ABSTRACT
Crossing the border from Jordan into Israel at the Itzhak Rabin/Wadi Araba Border Terminals, travelers encounter a curious sight. Since they are in the Arava Valley, just outside the Jordanian city of Aqaba and the Israeli city of Eilat, where annual precipitation is 3 cm on average, nearly all border functions are performed with travelers standing outdoors (Barzilay, 2000). After proceeding past a series of windows along the outside of a long, narrow one-story building that serves as Jordanian passport control, travelers exit Jordanian territory passing under a portrait of the late King Hussein and his son, the current King Abdullah, while signs wish the traveler “Goodbye” in English and Arabic. Walking across the no-man’s land between the terminals, travelers are greeted with a large billboard, visible across the zone, proclaiming “שלום Peace سالم” (“Shalom Peace Salaam”) before entering the terminal under a welcome sign in English, Hebrew and Arabic. Upon entering Israeli territory, the traveler is ushered into a large, well-lit room with several metal detectors, for screening both travelers and their luggage, much like the security scans at any airport. (In fact, the border terminal itself was designed and is run by the Israel Airports Authority, and the entire space has the modern feel of an airport terminal.) What is striking about the room, however, is its decoration. Lining three of the four walls are a series of framed photographs: on the left, a series of photographs of the late Prime Minister Itzhak Rabin, at various stages of his career from his youth in the Hagana through his Prime Ministership; on the right, a series of pictures of Rabin with his family. As the traveler moves through the middle of the room, passing through the security screens, the photos on the far third wall come into view: these photos all show Rabin with King Hussein—Rabin and Hussein sharing a cigar; Rabin and Hussein gazing together over the Gulf of Aqaba; several pictures of Rabin, Hussein and US President Bill Clinton together signing the 1994 peace treaty between Israel and Jordan that opened the Arava crossing.
