JERUSALEM: Some people say that Jerusalem is a microcosm of Israel and perhaps of the whole world and the focal point for the thoughts and prayers of three billion Christians, Jews and Muslims. But East Jerusalem (or more accurately, the Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem) is the focal point for the tensions, conflicts and challenges this city faces, and perhaps even those faced by the region as a whole.
About 250,000 Arabs live in East Jerusalem. They are not represented in the city council (because they choose not to take part in municipal elections) and do not participate in state politics either, because their status as permanent residents without full citizenship does not grant them the right to vote.
As a result of limited resources, lack of adequate planning and non-payment of various taxes (which are intended to be used for the development of the neighborhoods), most of the physical infrastructure in these neighborhoods is in dire condition and the services offered to the residents are clearly unsatisfactory.
But the most acute problem is the one of illegal construction. Almost 170,000 people live in houses that were built without a permit. This creates a situation in which all parties lose out.
Residents of illegally constructed houses have to either live with the constant fear that their home will be demolished (even though only about 100 houses are demolished each year) and some undergo the hardship of conducting a protracted and expensive legal battle.
And, it is not only the residents of houses built without permits who suffer, but the neighborhood as a whole. The infrastructure in all the neighborhoods of East Jerusalem is in poor condition – much more so than in the west of the city – and this is partly because building without a permit means not paying the municipal taxes which are required for developing transportation infrastructure, sewage, pavements, etc.
Finally, the Israeli government and its institutions also lose out. The fact that they find it difficult to provide appropriate services in East Jerusalem coupled by the fact that the residents who build illegally disregard the planning offices and institutions that issue permits and licenses, undermines Israeli sovereignty and international recognition of Israel’s rule over the area.
It is true that the fact that Israel wants to maintain its sovereignty over East Jerusalem is at odds with the Palestinian aspiration to see East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state and that this also has a role to play in the dynamics described. However, despite these seemingly insurmountable differences, until a political solution is found it is necessary to take a pragmatic approach to resolving the particularly pressing issue of illegal construction and the demolition of homes.
In looking for ways to break through the impasse, we, at the municipality, have adopted a creative, and, in my view courageous, approach that has the potential to turn the situation around completely from one in which everyone is losing out to one which has a significant potential to benefit all of the parties involved.
One of the first steps in putting this new approach into practice is learning how to distinguish the real interests of the parties involved from their declared interests, and acknowledging them. On the Israeli side, we are talking, in my opinion, about the desire to entrench Israeli sovereignty in East Jerusalem and to receive a greater degree of legitimacy and recognition here – more than the immediate and seemingly more pressing desire to maintain a Jewish majority in the city. The latter goal can be achieved more effectively by making Jerusalem more attractive to Israelis (thereby stemming Jewish emigration from the city) instead of limiting Arab construction.
As for the Arab residents, I believe their real interest is to receive adequate services from the municipality as well as see expedited infrastructural and economic development in their neighborhoods, much more than the immediate desire to evade taxes or the culturally alien Israeli bureaucracy. Here too, the economic interests of the residents would be advanced because property values and the standard of living would increase significantly upon receiving the sought after permits.
Put simply, it is better for the Israeli government to accept the situation as it is on the ground retroactively, and create legal solutions to make it legitimate. Houses built without permits that meet certain criteria will qualify for permits retroactively or even a “grey legal status that would relieve their owners (and the legal system) of being subject to an enforcement process. These criteria will include, for example, houses that were not built on public land or on land designated for roads, and houses which are not unsafe from an engineering point of view.
Legal procedures against such houses will be frozen or cancelled and levies will be collected in accordance with the law but with consideration for the home-owner’s financial circumstances. The money collected will be channeled into a municipally owned company set up for this purpose and fully invested back into the same area from whence it came.
Of course, at the same time, we must continue to operate on the planning level and pursue those who break the law. However, this time round, the enforcement process will be more effective because it will be limited in its scope and focused only on those transgressions that pose a major disturbance for the residents themselves.
A sophisticated system of incentives and constraints, carrots and sticks, can, in my opinion, motivate the residents to accept this solution which will solve 70-80 percent of the problem. Once the administrative processes are completed, I am certain that we will be able to look forward to a better future for Jerusalem and all its residents.
Yakir Segevis Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem. This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).
