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Two-rusalem

Clone Jerusalem so both sides can have their own copy.
  (+5, -3)
(+5, -3)
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After reading [RayfordSteele]'s idea and the subsequent annotations on the topic of making Jerusalem an independent City State [linked] it seems to me that neither side will accept less than having the entire city as their own.

My solution to this conundrum is to chase everyone out of Jerusalem for several years allowing imported contractors to move a random 50% of the buildings half a city's width in one direction and the remaining 50% in the other direction. This can be done in a similar manner to the moving of the Abu Simbel Temple to make way for the Aswan Dam [link]. Fill the missing gaps in both halves with perfectly exact replicas so the two cities are now indistinguishable. Award one version to the Israelis and one to the Palestinians.

The key here is to never let on which buildings are 'original' and which are replicated exact copies. None of the buildings will be in their original positions so GPS results wouldn't help. Spread a few false trails as to the veracity or genuineness of individual buildings so all parties are equally unsure as to whether or not their particular bits are the real deal.

AusCan531, Nov 09 2012

Moving of ancient temples http://www.ancient-.../egyptabusimbel.htm
[AusCan531, Nov 09 2012]

Inspiring Idea Jerusalem_20as_20an...endent_20City-State
The annotations outline the difficulties of only having 1 copy. [AusCan531, Nov 09 2012]

What makes a land "Holy" by Scott Adams http://nowscape.com/godsdebris.pdf
Page 96 onwards [AusCan531, Nov 13 2012]

[link]






       Yes, but /their/ Jerusalem is slightly larger than /our/ Jerusalem. [-]
ytk, Nov 09 2012
  

       Yes, but YOUR version has the majority of the original bits <wink, wink> Don't tell the other guys because they'd be pissed.
AusCan531, Nov 09 2012
  

       We could upload Jerusalem onto a series of city- sharing networks, and then anyone who wants a copy can just Bit-Torrent it locally.
zen_tom, Nov 09 2012
  

       There will be problems giving Jerusalem to either the Israelis or the Palestinians, so logically it should be given to neither, but to a third, independent population or diaspora with an unconnected land or independence dispute, such as the Catalans or East Timorese. In fact if all these populations were taken away from their 'own' land disputes and resettled in someone else's disputed territory so many problems would be solved.
hippo, Nov 09 2012
  

       //independence dispute//
*cough*
  

       I wonder if there isn't a more typically British solution available. Part of the issue is that Jerusalem is home to a large quantity of religous relics and infrastructure, so it seems reasonable to assume that if a powerful third party nation were to swoop in and wholesale plunder the relics and infrastructure, spiriting them away in the night, to be housed far away, in some dour Victorian palace of antiquities, then the formal relgious ties of place and people would be looser. It becomes a matter of history and geography and, as the Irish potato famine shows, those bonds can be snipped by starving and abject poverty. Instant diaspora, leading to great real estate opportunities for, as hippo says, the Catalan.
calum, Nov 09 2012
  

       [+] The idiocy of the idea illustrates well the idiocy of the protagonists.
sqeaketh the wheel, Nov 09 2012
  

       //The key here is to never let on which buildings are 'original' and which are replicated exact copies.//   

       Any movement of stone structures is going to involve a block by block disassembly and re-assembly. Most of the disputed buildings are stone. Just rebuild each one with alternating original and re-created stones. Even the bedrock carved structures can be handled the same way Abu-Simel was, by cutting them up.
MechE, Nov 09 2012
  

       [MechE] That is a great idea. However, it does go against my own thought which was "why stop at two?"   

       Once the entire ancient city has been digitised and recorded, it would only take time and materials and labour to make more and more popping up all over the Middle East and beyond. No-one could complain, because I'm sure the old city is a rather interesting and beautiful built structure.   

       In fact you could have a game show. "starting with the online digitisation data dump, and a budget of £100 million, which team will be first to complete their own Jerusalem"?   

       Also useful for Blakeans to start a Sussex version.
pocmloc, Nov 09 2012
  

       Cheers to [sqeaketh] for the perspicacity of his comment, to [MechE] for a valuable enhancement to the idea and to [21Q] for his serious and solemn reply to a tongue in cheek posting. When I said "chase out both sides" my mental image was more of a 'grandmother with a broom' type chasing out than a 'soldier with a bayonet' type chasing out.   

       Remember that both parties would have strong incentive to go along with the gag and to persuade themselves that they've really got the better end of the deal so they can sneer at how the other side got duped. For postal services and the like I'd probably call one "True Jerusalem" and the other something like "Original Jerusalem" or other nomenclature of a similar ilk.
AusCan531, Nov 10 2012
  

       I'd suggest Famous Original Jerusalem and Original Famous Jerusalem, but that's just me.
MechE, Nov 10 2012
  

       Probably should work in the phrase "Most Holy" there somewhere too.
AusCan531, Nov 10 2012
  

       If you're going to move people out first, would it not be more cost effective simply to use the site for a nuclear test? Tickets could be sold.   

       If people are going to squabble over who gets the largest area of fused glass on which to rebuild, a second identical nuclear test could be conducted next door, creating an equally attractive site for reoccupation.
MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 10 2012
  

       //...simply to use the site for a nuclear test   

       Isn't that Ahmadi's idea? Nice friends I have here on HB.   

       and btw about the relics, and religious rights: Under Arab power the holy sites were closed to Jews. But under Jewish power, immediately after capturing the temple mount, Israel, following Moshe Dayan's thoughts restored power over the temple mount to the Waqaf - the Muslim religious authorities. (IMHO a mistake, but that's the fact).   

       AND I never heard of Christians complaining that they don't have freedom of worship at the Churches in Jerusalem.   

       Relics of ancient Jerusalem are of interest to Jews and to an extent to Christians, but definitely NOT to Muslims.   

       And last but not least, Jerusalem is of interest to ALL Arabs. Its way larger an issue than the "Palestinian" claims. Now that the Umma is rising, that fact cannot be ignored.
pashute, Nov 13 2012
  

       I know you're a fan of Scott Adams Pashute - read the bits of his eBook God's Debris [link] which talk about what makes a land 'Holy' (Page 96). As a non-religious person I wonder about such things and Scott's musings were sort of the basis for this posting.
AusCan531, Nov 13 2012
  

       "I hate him" (Scott Adams)   

       and btw, there are 36 of them. (look up lamedvav)
pashute, Nov 13 2012
  
      
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