It was the best of times,it was the worst of times,it was the age of wisdom,it was the age of foolishness,

                      it was the epoch of belief,it was the epoch of incredulity,it was the season of Light,it was the season of Darkness

                     it was the  spring of hope,it was the winter of despair................................................................

                      There were a king with a large jaw and a queen  with a plain face,on the throne of England; there were a king

                     with a large jaw and a queen  with a fair face, on the throne of France.

                                                                                                                                                Charles Dickens.

Dickens'  superlatives of the year 1775 can hardly be surpassed in  the  annals of  English  literature.But 2008 comes close.Dickens is long departed and new players strut upon the stage.

Let's fill in the historical blanks  here to get some perspective. ''A king with a large jaw'' is a reference to George 111 of England[1760-1820]. A queen with a plain face  is George 111's  wife, Charlotte Sophia of Macklenburg-Stralitz while the French monarch is Louis xvi[1774-93] and his consort, Marie-Antoinette of Austria.

London and Paris had historically enjoyed the status in Europe as rivals for political,cultural  and economic hegemony.These cities  were linked like a binary star.   

Two hundred and  thirty three years later our scene shifts to two  different  cities  outside Europe  ,that will play major roles in these times,and Dickens' superlatives  return as a  poltergeist to haunt us;''it  was the  best of times,it was the worst  of times,it was the spring of hope,it was the winter of despair.......'' And,not unsurprisingly all the characters of  my new play do not necessarily  fit exactly the Dickensian.But then,we will try to make it work, for after all,the show must go on .

Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni certainly has the looks if not the throne,for the latest news coming out of Jerusalem is that the Israeli Parliamentarians have decided  to hold early elections on February 10, 2009.This effectively freezes the fragile peace process from both ends; Jerusalem and Washington.  Livni, as Kadima leader has already lost the momentum her narrow win over Transport  Minister Shaul Mofaz in mid-September gave her.She has failed ,despite her Hollywood looks,to forge an effective coalition.Likud  leader Benjamin Netanyahu and Labour leader Ehud Barak, both seem to harbor strong political ambitions for the Prime Minister's  office.Because Livni  has somewhat  lost her iniatiative by her rank inability to form  a coalition[and this can be interpreted  by the Israeli electorate  as a flaw in her leadership],the possibility opens at once a door for a joint Barak/Netanyahu thrust that may bury Livni and her Kadima  in the February polls.   

It is common knowledge that both Washington  and Jerusalem have enjoyed a special relationship since 1948. A city that has been destroyed twice,beseiged 23 times,attacked 52 times,captured /recaptured 44 times is an apt description  of Jerusalem, which despite its small area, is home to key religious sites.These include  THE TEMPLE MOUNT,THE WESTERN WALL ,THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE  ,THE DOME OF THE ROCK AND AL-AQSA MOSQUE.

The other city in the tale,Washington,was conceived out of a marshy swamp.Hot and humid in summer;bitterly cold in winter.Home to the White House ,Capitol Building,Lincoln Memorial,Thomas Jefferson Memorial,the Smithsonian National Zoological  Park and other historical buildings ,Washington gets ready to  change the guards.This at a time when the bottom has fallen out the housing market  and an imminent recession  knocks at its doors .America which spends 5 times more than China and India combined,under Obama will still have to play protector to Israel. Washington and Jerusalem-like a binary star.