Challenges of Religious Tourism in the Conflict Region: An Example of Jerusalem

Introduction

Pilgrimage has historically and traditionally been considered a physical journey, for one to know the truth and visit a place that has sacred and holy meaning. In the modern world, with the development of technology and the process of globalization, territorial boundaries are slowly shrinking, making traveling much easier and hence, with traditional tourism, of course, religious tourism has also progressed. Believers are now not only visiting the holy places for them individually or with their families, as before, but pilgrimage groups are being set up and holy places of worship are organized. There are a variety of packages that travel companies offer to believers.

Although the modern developed world is based on democratic principles and special attention is paid to the protection of human rights, in the 21st century, local and international conflicts are still very common. One of these sharp conflicts is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has been going on for decades. When there is an armed conflict in any region, there are usually lots of political, economic, social, and other kinds of problems in such a region. In a conflict environment, tourism usually does not develop. When there is no stable and peaceful situation, people are not reluctant to visit, and investors and businesses do not show initiative to spend resources in such a region. In other words, if there is conflict, there is no place for tourism. However, there is a different situation when it comes to religious tourism. Unlike an ordinary tourist, the pilgrim is attracted to a particular location because of its sacred nature, and therefore cannot be replaced by any other location. In this article, the authors will discuss the challenges of religious tourism in the conflict region, and in particular the example of Jerusalem.

First of all, it should be noted that Jerusalem is a special case. It is a place that is considered a sacred location for the followers of the three great religions: Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Accordingly, pilgrims visit this city from many points of the world. Both Israelis and Palestinians are demanding that Jerusalem be recognized as the capital of its state. Today the sacred city is controlled by Israel. The international legal status of the city has never been definitively and definitively determined. If we follow the decisions of the international community, Jerusalem must be ruled by the United Nations today. That was the decision taken at the 1947 UN General Assembly (UN GA Res. 181(II), 1947).

Resolution No. 181 provided for the division of Palestine into a Jewish and Arab state, but according to this document, Jerusalem should not belong to any of them. The resolution meant demilitarizing the city and transferring it to international control. A referendum was to be held 10 years later, which would determine the future status of Jerusalem itself. After the resolution was adopted, clashes between Arabs and Jews increased. After the declaration of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948, the armed forces of Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon attacked Israel. As a result of this war, the holy city was divided into two parts. East was controlled by Jordan, West by Israel. In 1950, Israel declared Jerusalem the capital and transferred government institutions to the western part of the city. As a result of the six-day war in 1967, Israel occupied the eastern part of the city controlled by Jordan. Thereafter Israeli law is in force. UN Security Council Resolution No. 478 declared the annexation of the territory illegal and has repeatedly reaffirmed this position (UNS Res. 478, 1980). The Organization for the Liberation of Palestine declared the founding of the Palestinian state in 1988 and recognized Jerusalem as its capital. Before this decision, Jordan had refused to belong to the eastern part of the holy city. During the talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis, the sides temporarily refused to clearly define the status of Jerusalem. The 1993 peace agreement said that a decision on a holy city would be made in a new agreement in the future. It is noteworthy that according to the 2020 data, 137 out of 193 member states recognize the Palestinian state (Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, 2020). Alongside the ongoing political conflict over the status of Jerusalem, not one single terrorist act has been carried out by the Palestinians over the years, creating a highly volatile environment in the city. However, statistics show that many tourists visit Jerusalem every year on religious grounds. The latest survey of the world's most popular tourist cities by UK business intelligence company Euromonitor International shows Jerusalem as the world's fastest-growing destination.