Break from bickering

The controversial new Jewish district, a vast project intended to house 30,000 people, is nearer to Palestinian-controlled Bethlehem than to the centre of Jerusalem.

When ground was broken here in March last year, political talks between Israelis and Palestinians went into deep-freeze.

On Monday, Prime Minister Tony Blair hopes that talks hosted by him in London will end the deadlock, although British officials admit that the gaps may well prove too wide to breach.

The United States vice-president, Al Gore, was guest of honour of the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, at a sound and lights extravaganzain Jerusalem. The script for the show was in dispute until the curtains went up because of ultra-Orthodox objections to an item in which dancers stripped to their knickers. Artists threatened to pull out if cuts were made. President Ezer Weizman spent the day mediating.

Gore paid a warm tribute to Israel. 8220;We stand with you, we support your dream. From the ashes of the Holocaust arose the phoenix of the state of Israel. In Israel, Americans see a reflection of our own heritage, our own struggle for freedom and the right to live in peace with security,8221; he said.

Gore will 8220;not mediate or negotiate8221; during his visit, a White House official said, dampening hopes of a breakthrough in the peace process before the London talks. Such is Gore8217;s sensitivity over his visit that in order to avoid offending his hosts he will leave Israel on a short trip to Saudi Arabia before returning less than a day later to meet Yasser Arafat in Gaza.

Two thousand rightwing Jews laid a symbolic cornerstone at Har Homa tourge Netanyahu to end the de facto freeze on construction. On a hilltop facing the worksite, peace activists settled a huge inflatable dove and blasted slogans at their adversaries. They daubed 8220;Hill of Blood8221; and 8220;Har Homa equals war8221; on perimeter fences.

Meanwhile, in an air and naval display, fighter jets formed the number 50 and trailed blue and white smoke while gunboats powered along the coast.And to prove that you can never please everyone, ultra-Orthodox Jews in the Mea Shearim district of Jerusalem tore Israeli flags from cars in protest at the creation of a Jewish state, which they consider blasphemous before the coming of the Messiah.

8212; The Observer News Service