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 Jerusalem Berlin ForumJerusalem is one of the focal points of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has shown to be an important stake in the relations between the Palestinian and Israeli communities, especially since the inception of the 2nd Intifada. This city will be either the bedrock of a sustainable peace and cooperation in the future between the Palestinians and the Israelis or it will continue to be a city of clashes and violent eruptions. In order to examine and understand the Jerusalem issue, it is necessary to explore in depth the various aspects of the city's reality and to have a detailed knowledge of its dynamics. This need to get to the core of the Jerusalem issue prompted the existence of the Jerusalem-Berlin Forum, which was organized under the auspices of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and became a five year project during 2001-2006, gathering a unique team of Palestinian, Israeli and German scholars, academics, practitioners from various disciplines to work on the issue of divided cities and their process of peaceful and successful reunification. The Jerusalem-Berlin Forum consisted of a series of yearly conferences hosted consecutively in Berlin and Jerusalem and aimed to share the experiences of two divided cities and compare them in their dynamics of separation and reunification. While taking into account the stark differences that contrast Berlin and Jerusalem, the aim was to draw and extract lessons from the Berlin case in order to apply them to the present situation in Jerusalem and shift it from a city of conflict to a city of peace. Indeed, in order to reach peace and stability, the future of Jerusalem will not depend only on a broad political agreement but on a detailed and specific understanding of its urban functionalities and fabric, of its image and of its planning. To this end, experts from IPCC, the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies (JIIS) and from the east and west of Berlin met for the first time in October 2001 and were formed into two teams-- "Team Jerusalem" and "Team Berlin". They focused on four main aspects of studies, namely, the socio-cultural relations, the infrastructure and urban development, the politics and administration and the socio-economic relations of the divided cities. During this first encounter in Berlin, Team Jerusalem presented Jerusalem's case by focusing mainly on the conflict dynamics. The two teams then talked about the mechanisms of integration and separation and their subsequent impact on Jerusalem's functionality and they identified the obstacles to the process of reunification of the city. As a result of this first sessions, a consolidated trilateral framework of cooperation was created and, most importantly, a context of real dialogue was established between the Palestinians and Israelis. A second encounter followed in Jerusalem in July 2002 in which workshops were organized and the teams discussed various themes centered on the planning of divided cities. Team Berlin was able to get acquainted Jerusalem's dynamics on the ground and provide new inputs following new interrogations. The two teams produced a series of working papers focusing on the past and present state of affairs of Berlin as well as Jerusalem. Already at this point, the cooperation was so successful that a first publication came out of the edited collection of papers: Divided Cities in Transition I. The third encounter happened again in Berlin and aimed at examining in greater details the German experience of reunification while drawing lessons and making predictions for the Jerusalem case. The two teams agreed upon guidelines for the future of Jerusalem based on the concept of an open and viable undivided city serving as the capital of two states. It was at this point that Team Jerusalem realized the importance of conceptualizing the different possibilities regarding the future of Jerusalem and embarked on a parallel project of scenario building for this city only that eventually provided some feedback and new inputs for the Jerusalem-Berlin Forum itself. In August 2004, the two teams met again in Jerusalem and this time worked to identify the barriers raised against transition in Jerusalem as well as develop models of transitions and management tools to support those models. This new session allowed for the creation of a second publication, Divided Cities in Transition II, which examines the transformation that Jerusalem was going through at this time and identifies constructive models to move this city from one of conflict to one of peace. The last two meetings in May 2005 and September 2006 allowed for various inputs to be made to the scenario building project entertained by Team Jerusalem. Most especially, due their fruitful research, the two teams were invited to participate in the 2005 Metropolis Conference of Berlin where Team Jerusalem was asked to present its findings on the scenario building project they led parallel to the Jerusalem Berlin Forum. Various challenges were found to the future of Jerusalem as a city of peace and cooperation such as the construction of the Separation Wall, the unilateral actions undertaken both by the Palestinians and Israelis, the absence of Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem, the prohibition of freedom of movement through various checkpoints, the declining economy and eroding living conditions of East Jerusalem. Naturally, recommendations agreed upon by the Palestinians, Israelis and Germans sought to remedy to obstacles that Jerusalem faces in its transition. After the identification of these challenges and of transition models, Palestinians and Israelis worked in their respective spheres of influence to appeal to decision makers of both sides and make them aware of the dangers facing Jerusalem in its endeavor to become a peaceful city and all tried to disseminate discussions and ideas to the civil society and political realm levels. The Jerusalem-Berlin Forum was a successful and fruitful experience. Above anything else, the collaboration and trust that bonded the Palestinians, Israelis and Germans together is already an achievement in itself. The Forum taught participants to respect and strive in order to understand the point of views of everybody and created a dimension of real and coherent dialogue. The scenario building project undertaken by team Jerusalem is another proof of this spirit of cooperation that still bears fruit today and tries to reach out to political spheres and influence decision makers. The lessons drawn from the Berlin experience will certainly help assist Jerusalem in its own transition towards cohabitation in the future and the models established by the teams of experts will serve to avoid certain traps in which Jerusalem could easily fall if it remains a city of conflict and violence. Ultimately, if a peaceful agreement is reached and Jerusalem transforms itself into a cosmopolitan city, this experience will serve as an example of reconciliation and will ease tensions for the greater region of the Middle East. |
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