The Foreign Service Journal, May 2003

Service types, whether in favor of the Israeli or Palestinian cause. I would like to bring the conversa- tion back to that ancient, timeworn land called Palestine by the British and Israel by the Jews. I do not know what the Ottomans called it. Let us return to the days of yes- teryear. Until World War I, for sev- eral hundred years the Israel/ Palestine area belonged to the Ottoman Empire and thereafter, until after World War II, was a British protectorate. What was it like before people in the last centu- ry started killing one another over it? For answers, turn to an American, Samuel Clemens. He traveled around the area in the late- 19th century on horseback. Read the details in the last chapters of Innocents Abroad. He wrote that in the sleepy, little town of Jerusalem there was nothing and no one except a few Bedouins and a small number of others. He used the word “deso- late” over and over again to describe the Holy Land. For the most part, he found it an unrelieved wilder- ness: nothing along the Jordan, nothing by the Sea of Galilee, and nothing at the Dead Sea, except a barren desert broken only by a few green spots. The language he used to describe the few people he encountered would be deemed politically incorrect today, to put it mildly. I think it is safe to say that people — Jews and Arabs — only moved into the area at the resettlement instigation of the Jewish Agency, which promoted Jewish emigration. By World War I there were enough people settled there for the British to tell Jews and the Arabs separately what each group wanted to hear. Having set the stage, I will let another Foreign Service colleague discuss whether there is such a thing as a Palestinian people or a biblical right for Jews to resettle this volatile and religiously significant portion of the earth. Frankly, in 2003, I’d say both points are moot. If, unfortu- nately for both, Arabs and Jews can- not live together there, then let them live separately. Sheldon Avenius FSO, retired Arlington, Va. A Fond Farewell When I boarded the train in early March 1977 on my way to the plane that would take me to Ankara, my first assignment, I never suspected that I would be back in the U.S. only for visits and classes for the next 26 years! As I approach my retirement in June, I reflect upon a wonderful Foreign Service journey. Each post (Ankara, Bogota, Vienna, Johannes- burg, Islamabad, Santiago, Mana- gua, Bonn and Sarajevo) held a spe- cial gift for me. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my friends and colleagues for all your support and for your hard work and dedica- tion. You shared my joys and sor- rows and taught me about the real meaning of diplomacy. I also want to give special thanks to each of the wonderful Foreign Service Nationals I was privileged to work with, for their kindness and for making my tours more interesting and fun. And special thanks to everyone at the American Foreign Service Association for your dedication and honesty, and for honoring me in 2001. Thanks for a lifetime of experi- ences that I shall always cherish. Rosalie Kahn Office Management Specialist Embassy Sarajevo M A Y 2 0 0 3 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 11 L E T T E R S