Citizens Proposal for a Border between Israel and Palestine
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    • Culture and Identity
    • Land Transfer
    • Right of Return
    • Gaza
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    • Jewish Settlers: Those Who Return and Those Who Remain within Palestine
    • Arab Communities within Israel
    • Legal Protections, Human Rights and the International Community
  • Maps
    • Overview Map
    • Northern West Bank
    • North Jerusalem
    • Jerusalem -- Eastern Areas of Focus
    • Ma’ale Adumim, E-1 and Access
    • South Jerusalem
    • Southern West Bank
    • Gaza and its Future Development
    • Conclusion
  • Position Statements
    • 2011 >
      • Har Homa C
      • Giv’at Hamatos
      • The Question of Recognizing Israel as a Jewish State
      • Let Us Prepare for Two States
      • Can Palestinians Recognize Israel’s “Jewish Character”?
      • Next Steps: Negotiating an Initial Border
      • Etzion Bloc Expansion: Israeli Overreaching
      • Israel’s Tussle with Europe
    • 2012 >
      • Time to Negotiate the Northern and Southern Sectors of the Israeli-West Bank Border
      • President Peres and Dr. Ashrawi: Thank You for Staying on Track
      • Playing the Victim Card Will Not Bring Peace
      • Negotiations By the Parties
      • The World Should Help the Palestinian Hunger Striker
      • ...and only afterwards move to discuss the topic of Jerusalem
      • A Question of Accountability
      • Israel Twisting in the Wind
      • Netanyahu: Too Big for His Britches
      • Netanyahu's "Israeli Comfort"
      • How Shaul Mofaz Can Jump-Start the Peace Process
      • Netanyahu on the Brink
      • Time for Taking Stock
      • Israel in Wonderland
      • Whatever Happened to the Quartet?
      • The Palestinians Want to Negotiate
      • A Time for Hope and a Call for Restraint
      • Israel Can Win in Gaza, But Not Now
      • Congratulations to the New State of Palestine!
      • Security and Borders: Both Required for Peace
    • 2013 >
      • It Is Up to Israel to Restart Peace Negotiations
      • Israel and Palestine: Changing the Terms of Agreement
      • The Knesset Bill to Increase the Number of Women that Elect the Chief Rabbis Is Important for Jewish Women
      • Proposal on Governance of the Holy Basin
      • Time for Netanyahu to Reach Across the Aisle
      • Tzipi Livni's Challenge
      • Women Should Be Free to Pray at the Wailing Wall
      • Proposed Highway through the Jordan Valley Will Backfire on Israel
    • 2014 >
      • Secretary Kerry, Please Beware of Israel’s Stalling Tactics
      • A Proposal on the Issue of Palestinian Recognition of Israel as a Jewish State
      • Proposed “Jewish State” Law a Threat to Israel’s Democracy
      • Journaling: Hope and Despair - Seven Weeks In
      • Netanyahu's War
    • 2015 >
      • We Should Applaud Herzog and Livni for Reclaiming Zionism
      • The Next Israeli Government
      • West Bank Citizenry and Receipt of Individuals of Palestinian Origin
      • What Next for Israel?
      • Palestinian statehood
      • Mischief in the Trade Legislation would Hinder Progress
      • What Next for America?
      • Could American Firms Choose to Gradually Disinvest from Israel?
      • Boycotting Israel is not anti-Semitism
    • 2016 >
      • Isaac Herzog's Diplomatic Initiative: Can This Detour Be Reframed Into a Road to Two States?
      • The Choice of Friedman as Envoy to Israel Is a Challenge to the Soul of American Judaism
      • America’s Abstention at the UN: Well Played!
      • Lapid: A New Leader for Israel?
    • 2017 >
      • Outcomes of SC Resolution 2334
      • Release the Tapes of the Noni Affair
      • Yair Lapid: A Strong Leader for a Secure Israel
      • Bill to Annex E-1: A Knife in the Heart of the Two-State Solution
      • Thus Endeth the Jewish State
      • CP Suspending Operation
    • 2019 >
      • Return to Two States
      • ​Benny Gantz Can Do Better than Pander to the Settlers
      • The Joint List Should Join the Government
    • 2020 >
      • Israel's Moment of Opportunity
      • Trump’s Unfair Middle East Plan Leaves Nothing to Negotiate
  • Resources
  • About the Authors

_Ma’ale Adumim

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The Citizens Proposal has deliberately pushed the borders of Jerusalem to the doors of Ma’ale Adumim to force a meaningful solution for that community. Yet we have held back from including it territorially within the State of Israel, because to do so would in effect divide the West Bank in half. We believe that Palestine must have contiguity north and south such that effective transportation links, highways and trains running between Ramallah and Bethlehem to Hebron can be constructed. Palestine should not be encumbered with a narrow neck of land at its mid-section, any more than Israel.

At present the extent of the Ma’ale Adumim district is large, and growth within it is limited and controlled. A smaller built-up area, as specified in the Falk Report (September 19, 2012), is a suburban neighborhood south of Rte 1 and as far east as Nofei HaSela where the great bulk of the Israeli population in this district live. These residents are largely commuters who work in Jerusalem.

Without an effective and timely resolution, this enclave or would-be enclave could easily become a full extension of Israel. This is neither right nor wrong. But one thing is clear: morally the growth and/or disposition of Ma’ale Adumim should be managed by mutual agreement between the two peoples. It is our position that if Palestinians do not support the community to expand, then that must be respected. 

Palestine can offer respect to the Jewish residents of Ma’ale Adumim by maintaining their access to Jerusalem and by enacting special laws to protect their rights to own, buy and sell property to whomever they wish, whether Jew or Arab. We anticipate that many of Ma’ale Adumim’s 30,000-plus Jewish residents will continue to live there with these legal protections, even as they are offered Palestinian citizenship and may take dual citizenship. We believe that Palestine will respect and consider the rights of the residents of Ma’ale Adumim to their cultural and religious traditions. We expect that those Palestinians who might purchase property in Ma’ale Adumim will live in peace with their Jewish neighbors, and those Jews who live in Ma’ale Adumim will live in peace with Arabs who might move into their neighborhoods. There should be no restrictions on who can purchase property and live in this zone. Palestine may even choose to offer respect by granting the residents of Ma’ale Adumim self-government as an autonomous zone within Palestine.

E-1 and a North-South Palestinian Highway

The area that Israel has designated as E-1 lies mostly within the Ma'ale Adumim Zone, with the above-mentioned guarantee of property rights for Israeli residents. This would mitigate the diplomatic issues around Israel's decision (December 2012) to plan new residential construction in E-1, as long as those plans are on land east of the north-south line that bisects E-1 and marks the western border of the Zone. However, land west of that line will necessarily be part of Palestine; hence Israeli construction there would be problematic.

We have proposed a route for a North-South highway linking Ramallah with Bethlehem that passes mostly through a corridor of land designated for Palestine between Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim Zone. Fairness requires that the existing provision of East-West access from Maale Adumim and Jerusalem via Route 1 be balanced with a route for Palestinians traveling from Ramallah in the northern West Bank to Bethlehem and Hebron in the southern West Bank and that will also allow ready access to East Jerusalem. Although this proposal only connects with local roads, we can presume that the State of Palestine will want to build a modern highway system utilizing this link.

At the southern end of the route, the north-south highway meets the “hinge of Jerusalem,” where the borders of Jerusalem and Maale Adumim meet. There we have indicated several roading options--either crossing the Maale Adumim Zone or skirting around it. Thus the “hinge,” which was set up to establish contiguity and access for Israelis between Jerusalem and Maale Adumim, is also a Palestinian point of access between the northern and southern West Bank. 

The "Hinge of Jerusalem"

_The “hinge of Jerusalem” is all about access, Jewish access to and from Ma’ale Adumim, and Palestinian access between the northern and southern West Bank. Its purpose is to allow for and help the negotiating parties to take ample considera­tion of Ma’ale Adumim’s unique status and requirements. It is called a “hinge” because it is where four lines converge: 1) the proposed border; 2) the separation wall; 3) the boundary of the Ma’ale Adumim zone where residents will have special property rights; and 4) the line of demarcation that was drawn at the beginning of our process of developing this proposal. 

If, through negotiations, Eizariya or other areas shaded yellow become part of Palestine, the status of the hinge, as well as options for the route between Maale Adumim and Jerusalem, may change.
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