March 1999

"Crisis in the Occupied Territories"

Negotiation Exercise

Date: Saturday 13 March 1999

Time: 10 am - 5 pm. PLEASE ARRIVE AT 9.50 am.

Venue: 46/47 Russell Square (Law Dept), Room 102 (first floor)

So began the crisis management negotiation exercise of my MA International Studies and Diplomacy Course. This mock scenario began on the morning of Saturdy, 13 March 1999, in the middle of a crisis. According to the scenario, "On Thursday 11^th March, a powerful suicide bomb was detonated in the centre of Jerusalem," after which various events unfolded that raised differences between Israelis and Palestinians. These tensions spread throughout the area.

Our job was to defuse the situation. We each played roles of various leaders in the countries involved. I was King Abdullah of Jordan. Through a stroke of luck (and due to everyone playing their roles very well), "King Abdullah" managed to broker and agreement between "Chairman Yasser Arafat" of the Palestinians and "Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu" of Israel at the last minute.

Click on each photo to see a larger, more detailed version.

A fellow student from Saudi Arabia was kind enough to supply the appropriate outfit.

At the "press conference" at the end, I read the agreement we had quickly stitched together in the background while the "UN Security Council meeting" was going on.

Afterwards, we paused for a photo opportunity. (From left to right, "Chairman Yasser Arafat" of the Palestinians, "King Abdullah" of Jordon, and "Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu" of Israel.)