Public Participation in East Jerusalem

On Sunday, November 3, the Institute held a round table regarding Public Participation (Shituf Tzibur) in East Jerusalem. The purpose of this study was to understand the process of public participation and to discuss the components, actors, degree of success and areas in which it was conducted.

A variety of representatives and consultants who are taking part in the process of public participation in East Jerusalem participated in the discussion, including: East Jerusalem Development Authority, Public Relations Consultant, Private Sector Public Consultant, Intercultural Center Specialist, and community representatives from the City Department of Community Work.

Mapping the Current Public Participation Processes in East Jerusalem

In the first segment, Murad Natsheh presented the preliminary results of the study, based on in-depth interviews with 6 public-participation consultants that included 9 different public-participation processes conducted in different neighborhoods in East Jerusalem. Following the presentation, there were discussions of the processes presented, necessary alterations, benefits of the process and barriers to successful public participation. In the last segment, Dvora Abramzon introduced the theoretical topic “What is Public Participation?” – followed by a discussion about the theory vs. reality in East Jerusalem.