Israel opens tourism in Jerusalem, Palestine is torn apart all pages

YERUSALEM, KOMPAS.com – When the United Arab Emirates agrees to normalize relations with Israel, one of the impacts is that the tourism sector in East Jerusalem will become busier.

After the citizens Palestine In the city of East Jerusalem for months facing a ‘ghost city’ due to the coronavirus outbreak, they will now see an immediate gain in the tourism sector from normalization UEA-Israel.

A Palestinian businessman in East Jerusalem, Sami Abu Dayyeh, said that there would be some advantages in the Palestinian tourism sector, “… and this is what I hope for,” Abu Dayyeh was quoted as saying Associated Press (AP).

“Forget politics, we have to survive,” he said.

Also read: Palestine: UAE Has No Right To Participate In Al Aqsa Mosque Matters

Palestinian leaders have sharply rejected recent decisions by the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan to establish ties with Israel.

The normalization undermines the longstanding Arab League consensus on Israeli-Palestinian relations.

Palestinians hope to establish states including east Jerusalem and the West Bank, territory Israel occupied in the 1967 war.

Arab support, seen as a key form of influence in decades of continuous and inactive peace negotiations, now appears to be on the decline, leaving Palestine arguably weaker and more isolated than at any point in recent history.

Also read: Expert: Israeli Peace Agreement with UAE and Bahrain Leads to Change of Status Quo Al-Aqsa

Palestinians view settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem as major obstacles to peace, and much of the international community considers them illegal.

But the prospect of expanded religious tourism could ultimately benefit Israelis and Palestinians, as wealthy Gulf tourists and Muslim pilgrims from further afield take advantage of the new airways and better links to visit Al Aqsa and other holy sites.

While the Palestinians hope that east Jerusalem and the West Bank will become part of their future state, Israel considers all of Jerusalem the capital of the state Jewish.

“I am very happy because I think this opens us to a new era of Muslim tourism that we never really had,” said Fleur Hassan Nahoum, deputy mayor of Jerusalem.

“Even though we have peace with Jordan and Egypt, I never really see Egyptian tourists or Jordanian tourists because peace is not warm peace. [perdamaian yang jauh lebih kooperatif].”

Also read: Palestinian Resistance Icons Warn of Danger Around Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque

Meanwhile, other Palestinians appear more skeptical. More than a dozen Palestinian shopkeepers in Jerusalem’s Old City, mostly closed due to the coronavirus, declined to comment on the potential for Gulf tourism, saying it was too politically sensitive.

In addition, there are also concerns that Israel’s push to promote tourism in the Haram Ash-Sharif complex will increase tensions.

Asy-Syarif Haram Complex with masjid Al Aqsa and Dome of the Rock mosque the iconic is the sacred building in religion Islam.

However, the Dome of the Rock building also became a holy place for Jews who called it Dome of The Rock and the complex is called Temple Mount (or Palestine also calls it Haram Asy-Syarif).

Also read: Finally, the Al-Aqsa Mosque Complex was Officially Closed to Stop Corona Virus Transmission

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