i heard someone breaking into our house. that i heard people shouting i saw 4 masked men and only their eyes and hair was showing. al-jazeera world hears rare eyewitness accounts of the dramatic story of the assassination of major p.l.o. figure. in a secret israeli operation assassination in tunis on al-jazeera. in 1998 the good friday agreement was signed brokering a peace deal between republicans and unionists in northern ireland. nearly a decade later al-jazeera visited belfast to explore ongoing divisions in the city . the film you're about to see was 1st broadcast in 2007.

there's not be a lot to laugh about in northern ireland over the last 40 years the old mantra for god and our stuff has a new twist these days the fact that it's now possible to make a joke about it is a sign of the changing times in northern ireland. and yet in many respects belfast the capital of northern ireland remains a divided city the physical evidence is there for all to see. the modern history of northern ireland has been dominated by one thing the troubles and bitter conflict both political and religious between those claiming to represent the predominantly catholic nationalist of those claiming to. present the

mainly protestant unionists. broadly speaking the nationalist more so called republicans northern ireland to be unified with the republic of ireland while the unionists wanted to remain part of the united kingdom along with england wales and scotland. i think this conflict was probably brought here to. the people who thought of my community and i think of taking the problems to the theatre as you can achieve nothing ever set by people civil rights and human rights people are dying marched on the streets i'm a big an awful straits and then the british army came in. there catholics and i says here actually had no basic human rights the had no full rights the had all those rates taken away from us. but in 1998 all the political parties signed up to the good friday agreement breaking 3 decades

of deadlock it established a power sharing assembly and paved the way for the withdrawal of british troops on the disbanding of our military groups. after many false starts the assembly assumed its full power in may 2007 the sworn enemies of yesterday unionist leader ian paisley and the republican leader martin mcguinness became 1st minister and deputy 1st minister. of what northern ireland has now is not so much peace as an absence of conflict far from disappearing the walls have grown instead of reconciliation there is partition and tempered stalemate of separate identities and separated lives as huge as a situation in very large particularly the working through. kids

going to school in different schools country schooling all foreigners in school but it would just not mix. a consequence of the moves in the movie the segregation divisions were there before the war and the movies kind of strayed into that and then the further segregation was continued from there so we're now in a situation where there's more segregation after 13 years of the peace process and there was truly a conflict. segregation is a fact of life fact of life and of over 35 years of trouble. and people are going to get over that very very quickly or very easily. the 1st of the so-called peace lines began as the length of the bomb was rolled out by the british army to separate the warring communities in 1969. from then on they became more common and more complex today there are believed to

be $41.00 deliberate across belfast we estimate that about half of all the parents have either been there and you will have been explained. in some way. in your. most notorious beria was the one between the warring communities of protestant shanksville and catholic falls road the flash point of recent years has been the wall that separates the short straw and isolated catholic enclave in east belfast from the surrounding protestant areas in 2002 it was the scene of the worst riots in the city since the start of the peace process.

a catholic lives with his family in the shadow of the short strands war as vivid memories of what happened. there was spread. on the smaller of short straw. and. a lot of it was called the trigger just at this particular spot because this was seen as a formal spot on the wall was more time. here will leave. the whole everyone. destroyed. our. students in both going through the. 10. 1000 people were hurt and. covered up. everything was very dark going. to not use me.

but lives with her family place the other side of the wall the protestant side i actually moved in here in the troubles in 2000 today because. the other people in here had children. and they were paid by the people next door and we needed people to move in here that want to freed 11 here so i. and i moved in. she was at the head in the back and that was just and the allies over there. said their manual. talking to. the wall here between the 2 communities has become the focal point of this conflict this is not a spot between neighbors the battle line of a war between 2 traditions 2 denominations. them

mentality still exists they nearly killed us. what can we do the police don't stand up for us we did sandra people obey commands they attacked them back they went home and now. they have to be shown that we are not by ourselves that other people are there reality to command and protect us they have a sense of insecurity they've had it for 400 years here they still feel that they need the wall to keep their foothold there and they have got away with getting their own way. 10 years from the. government has give give give them all the time of the time they want to squash our culture our politicians have no choice but to get government with.

the bitterness felt by the protestant majority. being compounded by the feeling that their own politicians have let them. be tribal leaders rather than statesman above the their own communities and they defended their own communities interests as opposed to looking at the broader needs of the wider community is. the difficulty and as with and from moralist areas or silence of the republican areas. they feel a sense of betrayal because the politicians they were never sure of with republicans for example. and all of a sudden in a very short period of time. and they were sitting side laughing and smiling. politics. a lot of our news here that is a step backwards. even today politicians in the new northern ireland assembly still locationally seem locked into their own.

so i think. she represents the main republican party. the 1st republican to strike in. the gulf that still exists between her and her colleagues. and certainly i think. that the republican that i know is in this process that they are taking this here.

but this is not a version of future events. subscribe to. it is this absence of trust. the walls of. place. the walls of this.

northern irish protestants parade through the streets of belfast but this is no carnival bending on which side you're on the marching season is either celebration pool for the creation. or the marches the victory of the protestant king william of the irish catholics in 6090 was at the very core of their conviction that they are and will always remain part of the united kingdom. is very much a way of life a cultural expression of a partial. especially from the problem community. that's a celebration of a battle which took place over 300 years ago at the boy. it's celebration expression of freedom expression of liberty expression for tornadoes. and something which is not on the level to american independence day to. the celebrations at the boston and france to the celebrations which we haven't see and many other countries

where people celebrate their liberty. for staunchly warless people know this i'm a libertarian about war against the catholic church basically it's part of their cultural identity. and for the wider unionist community i think it is. a symbol of the right on to bring a lot of strong as someone else made them it's a very. hot from a catholic perspective the drums and triumphalist gestures calculated to keep all wounds open. you have to understand where we're really coming out of a complex situation there are people here 11 and those areas that have been murdered by loyalist paramilitaries and i think that it's insulting for them to have have to watch an orange tree have walked that a school bombers off loyalist paramilitaries for instance you know it's it's very hard for us on the street to take us. the past is ever

present with the boy more than 3 centuries ago. the last. time has not been. a conflict. of expression. officially the conflict. is over. many of the sectarian ritual. as a means of distinguishing reinforcing. towering . famous big trees over the 66090.

year when the hate symbols chiefly irish flags go up in flames. and. told. the pavement the flags to mark a. couple of weeks. you will see a visible sign. of foreign. any

flags and nice straight. north island flags scottish flags not from a foreign country as a foreign country. but they accept. the symbolism doesn't always take the form of flag waving some of the writing on the walls that have divided northern ireland have been raised beyond propaganda to an art form with its roots in another country. conflict i was asking us about 5 years ago by the locals i was. well into the peace process i think what they were trying to say was to let future generations know the individual the characters because i remember watching funerals of palestinian young people killed in the west

bank and at the funerals of a carry pictures of these people and i thought i would like to know who that person is what they represent why did they do this such a young life being taken and i think it's also transmitted into. the spheres this young people young man young woman they ask the question why. a republican who honed his talent while serving time in the maze prison is now involved in the unlikeliest of. the son of one of the best known protestant loyalist leaders. who in the past chronicled the troubles each on his own side of the walls come together to bring a new message to the city in northern ireland where separation has generally become more entrenched since the end of hostilities it's a remarkable act of collaboration and. with him

number 11 because that's when the impossible tanner 15 years ago just would not be now and i would never consider the notion 10 or 15 years ago it's only been a lie possible to be me a possible through the work that our people loved on the ground. as just carried on through miss out on the army which is an engagement that needs to happen at every level of society in my community the walls were used it was all the through the censorship mostly with being with a she's the one else. we focus on and the images you see in our walls reflected the feeling. within our communities so we were too and we were vehicles for fear or anger or frustration was taking place within our unfortunately my community the murals were used. i like different things. that were used to mark territory by groups and organizations through a fair channel rated by the political leadership of the tank. i believe that my

community missed an opportunity where heroes are concerned. now the 2 men are determined to use the meal also as a force for unity rather than division. mark and danny's hope is that their own writings on the wall may dismantle those of the walls the virtual ones that have been erected over the decades. we met accidentally. but those are so many buyers and from the people holding people back and it's those can be programmed that my kids my grandkids can meet up with people from mars community and their fame to see if i got sick a chemist was so inspired as was his wall start to fall trying to change people's main sets because that's where the party or success than the making. but for both men optimism unrealism finely balanced we don't know hopefully even a small. but we have something to. hope that will make or not that's what friends

are that's right definitely worth a little. but whatever progress may be made at this individual level some parts in the communities are still bent on division and the moment there's a decision waiting to be implemented 2 in 2 to build a fence just a couple of miles from where we are now around to score between 2 communities we need to get to a situation where there's no more barriers being built and not only that the idea of building a barrier is considered to be unacceptable. the lesson of northern ireland is the dismantling a wall is far harder than erecting it wars are indicative not just of division but of mistrust in belfast the day the walls come down is still a long way. they wanted to straight and may get

a game reacted in the process. i am not going to justify anything else i love my country i love my culture a lot. just. the way i would do their heads as a toyota to afford to measure but spatial for. nearly a decade after this film 1st ad we returned to belfast to catch up with danny devaney he's still painting the city's walls so what is your focus on a shop well that's right across the arts there was no no toilets city where they are. you may be having a look at your lame towards a solo artist problem see a projection light up the straw but the political work of danny and his nearest.

had become world famous but some of the canvases a disappearing. in 2016 the 1st rule began to come down here and the catholic republican area of joy. ministers have vowed that all the rules would be demolished by 2023. the demolition of the are doing will is a symbolic milestone but not all of its structure has actually come down yet. danny meets local residents to find out why they were good at the residents don't feign see if we need to be at a certain spirit when they made secure because they're the ones you know but if you look further down the road you'll say another part of the wall that was played up that's on the back of people's homes so what does sachs what it was about this strike that more people at the minute just don't face see a for that article. let's just go to states were.

doing is an area historically notorious for violence. fear that these conflicts may continue to flare up today leads many to seek protection behind the wall. but some residents believe that barry is not the solution to today's troubles. where they were 1st cheap. hop with those. you know a lot of people told of the troubles will do you. look at. the profile that it's. all said. but they really give you protection. all the sectarianism still exists the government is now attempting to give the city and new image. encouraging artists like danny to find new subjects for them. then for. i hardly understood what the research subs much religion they want to be

put aside as office and he's still collaborating with protestant mirror last mark of vine of always a stock. good rather than call the re m.h. in the should have called it reinvention because really outs what they're trying to do they're trying to reinvent those communities but nothing ever really help on here you know as tommy says sort of sweep it on the carpet i don't enjoy talking about him or injury or understand thoroughly what's that or. as well as remembering the struggles of the past danny believes murals should reflect the community's aspirations for a peaceful future. if the murals are changed it is because the main set of the people whose community distances. today that painting from northern ireland's next generation.

i think it's our form which should be to be part of the solution we use and how it is for the us what they are to try and say it's our kids who struggle and politics the solving they come to us all through dialogue why choose another. man mine is on trial from rape to genocide the government stands accused of committing atrocities against the range of people one on one needs to investigate on al-jazeera. save humanity i really really not getting any. you know certain isolating times the listening post cuts through the noise you've

been looking at another side of this story not some of the information around the outbreak but we listen to it the listening post on al-jazeera. the un published the most comprehensive study of life on. they found 1000000 species face extinction that's more than 12 percent of known life on. while on track to destroy the much oil infrastructure on which our world had the report identifies the 5 main drivers of this big logical crisis fast the way we use and abuse our pilots resources 75 percent of the land and 2 thirds of the marine environment have been severely able to by human activity exploitation of species through over fishing and hunting climate change caused by our greenhouse gas emissions. pollution and finally the have a creek tom liquid ecosystems by invasive species. reports both to say the decline

can be slowed even stopped in some cases but to do that we must transform our relationship with. the. inner. so i'm fully batty boy in doha with the top stories on al jazeera china's economy has suffered its shop as fall in decades amid the fallout from the coronavirus spend that make g.d.p. is down by almost 7 percent in the 1st quarter of the year and the government now says 50 percent more people than previously reported have died in the city of war on where the outbreak began katrina you has more from beijing china has changed the way that it's counted it's cases and many times since the beginning of the outbreak and this lasted child.