The Border Regime for Jerusalem in Peace

THE BORDER REGIME FOR JERUSALEM IN PEACE | An Israeli – Palestinian proposal

This project is an additional step in a series of projects carried out by ECF and PDF, designed to describe in detail the future foundations of a final status agreement between Israelis and Palestinians in Jerusalem. In that sense, the future scenarios presented here are based on the assumption of two equal and sovereign states with East Jerusalem (Al-Quds) and West Jerusalem (Yerushalaim) serving as their capitals, with territorial allocations based on the Geneva Accord outline.

This project, aspiring to study the anticipated future tourism industry in Jerusalem and its interface with the overall Israeli- Palestinian border regime needs to respond to the challenges of Jerusalem as the heart of the future states and a common border area simultaneously. This means balancing a paradoxical relationship between the concepts of separating the two sovereignties and their corresponding territories, while hosting a multi-ethnic, vibrant array of communities cultures and lifestyles and preserving the prospect of future change in the border regime when circumstances allow it. The study aims, therefore, to extract a set of policies and recommendations regarding East and West Jerusalem which will enhance future touristic activity on both sides, maintaining their nature as a common holy place, and a unique, significant location on the global scale.

Scope | Jerusalem – from an end destination to a regional tourism Epicenter

These assumptions lead to the necessity of developing a comprehensive border regime study, which will develop scenarios for tourism in the context of Yerushalaim and Al-Quds and simulate the tourists’ (passengers’) movement in the city. The study will explore current trends and numbers of visitors to West and East Jerusalem, analyze the different types of tourists and their destinations, and assess the future numbers and trends that might develop subsequent to an overall agreement. This study can also serve as a model study for further border regime applications between the Palestinian and the Israeli states, such as crossing of goods, labor, etc.

The touristic “master plan” which will be presented in the third section of the study aims to secure Jerusalem’s authentic role as a city of connectivity, where cultural, economical, and social bridges have to be constructed in order to support the crucial mediating role of a zone hosting both Palestinian and Israeli sovereignties. The plan will aim to conserve the full experience of Jerusalem as a multi-ethnic international space, and to change the city’s future from an end destination city with clear cut borders to a major connection between the two states.