www.womanthismonth.com February 2021 47 PEOPLE | interview THE FUTURE Looking to the future in terms of international relations, the deputy mayor believes both the region and the new US administration have joint interests in seeing the fledgling relationships develop, despite their close association with the previous president. She says: “I think Biden is a man of peace. I know that he came out with a supportive statement when the normalisation was signed. So, I don't see why he wouldn't support this. I also think that this has got its own momentum now, nobody's going to stop this since it's kind of picked up its own speed. It's exciting. People are talking about lots of business prospects, prospects of mutual economic prosperity, tourism... So, I think it's got its own legs now. “The worrying thing is really what's going to happen with Iran, whether he is going to go back to the JCPOA (the Iran nuclear deal) and whether Biden's going to believe that the Iranians are negotiating in good faith. That's really the question here. I think that's what's pushed us all together. Let's be honest. I think the Middle East is realigning itself into the people wanting peace and the people who want a belligerent policy. That's really where it's at. And I truly believe in peace through economic development. I believe that with the Palestinians and the Arabs as well, in Israel, I really do. I truly believe when you give people better prospects, a better life, they're much more likely to sit with you and talk peace in a different way.” Citing Israel’s recent decision, following a letter from the UAE, to allow Palestinian farmers back onto land they have not accessed for many years, the deputy mayor, once again, makes an impassioned plea for direct negotiations saying: “Well look, as we know, the UAE wrote a letter asking Israel not to annex certain parts of the Jordan Valley. Then the agreements assigning the understanding were frozen. So, it's already had an effect if you want to look at it that way. “Ultimately, I don't think there's any other way than Israel sitting and talking with the Palestinians to deal with any of these issues. The road to peace is not through Manama or Abu Dhabi; it has to be direct. It has to be sitting together because we can only have an agreement with the Palestinians. We need to have a friendly peace rather than a cold peace because the two countries are too integrated.” PLURALISM She adds that the process has special resonance in her own city, concluding, “What motivates me [is a] pluralistic Jerusalem, because I believe that everybody belongs to Jerusalem. When King David built Jerusalem two and a half thousand years ago, he built it because it wasn't a home to any one of the tribes. All tribes could gather. So, I believe that the DNA of Jerusalem shows that we are the most diverse city in the country, and I believe that the DNA of Jerusalem has to remain diverse. And for that, I have to fight the forces of those trying to make Jerusalem, all religious. So pluralistic means there's a place for everybody. Sometimes there is tacit pressure from the ultra-orthodox to make Jerusalem a little bit more ultra-orthodox and I'm one of those people that, as a feminist and as a woman, is holding back on that.” Ms. Fleur with member of the Shura Council in Bahrain, Ebrahim Dahood Nonoo.
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