PROJECT IN JERUSALEM REPORT

Project in Jerusalem

Analysis of the project evolution

Didier BERTIN – 19 September 2010

The target of the project was to create an event with media in to underline the advantages of European Charter Model for Welfare and Peace in Middle East.

The European Charter includes clauses regarding wages and salaries, work conditions, work rules, which may have been a reference for the Israeli population in order to improve social equity and welfare in a country knowing constant growing disparities. The European Charter includes also clauses regarding the Rights of minorities and the prohibition of mass expulsions, which would have been a reference to improve the life conditions of Arab Israelis and Palestinian people. Moreover the European Charter would have been a good reference for Israel which has still no Constitution and for the new Palestinian State to come.

The project involved the meeting of many conditions as:

1-The European Charter made visible by all: This would have been achieved by a sizeable ceramic Artwork representing the articles of the Charter

2- A public place to built the Artwork: A way was found in principle with a member of Jerusalem municipality

3-Pupils to conceive the Artwork in the frame of a Course on Human Rights: A way was found with a foreign High school in Jerusalem assumed to cooperate with a local High School. The High School manager was favorable in principle.

4-Palestinian and Israeli artists to advise the pupils: They were found

5-A manufacturer to achieve materially the Artwork: An excellent company was found in Jerusalem

6-A European Foundation to finance the cost: This would have not been a major problem

The Projects failed due to the reactions of individuals and of the related waste of time eventually not enabling us to make constantly proper corrections.

1-The first problem was a bad will of the foreign High school manager to meet the representative of Jerusalem Municipality probably for political reasons.

The two persons were only distant by approximately 500 meters and the Jerusalem representative was ready to go to the office of the High School Manager. The High School was initially in the east side of the city and now in the west meanwhile the Municipality Premises were in the West.  East means Jordanian side before 1967 and West means Israeli.

Of course after one year, the Jerusalem Representative was totally discouraged. We must say that the project was not in line with the views of the Municipality majority and this representative would have been at risk in our opinion and was courageous and opened.

2-The second problem was the request of high remuneration from one of the artists, totally not in line with a  Project dedicated to Human Rights and organized by a nonprofit association. A time remuneration was planned but in a reasonable limit, already accepted by the European Foundations, otherwise we would have perfectly understood to be rejected.

In the course of our quest we have noticed that Human Rights were not as meaningful as for Europeans from artists belonging to one of the two communities meanwhile the artists of the other community thought often that Human Rights meant that the Project was only in favour of the first community.

We may also notice the difficulty to promote Human Rights in countries too much invaded by two religions assumed to provide rules for all aspects of everyday life of Human beings and by which only God has rights. In this respect God appears now to be a negative concept for Human beings. Existing of future Countries of Middle East will need European support, which should be given in our opinion subject to full acceptance of Human Rights as part of their Constitution.