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Our Man in the Middle East

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Factual: History

Jeremy Bowen presents a personal history of the Middle East.

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Our Man in the Middle East: Part 4: Jerusalem

18/05/2017

Part 4: Jerusalem

BBC Radio 4 - Our Man in the Middle East, Part 4: Jerusalem

The allure and political challenge of the Holy City, as experienced by Jeremy Bowen.

BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen on the allure and political challenge of Jerusalem, 'a place that cannot be ignored'.

BBC Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen reflects on the allure and intractable challenge of the Holy City. "The tectonic plates of religion and culture come together in Jerusalem," he observes. "When they move, we all feel it."

In this series Jeremy reflects on the present and the past of the Middle East, after reporting from the region for more than a quarter of a century. He combines first-hand accounts from the front line with an in-depth look into the region's history. Bowen started reporting on the region in the lead up to the Gulf War back in 1990. Since then, he has witnessed endless wars between individuals, religious groups and full-sized states, jostling for military, political and economic power. He has interviewed dictators, fanatics and fundamentalists as well as the ordinary people caught up in their dangerous games. In that time, the past has always been present, providing motivation and political ammunition. Bowen has made headlines himself and he has paid a personal price, coming under fire and losing a colleague in the course of reporting - on the worst day, he says, in his life. 
Producers: Mark Savage and Cara Swift.

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