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The Jerusalem old city initiative discussion document: New directions for deliberation and dialogue
Social media have become primary venues for pubic conversations, but we know very little about how and where holy places are discussed in social media and who participates in these conversations. To address these questions, we look at the Temple Mount, one of the most significant places to the three ancient monotheistic religions, which is of great importance in political, national, and other contexts. The research question is twofold: In what contexts are discussions taking place in the Hebrew Facebook-sphere around the Temple Mount? And, what are the leading social media venues where the Temple Mount is discussed? Data collection took place in 2017, when Israel celebrated 50 years since capturing the mount, and experienced a major security event—the “metal detector crisis,” followed by major clashes between Jews and Palestinians. We found that the Temple Mount is portrayed prominently in three contexts: national, religious, and security and that “ ordinary” social media interest in it is limited to groups of mostly nationalist and religious Jews who demand prayer rights on the mount and rarely cross to become an issue for the broader Israeli social media public until a major security development initiates an “ extraordinary” discourse involving many more individuals and groups. In one sense, the discourse about the Temple Mount is reminiscent of a “dormant volcano” that does not erupt regularly, but when it does, no one knows how the eruption will end. Lessons for the representation of holy places in social media are discussed.
This thematic issue of the Canadian Foreign Policy Journal explores Canada’s foreign policy relationship with the Palestinians and the Middle East Peace Process (MEPP). It does this through a combination of articles and policy commentaries by scholars from the academy and “pracademics” from government. This includes regional experts on Palestine, Palestinian refugees Palestinian state-building and Canadian foreign policy. The topics they cover include Canadian diplomacy on Israel-Palestine at the United Nations, the impact the international community and Canada have had on Israeli-Palestinian peacebuilding, Canada’s policy toward Palestinian refugees, Canadian development aid in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and an overview of Canadian foreign policy toward both the Palestinians and MEPP. This introduction sets the stage for their contributions by first providing an overview of the contemporary politics of the Middle East and where Israel-Palestine fits within them, including a brief account of peacebuilding efforts today. It also describes Canada’s not-insignificant contribution to the politics of the Middle East and towards the composure of Israel-Palestine today, and likewise the impact of each on Canada. In sum, the articles each explore a unique and important facet of the ongoing development of Canadian foreign policy toward the Palestinians and the MEPP.
To return, then, to our question in the title: Is annexation irreversible, or, more specifically, is repartition functionally feasible? This brief and preliminary examination suggests that there are no overwhelming functional and technical obstacles to prevent such a move. There would be, admittedly, difficulties in ensuring sufficient water supplies, particularly in the short term, to East Jerusalem. In addition, all three utilities would require a large-scale program of investment in plant construction and training. During the interim period, difficulties could be eased by agreements between any Palestinian administration in Jerusalem and the relevant Israeli, and to some extent, Jordanian bodies. (Indeed, to avoid duplication and cut costs, there would be some sense in having long-term agreements over access to power and water supply in place.) Determining the future status of Jerusalem will not be driven by practical considerations, but requires a political settlement first.