AxisMundi Jerusalem

When I was studying Arabic, my teacher insisted on using newspaper articles from the 80s about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The students would always complain–they were studying Arabic to be in touch with the pulse of the Arab streets. They wanted to read articles from today’s news, not twenty years ago.  She would always joke, “and you think the news here changes?”

Glancing through the Palestinian daily paper, Al-Quds each morning, I’m reminded of that her cynical stance.

Printed daily in the corner of Al-Quds’ Op-Ed page, is a copy of an old front page. The front page of that same date twenty years ago, to be exact.

Here’s a copy of the front page from a few days ago:

And here’s a copy of the front page on the same day, twenty years ago:

Can you guess which year these headlines are from?

1)”Relations between Washington and Israel Have Reached a Grave Turning Point”

2) “Searching for Dialogue with America that Won’t Create Superficial Promises”

3)”Israeli PM Responds to International Pressure with Five Impossible Conditions”

4)”UN Secretary-General: Settlements and the Practices in Jerusalem are Illegal”

5)”Mubarak Asserts the Importance of the Egyptian Role in Promoting Peace”

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Answers: 1: 1989, 2:1989, 3:2009, 4: 2009, 5: 1989