City Hall almost done mapping East Jerusalem

The development budget of Arab neighborhoods has grown almost tenfold since 2004, says mayor’s adviser David Koren

Elhanan Miller is the former Arab affairs reporter for The Times of Israel

Palestinian women wait at a bus stop in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Shuafat, on December 16, 2014 (photo credit: Miriam Alster/FLASH90)
Palestinian women wait at a bus stop in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Shuafat, on December 16, 2014 (photo credit: Miriam Alster/FLASH90)

The Jerusalem municipality has nearly completed the mapping and naming of streets in East Jerusalem, an endeavor that will both strengthen the residents’ sense of belonging and allow city hall to more effectively collect taxes, an adviser to Mayor Nir Barkat said.

According to data presented by city hall to the Supreme Court during a hearing on the postal crisis plaguing East Jerusalem, nearly 90 percent of East Jerusalem’s 815 streets and 1,100 alleyways have been mapped and received street signs. In addition, some 86% of 19,100 homes received street numbers, said David Koren, who advises Barkat on the Arab residents of East Jerusalem.

“In my mind, this is the most dramatic process in East Jerusalem,” Koren told The Times of Israel on Wednesday. “It concerns first and foremost the residents’ sense of identity. Part of one’s affiliation with a place has to do with it having a street name and house number… this will also allow us to know exactly how many [Arab] residents live in East Jerusalem, so that we don’t have to rely on estimates.”

Creating addresses for East Jerusalem will also allow the city to collect taxes more effectively, and enable emergency service providers to arrive at homes with greater ease, using online navigation systems, he said.

The naming mechanism allows local residents to propose street names, which are then vetted by Islam expert Professor Yitzhak Reiter “to preclude terrorists.” Finally, they are approved by a municipal naming committee headed by former Supreme Court justice Jacob Turkel.

David Koren displays a map of Jerusalem's municipal boundaries at his office in City Hall, February 18, 2015 (photo credit: Elhanan Miller/Times of Israel)
David Koren displays a map of Jerusalem’s municipal boundaries at his office in City Hall, February 18, 2015 (photo credit: Elhanan Miller/Times of Israel)

Koren, who holds a PhD in Middle Eastern studies and lectures on Arab politics at Bar Ilan University, was brought on board by Barkat four years ago to tackle the deep economic and social disparities dividing East and West Jerusalem.

According to Israel’s National Insurance Institute, over 75% of the city’s Arab residents — 82% of Arab children — live under the poverty line. For years, municipal investment in East Jerusalem’s infrastructure was a fraction of the investment in the west — a gap that would cost nearly NIS 2 billion ($520 million) to close, former city engineer Ehud Tayar estimated in 2011.

But that is beginning to change, Koren said. In late 2014, the government approved a five-year budget of NIS 200 million ($52 million) to upgrade East Jerusalem’s physical infrastructures, develop community centers and vocational training, and ramp up policing in Arab neighborhoods where crime is rampant.

‘For Arabs, there’s a political Rubicon to cross by voting in municipal elections, and I don’t assume they will cross it,’ Koren said

Road construction and maintenance in East Jerusalem is another major investment currently underway. Toward the end of the year, Koren estimated, construction will begin on “the American road” connecting central and southern East Jerusalem, estimated to cost NIS 350-400 million ($91-104 million). “This will be the main transportation artery serving East Jerusalem,” he said. An additional five-year plan worth NIS 250 million ($65 million) will pave new roads across East Jerusalem, as NIS 20 million ($5.2 million) a year are funneled to road upkeep.

“If municipal development budgets for East Jerusalem were around NIS 20-30 million in 2004, today they’re around NIS 180 million just for Arab neighborhoods, in addition to lateral budgets that go there as well. This is a dramatic leap,” Koren said.

Given the fact that Arab Jerusalemites largely boycott municipal elections for ideological reasons and have no representative in the city council, Mayor Barkat’s insistence on significant investment in East Jersualem is praiseworthy, Koren posited.

Yet local rights organizations such as Ir Amim insist on highlighting the existing gaps. In 2011, its recent report showed, East Jerusalem received only 10.7% of the municipal budget, although Arabs comprise nearly 40% of the city’s population.

Koren insists that though they aren’t represented politically, the Arab leadership of Jerusalem — and especially the younger generation — is more aware of its rights, and insists on receiving them.

An Arab resident of Jerusalem votes in the municipal elections, November 11, 2008 (photo credit: Daniel Dreifuss/Flash90)
An Arab resident of Jerusalem votes in the municipal elections, November 11, 2008 (photo credit: Daniel Dreifuss/Flash90)

“For Arabs, there’s a political Rubicon to cross by voting in elections, and I don’t assume they will cross it,” he said, referring to massive pressure exerted on Jerusalem residents by the Palestinian Authority and Fatah to stay away from the Israeli ballot boxes. “However, young Arab leaders today know how to stand up for their rights. The population is much more mature and sophisticated than it was in the past.”

“We’re perfectly aware of the gaps, but cooperation is increasing all the time,” he added. “There can be no vacuum in East Jerusalem, which is why I’m constantly pushing the city system to do more there. It’s because I realize that the void will be filled by elements hostile to the State of Israel.”

A ‘carrot and stick’ attitude on illegal construction

Illegal construction in East Jerusalem remains a critical problem for city hall, which is frequently accused by Arab residents of unjust, widespread home demolitions.

Koren estimated that of an estimated 50,000-60,000 homes in Arab neighborhoods, some 15,000-20,000 were built without a permit. The city has decided to take the middle ground in tackling the phenomenon, neither carrying out mass demolitions, which he said would be unrealistic, nor legalizing the structures, which would encourage lawlessness.

“The municipality re-zones these neighborhoods, photographing the current situation and then, together with the local residents, planning the neighborhood with public spaces,” he said.

A Jerusalem municipality bulldozer destroys an illegally-built house in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of A-Tur, March 26, 2014 (photo credit: Sliman Khader/Flash90)
A Jerusalem municipality bulldozer destroys an illegally-built house in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of A-Tur, March 26, 2014 (photo credit: Sliman Khader/Flash90)

City hall has already begun enforcing building violations in public spaces much more harshly than in the past, he said, as it tries to ease the process of obtaining building permits for residents wishing to act legally.

“There’s a leadership class in East Jerusalem that understands that you can’t function when every person builds wherever he wants,” he said, explaining why it is often local residents who secretly tip off the municipality on illegal construction.

Most Popular
read more: