European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 05, 1995, Darmstadt, Hesse M i d d l e e ast ? journey across the holy land testing new peace in old land by Michael Moss new Day West of Saad Junction the Gaza strip Narrows to a Sliver of Mediterranean coast just 6 Miles wide and scorched. The guards waved us through the checkpoint and we sped past shanties lakes of sewage the trailing scrawls of arabic rage. A Field held the carcasses of 100 buses torched in the last riot. Downtown Gaza was in full summer Sauna. Our taxi pulled into a dirt lot depot baked by the Sun and we were hustling across the main drag toward the Mirage of a Frozen Orange slush machine when a Man stepped from the crowd too close to ask Why Are you Here i glanced at my photographer travelling companion slinging five figures Worth of Leucas and canons and a. Look that said Madea wrong for two weeks we d been slumping around the holy land testing the new peace. We bought bagels from arabs toured Muslim alleys with jews crossed into to Jordan with israeli Stamps in our passports then returned through a Border Post that had t been open a month. And nothing. No rocks. No confrontations. Not even a Glare. A a we saw the future a those two peaceful weeks in which arabs and jews grasped at the glittering Prospect of a tourist Boom ". _ the people we met on our 500-mile Loop were too Busy for that Eye for an Eye old testament stuff. At the remarkable Sandstone temples of Petra in Jordan the villagers waved shouted Welcome then went Back to building a string of fancy hotels. Returning to Israel we got smiles instead of strip searches for having openly brought along big bags of hot jordanian cookies of those Are Arab a Border Money changer said eagerly As she accepted a sesame Crisp. Obviously any visitor need be careful. But so far Jordan appears Safe. And if Gaza won t be on anyone s itinerary for a few years even there we found Hope. On our mile walk Down to the surf shopkeepers testified to better times restaurateurs competed to sell us a meal and men were whitewashing the die israeli dog Graffiti. _ we left for Jordan on the first Day of september a thursday morning 9 4.0, and arrived in the capital of Amman before noon without lying about who we were where we d been where we wanted to go. A few weeks earlier we would have had to play the charade of handing Over a clean second passport that did t have any sign that we d been to Israel Ever we would have dumped out souvenirs guidebooks minted shekels anything Zion. V j now it s As easy As switching cabs. The stretch Mercedes eight seater that picked us up at St. George s Cathedral pilgrims guest House near the Damascus Gate to the old City dropped quickly off the Stark Jerusalem Hills to the Oasis of Jericho. It s the world s lowest town at 750 feet below sea level and it Felt like deep Kiln. We sucked dry the first of. Many water bottles. Three barricades just to get to the Border but the guards competed for nonchalance., nearly missed the biblical Jordan River. Its Banks were a startling Green against the Brown desert hues but it was no More than a Creek. At the jordanian Border officials barely peeked into our bags. If in checking our passports they paused at the israeli stamp it was Only because they had seen so few. Within minutes we were skimming along a desert Highway in a rumpled taxi driven by rumpled Asaad who. " "./.-. For is James Hudson Moore skiers enjoy the water on the Gulf of Aqaba a Finger of water pushed Inland from the red sea taught us some Arab insults for the Road. Jordan s Jer Ash is a theme Park already half built with a colonnaded main Street hippodrome forum two _ Heaters Temple of zeus and 4 marauders it s a provincial roman City so Well preserved we could feel the rumbling of chariots that carved ruts in the huge paving stones. We slept 10 Miles away in a government rest House at Dib been a tiny National Park in the Hills Pines. Coo Irv utterly quiet. We were eating mixed Grill pita and an. Eggplant dip called Mutaal under the Trees when the for is James Hudson Moore Road signs in Jordan Are in English and arabic. Night broke but in soft pop pop pop pops Kalashnikov. Mountain Folk Ati heir a weekend sport _ firing at the stars. " ,. Vav v / out on the desert near Iraq the hex Day my first a came train Roseau of a heat wave. Iwasa wild one the train far from any tourist Camel rental Concession. And the Sand shimmered in a Mirage As i knew it would. We a turned for Qasir Amrah eighth Century baths1 with triple vaulted ceilings and As the Book promised Triplet frescoes missed by the islamic censors. Not Only Are there forbidden images of Man an beast a faded woman is Bare breasted. 7 7 at the nearby tvo Story caravan sary ruin Qasir Al Karanah we got Mohammed s minimalist tour one two three for bedroom. Sleep he said sporting the traditional Arab headdress. He carried a Black a yellow tip which he pointed to several slits in Thev Vall. There he said. v ,. " some places defy All attempts to build expectations beyond what they can deliver Machu Pitchu in Peru. Java s Borobudur. Petra is another. It moves the jaded and has lost nothing to its starring role in the Indiana Jones film a be or Melost Ark. The Entrance is through a winding mile Long Cleft in the nubian Sandstone called a six which formed by sliding tectonic plates that ripped open the Rock. The Walls reach 300 feet High As elegant red Utah Canyon. One last twist and it opens onto a Sandy Plaza Rand there in. Full View is Al Khazneh the Treasury 140 feet of Monument carved out of As Vve sat stunned oohs and Maahs came from everyone who. from the six. Iva go soon kind of place. We found seven big hotels under construction where the Indiana Jones film Crew had Likely taken every Good room in town. Such a tenfold increase in visitors could brutalize Petra. Already the trails Are dotted with bedouin tribe people who peddle antiquities. Cokes Are sold from a fridge uni fed up to the Overlook of the popular Trail the equivalent of a 7-eleven on half dome. The bedouin Are respected. / continue Don Page 16 january 5, 1995 stripes Magazine 15
