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ROSTRA ECKENROTH

JERUSALEM CHARTA ‘24

across generations, all ages, all professions, all religions, all experts, all people

Out: hate, war, supremacy, hegemony, enmity

In: dialogue with all and prosperity for all

United in difference - sharing the common: A Middle Eastern Union

by Joshua Sobol

Preamble

In a conflict where all possible solutions seem impossible in the near term, one must look to the

horizon. The horizon is indeed an imaginary line that gets farther and farther away as you move

towards it. And in our Israeli-Palestinian conflagration we have the duty to look for new horizons.

The horizon to open is a common market of the Middle Eastern countries and beyond – a Middle

Eastern Union.

In history:

The idea of a European Union would have sounded freakish in 1938, when Europe was torn

between democracies on one hand facing on the other hand fascist bellicose regimes in Italy and

Spain allied with Nazi Germany after the “Anschluss” and the annexation of Austria into the Third

Reich. Who could have imagined in 1938 a situation where 27 countries from Greece and Italy in

the south to Sweden and Finland in the north including Eastern and Western European countries

would join together in a political union around the slogan In varietate concordia-

United in Difference!

It is true that between 1938 and 1957, when the Treaty of Rome laid the foundations for the

common market, the most terrible war that had ever happened on European soil took place. It

was precisely the most destructive and deadly war that shook the peoples of Europe to the

understanding that they must unite around their differences, without the hegemony of any one

country over all the others.

The next step

A horizon worth creating is, to open the way to a "Treaty of Jerusalem" which would be a Middle

Eastern variation of the Rome Treaty. The "Jerusalem Treaty" may adopt the slogan "United in

difference - sharing the common". This could be the vision that can and should be outlined and

offered to Israel, the Palestinians and the Arab countries for the day after the present war is over.

Second step

The "Jerusalem Treaty" will be able to establish freedom of movement and sharing of goods,

capital, services and labor between the countries that will join the treaty. Later there will be

agreements that will introduce amendments to the treaty according to the changing needs and

policy developments in the Middle Eastern countries, and the joining of more and more countries

to the Middle Eastern Union.

Topics

Engage in joint treatment of water – Turn salt water into drinking water – Transforming deserts

into blooming gardens – Health Expertise – Renewable energy issues – IT – Education

Now

The involvement of Egypt on the one hand and Qatar on the other under American supervision in

obtaining interim agreements for the exchange of prisoners and hostages perhaps foreshadows

the regional partnership - under active American involvement - in shaping "the day after".

This, accompanied by a process of building a new coalition in Israel, followed by elections, will

bring to political expression the protest generation whose young leaders will return from the

present war. There is a reasonable chance of establishing a demilitarized Palestinian state purified

from the evil and criminal agenda of Hamas. This Palestinian state could be together with Israel

part of a regional peace that will include Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Like the Paris Agreement and the Rome Treaty, the Jerusalem Treaty should first define modest

and achievable goals that will address the common existential needs of the countries and peoples

of the region.

King Abdullah II of Jordan recently defined such a need in his speech about the water shortage

that is evident in our region with the worsening of the climate crisis. The "Agreement of Amman"

can be a starting point as was the Paris Agreement which laid the foundations for the Rome

Agreement. Agreement = Amman will have to engage in joint treatment of water, health and

renewable energy problems in the countries that will join the agreement.

PLUS:

Vision and path for the youngest

The basics of humanity THE RING PARABLE – like the multiplication table.

The basics of coexistence „DADDY’S RAINBOW RING© – like the alphabet.

Lessing in 1779 published NATHAN THE WISE in which he tells the RINGPARABLE (based on

Boccaccio’s DECAMERON, ca. 1355 Italy) Eckenroth writers adapted the story for children:

A children’s book trilogy – Picture book – Read aloud book

Reading book. And the Calendar for each year, created by Fourth Graders. Remindery for all ages.

And PRR© Game and Musical, created by teenagers. Because, a human being is a person with

integrity. And „nip things in the bud”, for us this means to start with budding students, to become

part of the first graders’ curriculum. And to go on with the fourth graders, to be involved in the

process. Let our children live and grow up in a non-violent environment.

If you agree to JC ’24, give your name to:

office@eckenroth-international.org

An initiative by