IPCC has published a new report entitled “Jerusalem The Old City: Urban Fabric and Geopolitical Implications”. The report is IPCC’s 17th volume on Jerusalem, supported by the Freidrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), and is the first to center in detail on the Old City. Sovereignty and control of the Old City is one of the main issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The study examines the state of the Old City and explores possible geopolitical scenarios for its future, including functional urban and spatial implications of each scenario. Ultimately, the study identifies the most feasible intervention to avoid an escalation of hostilities. The best case scenario features Israeli and Palestinian cooperation and integration under an international regime.
 

A statistical booklet has been published by IPCC entitled “Jerusalem Wall: A decade of Division and Urban Incarceration – A Survey on the Impact of the Separation Wall on Jerusalem”. The construction of the wall around and through East Jerusalem has altered the physical and psychological make-up of the city and its inhabitants. IPCC has conducted surveys on the perceptions of the wall amongst Palestinian Jerusalemites, and this booklet summarizes the primary findings. The results contribute to a better understanding of how separation affects memories, perceptions and behaviors of those affected. They also help us to develop policies that will improve the living conditions of those Palestinians experiencing separation and/or displacement. For Statistics please click here
 

This book addresses East Jerusalem's relationship with its suburbs. It is the fruit of research conducted over two years by a team of planners from the International Peace and Cooperation Center -IPCC. It represents the first study of its kind on the urban, spatial and functional developments that have occurred in Jerusalem and its environs during the past four decades. It also addresses the dramatic transformations that have taken place in recent years, the ramifications of which continue to be felt today, and which are expected to continue to influence the city and its environs in the near future.

This research was done during the violent Israeli-Palestinian conflict that began in September 2000 and continues, in one form or another, to this day. This violent outbreak not only put an end to the Oslo Process but brought the Israeli-Palestinian relationship to a grave new low.

The Violent conflict also seriously damaged the work of organizations on both sides that sought to further the cause of peace. Yet the joint activities of these organizations did not cease entirely: lately, it has even experienced an upswing, due to the awareness on both sides of the importance of this work in assisting the advance of the peace process. Most recently - in June 2007 - a large gathering was organized at the initiative of the Tuscany region of Italy at which 50 Israeli organizations and 20 Palestinian organizations met to jointly assess the means to widen cooperation between the two sides, under European auspices

So far, the various solutions advanced with regard to the problem of Jerusalem have been based on a sincere belief that the desired future is also possible. This conceptual mistake breeds mistaken policies. Conceptually, what is possible is not necessarily identical to what is desired. Assuming that it is confuses the ought to be with the could be and the envisioned solution with a possible scenario.

Our approach draws a clear distinction between the desired vision and possible future scenarios. With regard to policy, this distinction implies a careful study of the barriers and opportunities strewn along the route that leads from the possible futures to the desired one. By identifying these barriers and opportunities, one can devise a set of strategies that can enable movement from the possible futures to the desired one.

Jerusalem on the Map III represents IPCC’s continuing effort to update the situation on the ground in Jerusalem for a readership composed of international civil servants, academics interested in the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, and governmental, NGO, and civil society leaders interested in the problems of Jerusalem. In this volume, IPCC researchers identify and examine trends in Israel’s hegemony over the Jerusalem area today. The studies document— with the most current statistics, the results of IPCC surveys, and the presentation of new detailed maps—the unilateral expansion of Israel’s illegal writ and the fragmentation of the Palestinian fabric in Jerusalem. Issues considered include: the emergence of new, non-negotiated boundaries; the widespread and systematic deprivation of basic human rights; externally imposed changes in the city’s demography; declines in nearly all measures of the economic and social wellbeing of Palestinian Jerusalemites; a swelling unmet need for housing; the effects of the road system, checkpoints, road blocks and the separation wall upon mobility and social cohesiveness and upon the people’s right to the city. Again, overarching the analytical discussion is the question of East Jerusalem’s viability to function as the capital of a proud people.

Israel occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in June 1967 and immediately began planning for territorial control of “strategic” lands and for imposing a Jewish settlement presence and Jewish demographic blocs in the occupied territories. Initially, this strategy was implemented in the Jerusalem area and in the Jordan Valley, areas which Israel wanted to keep under its control in any future scenario for the Palestinian occupied territories.
While these actions fragmented Palestinian territory and scattered their geographical and functional continuity, the underlying goal was to de facto annex vast areas to Israel. A fundamental imperative within Israeli nationalist ideology, left or right, is to preserve the Jewish nature of the state and to maintain a Jewish majority. It is feared that in an unseparated demography, or in an ethnically integrated state,Palestinian growth rates would eventually create a Palestinian majority-an unacceptable situation in a country which defines itself as Jewish. While there is considerable debate within Israel on the religious and political meaning of a “Jewish state,” there is nevertheless a general Israeli consensus supporting the separatist concept as a basic national goal. In its most extreme form, separatism may include the removal or elimination of Palestinians from the biblical territory.

In Jerusalem, space is divided into that of "the self" and "the other," "us" and "them," resulting in islands of cultural containment and social exclusion. Wherever possible, the crossing of ethnically defined boundaries is avoided. But a complete phisical disengagement is equally impossible: areas of contact and entanglement include involuntary encounters between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers at military checkpoints, but also more banal meetings. Opportunism supports a fragile web of economic relationships between Jews and Arabs. The proximity of contrasting social cultures and resources, the asynchronism of Arab and Jewish religious holidays, as well as the comparative salary gap have created economic possibilities for both. Despite a backdrop of fear, hate, and suspicion, there are casual and inconspicuous encounters at worek, in hospitals, or shoppibng malls, which offer the opportunity tyo escape political posturing and declarations about a united/occupied Jerusalem.

The issue of Jerusalem is central to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Negotiations concerning the city’s future will be the most complicated in any future negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis. Scores of geo-political and administrative solutions have been proposed for resolving this issue; nonetheless, the search continues for a geo-political model acceptable to the various parties—one through which it is possible to fulfill the multiple contradictory interests of the conflicting parties. This study has sought to present and discuss the various proposals, models, arrangements or geo-political solutions that might lead to a settlement in Jerusalem; we have examined their political and functional ramifications, and perhaps most importantly, we have taken into consideration the position of Palestinians and Israelis towards the proposals.
In lieu of proposing a single solution that we deem appropriate and representative of our position or vision, we have reviewed a variety of proposals for the political borders by international, Israeli and Palestinian parties, political and academic models. Some of these models have already been proposed by individuals who have made efforts towards devising arrangements or solutions to the question of Jerusalem.

Conflict over Housing: The Housing Sector in Jerusalem; the Existing Situation, Barriers, Needs and Future Policies
Housing and spatial control in Jerusalem are used by Israel as tools to guarantee its demographic and territorial superiority. This situation causes housing to be an essential part of the ethno-national conflict in the city, and is used to achieve Israeli goals on the account of Palestinian national rights and daily life function.
Since the first days of the occupation of East Jerusalem, the Israeli government has been trying to change the demographic reality and to control the land. To achieve this goal, the Israeli government uses housing, among other tools like land use and expropriation, to limit and restrict the Palestinian existence and growth in the city. This is done by following a planning policy and imposing building laws and conditions that are almost for the Palestinians impossible to fulfill in order for them to obtain "legal" housing in Jerusalem.

In-depth research is hardly needed to prove the adverse discrimination meted out to East Jerusalem. A walk through its streets suffices to demonstrate how badly deprived that part of the city is, especilly compared to the western sector. Yet while every alleyway cries deliberate neglect, things should, indeed must, be placed in empirical proportion so as to arrive at an understanding of the dimensions of the phenomenon, the motives that produced it and its implications.
The discrimination suffered by the residents of East Jerusalem results from the concerted action of a number of State authorities, most outstanding of which are the Ministry of the Interior, the Israel Police, the National Insurance Institute, the Labor Exchange and, of course, the Municipality. Each of these systems does its bit to keep East Jerusalem down, and all are party to its systematic deprivation. This publication will focus on the role of the municipal apparatus, which is the repository of very extensive powers and can largely determine what standard of living a Jerusalem resident will be vouchsafed.

What will Jerusalem be like in the future? What will happen to the city if Palestinians and Israelis reach an agreement? What will happen if they do not? What are the costs and benefits of these situations and how will they impact on the overall conflict? How will they affect daily life in the city? To answer these questions, and many more, a multi-disciplinary team of Palestinian and Israeli Jerusalemites met over a period of two years to develop a set of scenarios and a shared vision for the future of Jerusalem.
As a group, we are neither negotiators nor politicians, and we therefore are more flexible and open to consider and evaluate different possible developments, be they positive or negative. Through our work on this project, we have developed ways to work together, taking into account the political, economic, urban, cultural and psycho-social constraints and opportunities that we face.
Previous attempts at agreements, such as the various stages of the Oslo Accords, left the resolution of the Jerusalem question till the end. From the very beginning we have argued that Jerusalem can, and perhaps must,be "taken-on" first, serving as the catalyst for the resolution of the entire conflict.
Uniquely among the many plans and proposals for Jerusalem's future, we do not focus on end game situations. Rather, we focus on the dynamics that may lead to these situations and on the possibilities for movement from one scenario to another.

Palestinians think of Jerusalem as a region that covers a wide geographic area that includes the Old City, its immediate surrounding areas, and the built-up areas of villages which spread from the borders of Ramallah in the north to Bethlehem in the south and Jericho to the east and westward to the demolished latrun villages (Emwas, Yallou and Beit Nabala). The Palestinians living within this area consider the Old City the center of their daily lives in all aspects of social, institutional, economic, religious and cultural matters.

The expansion of Palestinian East Jerusalem has been northward towards Ramallah and southward towards Bethlehem. Today the three cities, and the villages and built-up areas in between, have merged into a contiguous urban and suburban complex. Only with difficulty can one differentiate their boundaries; they appear to have a single urban identity. Over the ages, the Palestinian people have created this intermingling and overlapping relationship of Jerusalem's Palestinian neighborhoods and towns.

Jerusalem is one of the most sensitive and focal issues in the Palestinian- Israeli conflict. Its global importance means that reaching peace in the region depends on attaining peace in Jerusalem. Jerusalem will either be the bedrock to a secured and sustainable peace in the Middle East-a city that represents a model for peaceful coexistence between both national groups-or it will be the source of a continuous eruption of clashes, violence and wars. In the latter case this will bring negative consequences for both Palestinian-Israeli relations in particular and more generally, relations between the Arab Islamic world and Jewish Israeli society.

The Second Intifada confirms the centrality of Jerusalem for both the peace process and regional stability. Ultimately, stable and sustainable peace will not be reached without resolving the disputed issue of Jerusalem.

In order to resolve the Jerusalem issue, it is necessary to embark upon an indepth exploration of various aspects of the city’s reality and to build a detailed knowledge of its dynamics. Jerusalem is the only city that Palestinians and Israelis share . Today, it is realized that the city cannot be physically re-divided, as it was between 1948 and 1967. The terror attacks in Jerusalem, and the current trend of building Walls of separation around and within the city, are a real threat to Jerusalem as a positive model for Palestinian-Israeli coexistence, and as a 'City of Peace'.

Israel occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in June 1967 and immediately began planning for territorial control of "strategic" lands and for imposing a Jewish settlement presence and Jewish demographic blocs in the occupied territories. Initially, this strategy was implemented in the Jerusalem area and in the Jordan Valley, areas which Israel wanted to keep under its control in any future scenario for the Palestinian occupied territories. While these actions fragmented Palestinian territory and scattered their geographical and functional continuity, the underlying goal was to de facto annex vast areas to Israel. A fundamental imperative within Israeli nationalist ideology, left or right, is to preserve the Jewish nature of the state and to maintain a Jewish majority. It is feared that in an unseparated demography, or in an ethnically integrated state, Palestinian growth rates would eventually create a Palestinian majority-an unacceptable situation in a country which defines itself as Jewish. While there is considerable debate within Israel on the religious and political meaning of a "Jewish state," there is nevertheless a general Israeli consensus supporting the separatist concept as a basic national goal. In its most extreme form, separatism may include the removal or elimination of Palestinians from the biblical territory.

By the end of the nineteenth century, the Jerusalemite elite had moved from the Old City to newly constructed neighborhoods north of the Old City – Bab Assahire and Sheikh Jarrah. These neighborhoods witnessed the beginnings of urbanization outside the Old City Walls, while the periphery of Jerusalem beyond these neighborhoods preserved its rural nature. During the British Mandate, Arab villages close to the Old City remained excluded from the municipal borders of Jerusalem, which included new neighborhoods inhabited predominantly by Jews to the west and northwest of the Old City.

In the nineteen thirties new Palestinian urban neighborhoods evolved in the southwest of the Old City populated by the Old City’s middle class that was comprised of professionals and merchants. These neighborhoods, like Ath-Thawri, Baq'a and At-Talbieh, evolved near Jewish neighborhoods but remained separated from them. There was no interconnection, no integration between them.

Jerusalem is a rare metropolis: an interaction of geographical, historical, religious, cultural, political and spiritual factors makes it a unique city; and the causes and consequences of the long-running conflict between Palestinians and Israelis adds to its singularity. Together, these forces require that Palestinians assert their legitimate interest in the city and lay out their perception of its future. That task brought together an IPCC team of Palestinian and international planners whose goal was to envision the future of Jerusalem. They employed the Strategic Action Structural Planning method, a multidimensional approach that analyzes Jerusalem’s political, social, urban and economic processes from four perspectives: its past, its present, and its short term and long term futures.

The IPCC team looked at the city as a living museum, given its religious, historical, and cultural significance, and as a city in transition, a city which need to empower it self to become a City of Peace, the Capital of the Future Palestinian State (with East Jerusalem as its capital and West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel), and a World Center.

The Jerusalem reality has changed tremendously in the last decade because of extensive Israeli settlement activity, road building, and the erection of barriers, all geared to create realities on the ground that will serve Israeli interests when the time finally arrives for a geo-political solution. Events at Camp David Taba, and the outbreak of the Al Aqsa Intifada demonstrated that the solution to the Jerusalem issue is central to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. And the realities on the ground today ,most especially the fragmented Palestinian areas, have created an urgency to focus on Jerusalem.

Jerusalem on the Map is the third volume in the International Peace and Cooperation Center's Jerusalem Strategic Planning Series. In Chapter One contemporary data are presented (some as current as June 2003)to establish the condition of occupied East Jerusalem: facts and trends are presented on population, rates of growth, population distribution, housing ,density and the economy, including macro and key sector data. Chapter two presents a synthesis of Israeli separation actions in the Jerusalem area (i.e., the imposition of settlements, road blocks, check points, the Apartheid Wall, and road building policies)that illustrates their impact on Palestinian neighbor hoods and on Palestinian land development. The potential effect that these conditions may have on future e negotiations __as Israeli "facts on the ground" _is alarming. Chapter Three reviews past negotiations on Jerusalem, particularly the Camp David and Taba talks, Israeli negotiating motives underlying their actions, and the effect of these on present day Jerusalem.

The Jerusalem Urban Fabric: Demography, Infrastructure, and Institutions. Edited by Rassem Khamiasi and Rami Nasrallah. Volume I in the IPCC Jerusalem Strategic Planning Series, Robert Brooks, Series Editor. Jerusalem. 2003. 408pp. + Appendices.
ISBN 965-7283-00-0.

This work is the product of a team of Palestinian and international IPCC researchers from the fields of urban planning, law, political science, history, architecture, international relations, statistics, engineering, economics, and geography. It contains historical, contemporary, and projected future data on the state of urban affairs in the divided holy city of Jerusalem. Collectively, the data and analyses establish the information context that could guide the long-delayed negotiations on the final status of the city. The research and publication were supported by grants from the Olof Palme International Center (Sweden) and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (Germany).