Bravo !

Dear Editor,

Permit me to congratulate Mr. Tholle for his brilliant memoirs in the UN Special of March 2003. Mr. Tholle, through this article, has given a whole historio-political briefing on UN and contemporary world history. I doff my hat for him. It is interesting to note also that colour-blindness led him into this wonderful UN adventure, enabling him to seeand interact with UN and world history-makers like Dag Hammarskjold, General Wheeler, Robert Gardiner from Ghana, (a worthy forerunner of Kofi Annan, Secretary-General), U Thant, Ralph Bunche, Brian Urquhart, General Barns, and many more, including notable Statesmen like Marshall Tito of Yugoslavia and King Hussein of Jordan. It suddenly reminds me of the one who said “Go and tell John, the blind see, and the lame are walking”. Man, you have seen it all ! Travelling all over the world, seeing and chatting with history as it unfolded. Bravo !

Many sophisticated ‘professional staff’would wish to be in Mr. Tholle’s enviable place and dine with the ‘Greats’and be called upon to announce the end of hostilities and wars ; hélas they would not have been able to operate the radio with his Danish dexterity.

Some countries featured prominently iin Mr. Tholle’s memoirs.

Countries like Egypt, Britain, France, America, United Nations, Jordan, Syria, Teheran, The Congo, (now DRC), the Yugoslavia of Tito. This would easily read like a story of today…. It is therefore interesting to note here, and I quote Mr. Tholle. Writing about the UN Truce Supervision

Organization (UNTSO), which had had its headquarters in Jerusalem since 1948, he said the mission headquarters was located on a hill top and continued, inter alia, that “The buildings are known as Govennment House for this was the seat of the British Government during the Palestine”.

Mandate period. The hill on which Government House is located is known as Jebel al-Mukhabeer, which means the Hill of Evil Counsel. En effet !

No wonder that nothing has changed in the region.

Regards,

Eleazer Fritz Kitcher UNOG-OHCHR, Geneva

P.S. Thanks for publishing and Happy Easter in advance to the Team.