a decade.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41What was here, Asma, before?
0:49:42 > 0:49:46That's my home. That room,
0:49:47 > 0:49:52my mum and our sister and brother when she was staying.
0:49:55 > 0:50:02Nine members of Asma al-Ghul's extended family were killed when the Israelis bombed this house.
0:50:02 > 0:50:05This is my mum's brother.
0:50:06 > 0:50:10How old was the youngest child who died?
0:50:10 > 0:50:12THEY SPEAK ARABIC
0:50:12 > 0:50:14- 20 days.- 20 days?
0:50:14 > 0:50:15Just three weeks old.
0:50:16 > 0:50:21In the last war, Israel killed more than 2,000 Palestinians,
0:50:21 > 0:50:22a quarter of them children.
0:50:26 > 0:50:28Your relatives had connections with Hamas.
0:50:28 > 0:50:31Surely that's why this house was attacked by the Israelis.
0:50:31 > 0:50:32But not.. Yes, not this uncle at all.
0:50:32 > 0:50:34- Not this uncle?- Not this uncle at all.
0:50:34 > 0:50:37No. They are not related to Hamas.
0:50:37 > 0:50:39If they are, I will say that.
0:50:39 > 0:50:41It's very easy. This is war crime.
0:50:44 > 0:50:50The Israelis say that Hamas uses civilian buildings as military headquarters.
0:50:50 > 0:50:53Hamas says Israel target civilians.
0:50:54 > 0:50:58The UN has investigated war crimes on both sides.
0:50:58 > 0:51:01What Israel did in this war,
0:51:01 > 0:51:08they are creating more generations who will belong to Hamas and jihad.
0:51:08 > 0:51:10So, how you will change this?
0:51:13 > 0:51:15Today, on the other side of the border,
0:51:15 > 0:51:18for Hila the danger hasn't gone away.
0:51:18 > 0:51:21Israel know from intelligence that they are still digging.
0:51:21 > 0:51:23They see signs on the other side.
0:51:23 > 0:51:25The problem is that they know where they start.
0:51:25 > 0:51:26They don't know where they end.
0:51:26 > 0:51:27So it can be anywhere.
0:51:27 > 0:51:30It can be where we stand right now and that's a scary thought,
0:51:30 > 0:51:32that you never know.
0:51:32 > 0:51:34And what's that over there on the hill?
0:51:34 > 0:51:36This is Hamas...
0:51:36 > 0:51:38- An outpost?- Outpost, yeah.
0:51:38 > 0:51:41So, right on that hill overlooking where we are now?
0:51:41 > 0:51:43Yes, they're watching us.
0:51:43 > 0:51:44I'm sure they are.
0:51:45 > 0:51:46They dig every...
0:51:46 > 0:51:48Oh, there might be shooting so maybe we'd better go.
0:51:48 > 0:51:49Yeah, there's shooting, I think we should move. There's shooting.
0:51:53 > 0:51:58Hila believes her government could be doing much more towards bringing peace.
0:51:59 > 0:52:03Israel should be leading this into a solution,
0:52:03 > 0:52:06not standing and saying there's no partner.
0:52:06 > 0:52:11It's OK to blame the terror organisation but it's nothing to do with families and kids
0:52:11 > 0:52:15and everyday people who want to have the same life that we have.
0:52:15 > 0:52:19The Balfour statement decided that the Jewish need to have a place
0:52:19 > 0:52:23but we can't ignore the fact that there are other people here as well.
0:52:23 > 0:52:26And if people will decide this is...
0:52:26 > 0:52:28Will accept it from both sides of the borders,
0:52:28 > 0:52:31that they are here to stay but we are here to stay as well,
0:52:31 > 0:52:32we can move forward.
0:52:34 > 0:52:38Whilst most Israelis and Palestinians still say they want peace there is,
0:52:38 > 0:52:41of course, one impediment that must be resolved.
0:52:50 > 0:52:55This is the place which is the symbol of how intractable the situation still is,
0:52:55 > 0:52:59a place that's been the focus of many of the reports I've done
0:52:59 > 0:53:00over the years.
0:53:00 > 0:53:04The biggest obstacle of all remains, blocking the end of
0:53:04 > 0:53:06the road that leads to peace.
0:53:06 > 0:53:10That obstacle is at once both strategic and symbolic,
0:53:10 > 0:53:11the holy city of Jerusalem.
0:53:16 > 0:53:21This is the Arab Quarter of the Old City in East Jerusalem.
0:53:23 > 0:53:29One day every year, Palestinian stallholders lock up their shops.
0:54:07 > 0:54:12Today is the 50th anniversary of Jerusalem Day,
0:54:12 > 0:54:18when Israelis celebrate their capture of the Old City in 1967 and
0:54:18 > 0:54:20the reunification of their capital.
0:54:20 > 0:54:21THEY CHANT AND SING
0:54:38 > 0:54:43Israel insists that Jerusalem, the site of their holiest place,
0:54:43 > 0:54:47the Western Wall of the temple, must be their eternal undivided capital.
0:54:49 > 0:54:50We returned back to Jerusalem.
0:54:50 > 0:54:54It's our city, our Old City.
0:54:54 > 0:54:56Never we shall give it back.
0:55:23 > 0:55:26The great mosques of Islam are here, too,
0:55:26 > 0:55:29and the Palestinians regard East Jerusalem as theirs,
0:55:29 > 0:55:32the capital of their future state.
0:55:36 > 0:55:40They say they won't compromise when it comes to this city.
0:55:43 > 0:55:46THEY CHANT AND SING
0:55:46 > 0:55:48And neither will the Israelis.
0:55:59 > 0:56:02Jerusalem has overshadowed every attempt
0:56:02 > 0:56:05to make peace between Jews and Arabs.
0:56:06 > 0:56:09And it preoccupied Leo Amery, too,
0:56:09 > 0:56:13who made his last visit to Israel in 1950 with his son.
0:56:23 > 0:56:27Leo Amery and Julian Amery,
0:56:27 > 0:56:311950, and there's their London address.
0:56:31 > 0:56:37So it looks like Leo Amery and his son Julian signed a visitors' book
0:56:37 > 0:56:39here in Chaim Weizmann's house.
0:56:39 > 0:56:41Leo, now 76,
0:56:41 > 0:56:46came to stay here as a guest of the first President of Israel.
0:56:46 > 0:56:51Correspondence between them reveals how involved Leo still was in the
0:56:51 > 0:56:53project that he'd helped create.
0:56:54 > 0:57:00What's clear from these letters between the two men is the warmth of the friendship that they had.
0:57:00 > 0:57:04Leo Amery writes, "Not least of the pleasure of that visit was seeing
0:57:04 > 0:57:06"something of you again."
0:57:06 > 0:57:10Weizmann says, "I shall treasure the many hours of stimulating conversation
0:57:10 > 0:57:12"roving far and wide."
0:57:13 > 0:57:17The letters that are really, really interesting here
0:57:17 > 0:57:19are the ones about Jerusalem.
0:57:19 > 0:57:22Leo Amery is writing to Chaim Weizmann.
0:57:22 > 0:57:25He says, "Would it be impossible for your people,
0:57:25 > 0:57:28"while not abandoning their claim to the Jewish Jerusalem as part of
0:57:28 > 0:57:32"Israel, to offer voluntarily to entrust it for law and order and local
0:57:32 > 0:57:38"government purposes to the international authority which is to look after the holy city?"
0:57:38 > 0:57:40And Weizmann responds, "The problem of Jerusalem is
0:57:40 > 0:57:42"admittedly a complex one.
0:57:42 > 0:57:46"I need hardly tell you of all people what Jerusalem means to us.
0:57:46 > 0:57:50"None of us is now prepared to entrust the safety of the city to an
0:57:50 > 0:57:52"international regime."
0:57:52 > 0:57:53Well, this is very interesting.
0:57:53 > 0:57:57But, of course, at the same time rather depressing to me to read that
0:57:57 > 0:58:03Jerusalem was such an issue and it was so contested and hard-fought back then, as it is today,
0:58:03 > 0:58:06and as it has been for me for decades reporting from there.
0:58:09 > 0:58:15Jerusalem is emblematic of the struggles this region still faces 100 years
0:58:15 > 0:58:17after the Balfour Declaration.
0:58:19 > 0:58:25I do believe that Leo Amery was right when he thought violence wasn't inevitable here.
0:58:25 > 0:58:29It resulted from the wrong political decisions.
0:58:29 > 0:58:31And I think that still holds true today.
0:58:33 > 0:58:37For me, what's needed is the kind of vision that Oslo brought.
0:58:37 > 0:58:42Strong and inspired leadership, a leap of faith on both sides.
0:58:42 > 0:58:46And without that, there's a danger that time is running out.
0:58:46 > 0:58:51The bloodshed and intransigence will make peace impossible for decades still to come.