The trees stand ... still.

• Author: Strugar, Annetta
• Position: UN peacekeeping forces in Jerusalem

The United Nations commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of peacekeeping last year, as well as 50 years of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), its first peacekeeping mission.

UNTSO headquarters is located in Jerusalem, in a graceful building called Government House. Set on a hill overlooking the Old City, Government House was designed by a renowned British architect, Harrison, and was completed in 1930, to serve as the office and residence of the League of Nations High Commissioner for Palestine. When the British, who were given the mandate, left in 1948, the Red Cross took over shortly and Government House was finally leased to the United Nations in the same year for the amount of one dollar per year, as the story goes.

It was at Government House that I met Muhammad Khalil, a Palestinian who was a local staff member with UNTSO from its inception. His recollection of the time when the first UN observers arrived is somewhat vague, but he remembers the assassination of Count Folke Bernadotte of Sweden, the first United Nations mediator in the Palestine, who was killed in 1948 by terrorists. Following this dramatic event, "an American General by the name of Riley came", he says, "with just a few observers, a few security men, and two or three radio operators. Their initial plan was to stay one month, and resolve the situation in the Palestine."

The role of the United Nations was perceived by the local people as a simple one. "When there was trouble, the UN came to look and see whose fault it was, and to report back to New York. That's all", he says. Sadly, 50 years have gone by since then and the problems of this region are still a long way from being resolved. The UN peacekeepers are still here, deployed in an even wider area, still putting their lives in danger, in an attempt to prevent the conflict from flaring up once more.

The most dramatic events Mr. Khalil recalls took place at the time of the war between Jordan and Israel in 1967. As some of the heavy fighting went on quite close to the UN compound, most of the local staff members were sent home. As the sounds of battle approached, the remaining staff decided to take matters into their own hands, so they pushed a refrigerator and some furniture against the main entrance. According to Mr. Khalil, 13 tanks drove up the road, blasted the main gate as well as their barricade. As a group of Jordanian soldiers ran into the building and began to shoot randomly, the...