 | | Systematic Socio-Economic and Environmental Discrimination against Palestinians in East Jerusalem Ongoing research, due to be published by the AIC, reveals systematic institutional discrimination of the Jerusalem municipality against its Palestinian residents in the fields of education, environment and taxation. |
While the EU report focuses on the visible and measurable affects of the Wall and the settlement expansion in the greater Jerusalem metropolis, the AIC Discrimination Research is aimed at elucidating the current municipal policies within Jerusalem. These policies are indicative of the political, socio-economic and environmental conditions likely to persist in the case of continued occupation.
Prior to introducing selected data from the future report, it is necessary to establish the following:
1. East Jerusalem was occupied by Israel in 1967. The annexation of East Jerusalem to Israel is illegal according to international law has not been internationally recognized.
2. Israeli activities in East Jerusalem violate the rights of the Palestinian population as defined in the 4th Geneva Convention to which Israel is a signatory. According to the above convention, Israel ? as an occupying power ? is responsible for the well-being of the population of East Jerusalem. Israel is prohibited from altering conditions or initiating activities that are detrimental to the well-being of the population in East Jerusalem. Furthermore, Article 49 of the 4th Geneva Convention prohibits construction of colonies/settlements by the occupying power as well as initiating activities aimed at the forced migration of the local population.
3. Since Israel has - contrary to international law ? annexed East Jerusalem and issued Israeli residence ID?s to the population, it is obliged to supply them with all services made available to Israeli citizens.
Below appears a summary of the preliminary findings collected by the AIC team:
Environment:
Municipal policies in East Jerusalem represent a continuous disregard to environmental and health considerations of the Palestinian population. Bluntly stated, development in West Jerusalem and of settlements is translated into polluting and dumping garbage in the east of the city.
? Waste Disposal and Dumps:
o Currently there are only two official dumps for metropolitan Jerusalem, one East Jerusalem, and one in E1 area.
o Since 1967, the municipality has enabled the functioning of illegal and un-supervised garbage dumps in East Jerusalem within Palestinian neighborhoods or otherwise located just beyond the municipal boundary.
o Ostensibly labeled as ?construction waste dumps?, dangerous chemical waste has been dumped without supervision, endangering the health of the residents and threatening to contaminate water supplies.
o With the construction of the wall, many of the dumps remained east of the wall - the municipality relinquishing any responsibility for them.
o In the Shuafat Refugee Camp, which is now being dissected from the city by the Wall, a lack of garbage disposal trucks has led to routine incineration of garbage in open trash containers. An abnormally high cancer rate amongst children in the camp is probably related to the release of dioxins from the incinerated waste.
? Sewage
o There is a lack of sewage treatment facilities in east of the Jerusalem for treatment of Palestinian and Israeli sewage. In Wadi Kidron, a stream of raw sewage flows eastward through the Palestinian neighborhood of Sawahre and downwards, contaminating the Dead Sea Basin. Despite monumental investment in the construction of the barrier ? which neatly passes above the sewage stream ? no money has been allocated to solve this issue.
o Between Sawahre and Shiek Saed neighborhoods, another ravine overflows with raw sewage. In the Zur Baher, a neighborhood of 100 homes is not connected to the sewage infrastructure, which the municipality refuses to construct.
Education:
The Arab educational system within the municipality functions as a segregated unit, suffering from an acute shortage of funds:
? The budget for Palestinian students is only 30% of the allocation per pupil received by Jewish educational institutions.
? Less than 40% of the children of school age actually study in schools subsidized by the municipality.
? Currently, there is a shortage of over 1300 classrooms in Palestinian schools in East Jerusalem.
? Due to a shortage of space in schools, the Jerusalem municipality rents rooms in 74 private homes in East Jerusalem and uses them as classrooms.
? The educational system for the Palestinian residents of Jerusalem holds the national record for failing students, with only 17.9% of youths at graduation age actually passing the matriculation exam.
? Despite the acute shortage of classrooms, resources are not funneled to solve the situation. In comparison, the resources needed for one kilometer of the wall in Jerusalem could be used to build 10 classrooms in a new school or purchase 70 mobile-home classrooms.
? Further challenges are posed by the construction of the Separation Wall, which separates both students and teachers from their institutions.
Taxation:
? Unofficial data received from the JM municipality show that 19% of municipal revenues are collected in East Jerusalem, while only 11% of City budget is reinvested back in the Palestinian neighborhood. These figures are even more acute if socio-economic gap between the West and the East of the City are taken into consideration ? annual per capita GDP in West Jerusalem is 18,500$ while in the east it is 3500$.
? Special ?tax collection? operations are conducted by the municipality in East Jerusalem. In a typical operation, roadblocks are erected and the neighborhood is sealed off. Tax collectors, accompanied by border police units confiscate private vehicles and goods.
Urban Master Plan:
? Following the 1967 war and the issuing of the municipal master plan in 1968, 92% of unpopulated areas in East Jerusalem were declared ?open spaces? in which Palestinian construction required a special permit.
? Approximately, only 100 building permits for Palestinians in East Jerusalem are issued every year; combined with the zoning code this means that Palestinians are forced either to build illegally or leave the city.
? The municipality did not invest in creating urban plans for the Palestinian neighborhoods, resulting in unorganized growth of neighborhoods over a period of nearly 40 years.
? Consequently, nearly all construction in East Jerusalem is considered illegal. In contrast since 1967 over 25000 ?legal? housing units were built in settlements in East Jerusalem on mainly expropriated land.
? Every year, over one hundred ?illegal? homes of Palestinian families are demolished in East Jerusalem. Last week alone, nine homes were demolished, and it is likely that the municipality intends to demolish another 50 homes until the end of the year. Often, the municipality charges the Palestinians for the cost of the demolition.
Analysis and conclusions:
Since 1967, the policies of Israel and the Jerusalem municipality have been aimed at sustaining a Jewish majority in the city, while consolidating territorial control ? retaining Jerusalem as the ?eternal unified capital of Israel?.
This underlying agenda has led to a systemic discrimination of the Palestinian neighborhood of East Jerusalem, aimed at forcing the Palestinian population out the city. The construction of the Wall, and the expansion of settlements are reaching the critical point at which the physical division of the city will become unfeasible.
It is possible to identify to main pattern of discrimination:
1. ?Complex? discrimination - policies initiated by the Jerusalem municipality and Israeli government in order to facilitate the migration of Palestinians from the city, and retain an Israeli demographic and geographic hegemony.
2. ?Simple? discrimination - originating form a national-ethnic bias, facilitated by the lack influence on decision making by the Palestinian residents, as well as mirroring the known patterns of discrimination based on socio-economic status.
In either case, the consolidation of Israeli control over the city will be translated into the broadening of injustice perpetrated by the municipality.
? The 55,000 residents of the city (approximately 8% of total municipal population) which have been separated from Jerusalem by the Wall are likely to lose their residency in the near future, which in turn will entail the loss of social and health insurance, and severe limitations on mobility and work possibilities. Residents will be forced to live with environmental damage caused by Israel, chaotic urban planning, and insufficient infrastructure resulting from lack of 40 years of public investment under the occupation.
? The nearly 200,000 Palestinians remaining within the city ? under current policies ? will become the cities ?under class? par exellance. The failure of the educational system, will re-enforce segregation patterns already in existence and result with the emergence of a Palestinian generation which is incapable of upward mobility within the existing socioeconomic structure. This situation is in violation of the 1969 international convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination to which Israel ? not surprisingly ? has yet to sign.
A Video Clip on Municipal planning discrimination [click on the link to start the stream]
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