Note from ANITA PLEUMAROM in tim-team communication

Over the last two weeks, we experienced a significant controversy surrounding a tourism conference convened by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Jerusalem. Critics argue that Jerusalem is still a city under military occupation by Israel, and nothing should be allowed to prejudge its status. They also say that Israel should be denounced for its settlement policies, and its aggravated assaults over the Palestinian territories and the rights of the Palestinian people. On top of that, Israel is even contravening the charter of the OECD, with its discriminative policies, and its violations of human rights, and free trade. Israel also stands accused for having put in place a law prohibiting Palestinian tour guides from operating in the tourism sector of Jerusalem, and for marketing Palestinians' religious, archaeological, and tourism spots as Israeli.

A few months ago, The Alternative Tourism Group (ATG)Palestine and other NGOs concerned with tourism issues sent a protest letter to OECD officials, saying: "It appears that the OECD and the deliberative processes within it seem to have belittled the sensitivity and seriousness of the conflict between Palestine and Israel. Perhaps without intending to do so, it appears by its action that the OECD is siding with one party in a dispute whose ramifications are significant for peace in the whole world, especially in the Middle East. Nevertheless, we write to you with the confidence that the OECD is a fair and transparent organisation, committed to a just peace in the world." Therefore, the OECD should re-examine their plan for hosting the conference in Jerusalem, and choose a new location that is "consistent with OECD's vision of a `fairer world economy'."

While opponents lost the battle to stop Israel's accession to OECD, they also scored a few points:
** Eight countries - Britain, Canada, Norway, Chile, Iceland, Turkey and South Africa - shunned the meeting altogether.
** Every participating country downgraded its representation to a low-level representation, mostly from their missions in Tel Aviv. The last one to do this was the Czech Republic that had insisted to the last minute to send the Vice Minister of Tourism, but had to switch to a junior employee of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs in Prague at the last moments.
** The Israeli minister was forced to recant, and in his opening speech to the meeting did not even mention Jerusalem once the way he wanted, after the OECD embarrassingly threatened to cancel the whole convention in Jerusalem if he continues to talk about the status of Jerusalem.
** On the opening day of the conference, 44 senior envoys accepted a Palestinian invitation to a meeting protesting the Jerusalem OECD meeting, in Ramallah.

What the organizers of this conference ignored is that tourism can only develop as a beneficial and sustainable activity in a peaceful environment. And it is very clear that the present situation in Jerusalem does not allow such a development. As such, this OECD event was totally against reason and may even have contributed to prolong the serious conflict between Palestine and the Israeli State.

Yours truly,
Anita Pleumarom
Tourism Investigation & Monitoring Team (tim-team)