East Jerusalem, no-man's land


May 22, 2015
Sarah Benton

A member of the Adgluni family watching their own house being demolished by Israeli authorities in Beit Hanina, East Jerusalem on January 27, 2014. The Israeli authorities claimed the house was built on land that does not belong to them. Photo by Activestills

East Jerusalem 2015 – Facts and Figures

Summary of main facts in this report

By ACRI
Update:May 12, 2015

A new report by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) provides a concerning overview of the human rights situation for Palestinians in Jerusalem. The report – East Jerusalem: Facts and Figures 2015 – paints a picture of persistent neglect and increasing violence.

These figures are well known to the authorities: Palestinians constitute 37% of the population of Jerusalem. 75% of them live under the poverty line. 33% of Palestinian students in Jerusalem do not finish Year 12. Only 64% of households are properly connected to the city’s water network. Only 7% of the postal workers operating in Jerusalem provide services to the Palestinian neighbourhoods. 39% of houses are built without permits. There is no urban development, and the city will not even fix broken roads in neighbourhoods beyond the separation barrier. During the summer of 2014, there were fierce confrontations with the police, following which at least five  children lost their sight in one eye due to the use of sponge-tipped bullets. The youngest of these children was 6 years old.

The report – East Jerusalem: Facts and Figures 2015 – provides a comprehensive and updated insight into the severe violations of human rights suffered by Palestinians residents of Jerusalem. The facts in this report are based on the official figures of the Jerusalem Municipality, Israel Police, the Central Bureau of Statistics, and other official agencies.

To access an infographic with more facts, click here.

Neglect and increasing violence in East Jerusalem: young men – mostly school drop-outs and unemployed, hurl stones at the police, 2014. Photo by Active Stills.

Facts and Figures: East Jerusalem 2015

Number of residents: There are 300,200 Palestinian residents in Jerusalem, who constitute 36.8% of the city’s population.

Separation Barrier: More than ¼ of residents reside in Jerusalem neighbourhoods that are disconnected from the rest of the city due to the construction of a separation barrier. These residents suffer from a severe lack of basic services and infrastructure.

Residency status: Palestinians in Jerusalem are not citizens, but rather permanent residents; in 2014, the residency status of 107 Palestinian residents of Jerusalem was revoked.

Living below the poverty line: 75.4% of all Palestinian residents, 83.9% of Palestinian children.

Welfare services: 37% of those receiving welfare services in Jerusalem are Palestinians, but only 22% of the social workers are allocated to them.

A football pitch in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Jabal Mukabar. The Jerusalem municipality has not built any parks in the Palestinian areas of East Jerusalem (in 2009). A study in 2006 by liberal Israeli historian Meir Margalit showed that Arabs living in Jerusalem, about 33% of the population, received 12% of its welfare budget and 15% of the education budget. Photo and caption, BBC.

Schools: Only 41% of Palestinian children are enrolled in official municipal high schools. There is a shortage of 1,000 classrooms in the official municipal education system; 194 official classrooms were added between the years 2009 and 2014, and an additional 211 are in planning.

Inadequate classrooms: 43% of the classrooms in the official municipal system are defined as inadequate classrooms.

School dropout rate: 26% in 11th grade, 33% in 12th grade; the national average stands at a few percent.

Planning and building: Approximately 20,000 houses were built without a permit; recently, a large outline plan was approved for the neighbourhood of Arav al-Swahara.

House demolitions: In 2014, 98 structures were demolished and 208 residents have been uprooted from their homes; Israel has also renewed its policy of punitive demolitions for the houses of terrorists.

The Palestinian refugee camp of Shuafat (where those made homeless may have to go) is within the Jerusalem municipality. Its residents pay city and state taxes. But it is the ‘wrong’ side of the separation wall. It is utterly neglected by the municipal authority. BBC photo showing the camp’s sewer – an open ditch next to the wall.

Water: Only 64% of households are officially connected to the water infrastructure of Hagihon Corporation – Jerusalem’s water and wastewater company.

Sewage: There is a shortage of approximately 30 kilometres of sewage pipes; throughout 2015, Hagihon plans to lay an additional 8.2 kilometres.

Street names: Since 2011, names were given to hundreds of streets that had stood nameless for decades, but the streets of entire neighbourhoods still remain unnamed.

Postal services: Only 7% of the postal workers operating in Jerusalem provide services to the Palestinian neighbourhoods; there are 8 post offices in East Jerusalem, compared with 40 in the city’s West; during peak hours at the central post office on Saleh e-Din St., the waiting time often stands at more than two hours.

Infant healthcare stations: In the Palestinian neighbourhoods, there are only 6 “Tipat Halav” (infant healthcare) stations operated by the Ministry of Health, and a seventh station in Kafr Aqab that is operated by a private contractor. In the Israeli neighbourhoods, the Ministry of Health operates 26 Tipat Halav stations, 3 of which are designated also for the Palestinian population.

The neighbourhoods behind the Separation Barrier: Between a quarter to a third of East Jerusalem residents live in neighbourhoods that have been cut off from the city by the Separation Barrier, and they are forced to pass through checkpoints on a daily basis. The residents of these areas suffer from severe neglect and a tremendous shortage of services and infrastructure; their persistent appeals to the authorities receive no response.


Densely populated Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem. No green spaces for children, young people, courting couples, stressed parents, old people….2009 photo by David Shankbone.

East Jerusalem 2015: Facts and Figures, pdf file

By ACRI

Updated: 12 May 2015

FIRST FOUR SECTIONS

• Number of residents: There are 300,200 Palestinian residents in Jerusalem, who constitute 36.8% of the city’s population.

• Separation Barrier: More than ¼ of residents reside in Jerusalem neighbourhoods that are disconnected from the rest of the city due to the construction of a separation barrier. These residents suffer from a severe lack of basic services and infrastructure.

• Residency status: Palestinians in Jerusalem are not citizens, but rather permanent residents; in 2014, the residency status of 107 Palestinian residents of Jerusalem was revoked.

• Living below the poverty line: 75.4% of all Palestinian residents, 83.9% of Palestinian children.

• Welfare services: 37% of those receiving welfare services in Jerusalem are Palestinians, but only 22% of the social workers serve them.

• Schools: Only 41% of Palestinian children are enrolled in municipal schools. There is a shortage of 1,000 classrooms in the official municipal education system; 194 classrooms were added in these schools between the years 2009-2014, and an additional 211 are in planning.

• Inadequate classrooms: 43% of the classrooms in the official municipal system are defined as inadequate classrooms.

• School dropout rate: 26% in 11th grade, 33% in 12th grade; the national average stands at a few percent.

• Planning and building: Approximately 20,000 houses lack a building permit; a large outline plan was recently approved for the neighbourhood of Arab al-Sawahra.

• House demolitions: In 2014, 98 structures were demolished and 208 residents have been uprooted from their homes; Israel has also renewed its policy of punitive demolitions for the houses of terrorists.

• Water: Only 64% of households are officially connected to the water infrastructure of Hagihon Corporation – Jerusalem’s water and waste water company.

• Sewage: There is a shortage of approximately 30 kilometres of sewage pipes; throughout 2015, Hagihon plans to lay an additional 8.2 kilometres.

• Street names: Since 2011, names were given to hundreds of streets that had stood nameless for decades, but the streets of entire neighbourhoods still remain unnamed.

• Postal services: Only 7% of the postal workers operating in Jerusalem provide services to the Palestinian neighbourhoods; there are 8 post offices in Palestinian neighbourhoods, compared with 40 in Israeli neighbourhoods; during peak hours at the central post office on Salah a-Din St., the waiting time often stands at more than two hours.

• Infant healthcare stations: In the Palestinian neighbourhoods, there are only 6 “Tipat Halav” (infant healthcare) stations operated by the Ministry of Health, and a seventh station in Kafr Aqab that is operated by a private contractor. In the Israeli neighbourhoods, the Ministry of Health operates 26 Tipat Halav stations, 3 of which are designated also for the Palestinian population.

• There are 300,200 Palestinian residents in Jerusalem, who constitute 36.8% of the city’s population.

• Nearly all of the Palestinian residents of Jerusalem are not Israeli citizens, but rather possess permanent residency status.

• In 2014, the Israeli Ministry of Interior has revoked the permanent residency status of 107 Palestinian residents of Jerusalem, including 56 women and 12 minors.

• Since 1967, the residency status of 14,416 Palestinian residents of Jerusalem has been revoked. In practice, this prevents them from returning to live in their place of birth.

In June 1967, the government of Israel decided to annex territories in and around Jerusalem, which were occupied in the Six Day War, by applying Israeli law to this territory and its residents. This annexation was executed in contravention of international law, which prohibits countries from unilaterally annexing territories. The international community does not acknowledge the Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem, and sees the area as an occupied territory.

Following the annexation, the Palestinians in East Jerusalem received the status of permanent residents of Israel. Due to this status, they cannot vote or seek election to the Knesset. They can vote or seek election to the Jerusalem municipality, but they repeatedly boycott the municipal elections, as they refuse to bestow legitimacy upon the annexation of East Jerusalem.

For 48 years, the Israeli policy concerning East Jerusalem, on both the municipal and national levels, has been determined without the involvement or political influence of the Palestinian population on the major decisions that shape its daily lives.

The result is policies that are harmful to the residents, as well as a prolonged and severe violation of their fundamental rights. Unlike citizenship, the status of permanent residency is not fixed. The Palestinians are required to prove time and time again to the Ministry of Interior clerks that they did not leave Jerusalem for an extended period of time and that the centre of their lives is in Israel. This, in order to prevent the revocation of their status and the abrogation of different rights that stem from this status.

In addition to the permanent residents, Palestinian residents of the Occupied Territories, who are married to residents of East Jerusalem, also live in Jerusalem, as well as children with one parent who is a resident of the territories. For more than a decade, these families have encountered hardships and complex difficulties resulting from the lack of regulation of their status, due to amendments introduced to the Law of Citizenship and Entry into Israel since 2003. These amendments, that were designed to freeze family unification processes in Israel and to prevent residents of the Occupied Territories from obtaining residency, lead to a severe violation of numerous basic rights. Without this status, the residents are barred from returning to live in their place of birth. In 2014, the permanent residency status of 107 Palestinian residents of Jerusalem was revoked; in 2013, the status of 106 Palestinians was revoked.

Poverty and Welfare

• In 2013, 75.4% of all East Jerusalem residents and 83.9% of children were living below the poverty line.

• By contrast, in the same year 21.8% of all residents of Israel and 30.8% of the children were living below the poverty line.

• 8,501 children in East Jerusalem are defined as children at risk.

• 37% of those receiving welfare services in Jerusalem are Palestinians, but only 22% of the positions of social workers are designated for the Palestinian population.

• In the framework of the five-year government plan for East Jerusalem, an addition of 30 positions was promised, but the resources for that have not been allocated yet.

• The workforce participation rate among Palestinian residents of Jerusalem stands at 67% for men and 14% for women aged 15 or more.

The poverty rate in East Jerusalem has reached alarming dimensions. This is a result of the severe neglect by authorities and is framed against the backdrop of the continuous political conflict.

For almost five decades, the Israeli authorities – including the Jerusalem municipality –refrained from investing adequate budgets in the Palestinian neighbourhoods and even imposed restrictions on the development of East Jerusalem as an urban unit serving the Palestinian public. The outcome is a labour market that does not match the size of the population, very limited areas for industry and a weakened education system. The language and culture gaps between the eastern and western areas of the city and the political tensions between Arabs and Jews further restrict the occupational horizon of the Palestinian residents. In recent years, the poverty levels in East Jerusalem have become further exacerbated. In 2006, 64% of Palestinians in Jerusalem lived below the poverty line, whereas by 2013 the rate rose to 75.4%.

A key reason for this exacerbation is the construction of the Separation Barrier, which severed Jerusalem from the West Bank, separated neighbourhoods and suburbs that had previously been connected and interdependent and even cut off several Jerusalem neighbourhoods from other parts of the city.

The severing of economic, commercial, religious, familial and touristic ties has worsened the socioeconomic situation and also hindered access to education, health services, religious institutions and more.

In 2012, the workforce participation rate among Palestinian residents of Jerusalem stood at 67% for men and 14% for women aged 15 or more. By contrast, the average rate in Israel was 69% for men and 58% for women.

Despite the acute poverty rates in East Jerusalem, and despite the additional deterioration that was registered over the last decade, the welfare services available to this population continues to suffer from a severe and continuous shortage of positions and budgets.

Since 2009, there has been a welcome increase of 27% in the number of positions of municipal social workers in East Jerusalem. Although this addition is significant, it is far from adequate in meeting the actual needs of the residents of the city. Out of 388 positions for social workers in Jerusalem, only 88 positions – which constitute 22% of available positions – are designated for the Palestinian population. This, despite the fact that 37% of the city’s residents receiving welfare services are Palestinians – 33,968 clients out of a total of 92,114.

In light of the immense poverty rates, it is surprising that only 11.3% of the residents of East Jerusalem are treated by the welfare services. A similar rate of Jewish residents are treated by the municipal welfare services, even though the poverty rate among the Jewish population is significantly lower than that of the Arab population. While in West Jerusalem there are 627 families waiting to begin receiving care, in East Jerusalem there are 834 families on the waiting list; this, despite the fact that the Palestinian population constitutes one-third of the city’s residents. It is likely that many Palestinian families in need of assistance are not being treated by the welfare service or are even on the waiting list.

While there are 22 welfare offices in Jewish Israeli neighbourhoods, there are only 5 operating in the Palestinian neighbourhoods. The Jerusalem municipality plans to establish a new neighbourhood office in Ras al-Amud and another office in Beit Hanina.

In light of the severe shortage of welfare services in East Jerusalem, the burden imposed on the social workers is tremendous: a social worker in East Jerusalem is responsible for 121 families on average, whereas a social worker in the city’s west is responsible for 82 families on average. The social workers in the city’s East chafe under the overwhelming burden and fail to provide a sufficient level of care to the large number of residents in need of assistance, among them 8,501 children who are defined as children at risk.

In the framework of the government’s five-year plan for East Jerusalem, an addition of 30 positions was promised, but the additional resources are yet to be allocated.

Education

• Out of 105,405 Palestinian students in Jerusalem:

Only 41% are enrolled in official municipal schools;

41% are enrolled in schools with a recognized but unofficial status; and 17% are enrolled in private schools.

• 43% of the classrooms in municipal schools are in an inadequate condition.

• Between the years 2009-2014, 194 classrooms were built in municipal schools, and an additional 211 are in various stages of planning.

• The school dropout rate is 26% in 11th grade and 33% in 12th grade.

The severe shortage of classrooms continues to loom over the education system in East Jerusalem this year as well.

Palestinian students constitute 40% of all students in Jerusalem. Due to the tremendous shortage of classrooms in the official municipal education system in East Jerusalem, only 41% of Palestinian students are enrolled in the official system. The numbers are even lower in the secondary education system: While 22,550 Palestinian children attend official elementary schools, only 15,824 continue to official high schools, due to the sharp decline in the number of classrooms – from 832 classrooms in elementary school to 723 in high school. A significant portion of existing classrooms in the official education system in East Jerusalem are inadequate: In the current school year, 711 inadequate school classrooms and 109 inadequate kindergarten classrooms are in use in East Jerusalem. These classrooms constitute 43% of the total number of classrooms in the official education system in East Jerusalem.

In 2008, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) filed a petition to the High Court of Justice concerning the education system in East Jerusalem. In their ruling, dated February 2011, the Justices determined that the Ministry of Education and Municipality of Jerusalem must act within five years (by 2016) to address the shortage of classrooms in the official education system in East Jerusalem, a shortage that was estimated at a minimum of 1,000 classrooms.

Despite the severe shortage, and even despite the High Court ruling, 194 new classrooms were built in the official schools and kindergartens between 2009-2014. In addition, during this period 157 classrooms were rented; approximately half of those, 78 classrooms, were rented in 2014. In the coming years, the construction of 211 additional school and kindergarten classrooms are planned.

Constructing new classrooms in these numbers will not address the need to increase the number of classrooms in the official education system and to shut down inadequate classrooms.

The school dropout rate among Palestinian students in Jerusalem is much higher than the average rate in Israel, and it is also high compared to the rate in the West Bank. In 9th grade, the dropout rate is 9%; in 10th grade it is 16%; in 11th grade 26%; and in 12th grade 33%. By contrast, in the Arab education system in Israel the dropout rate stands at 4.6% in 11th grade, and 1.6% in 12th grade. In the Hebrew education system in Israel (state, state-religious and ultra-Orthodox), the dropout rate stands 5.4% in 11th grade, and 1.4% in 12th grade.

The municipal budget for the prevention of school dropout in East Jerusalem is NIS 3 million in 2015. This is a significant addition, but according to the estimates of the Jerusalem Education Administration (MANHI), NIS 15 million is required in order to comprehensively address the issue of school dropout among Palestinian students.

Planning, Building and Demolitions

• Approximately 20,000 houses, constituting 39% of all houses in East Jerusalem, lack a building permit.

• In 2014, 98 structures in East Jerusalem were demolished and 208 residents were uprooted from their homes.

• Between the years 2011-2014, 302 structures in East Jerusalem were demolished.

• The outline plan for the neighbourhood of Araa a-Sawahra was recently approved, and it is expected to enable the construction of 2,500 new units. The issue of planning and building is one of the most complicated and harmful problems faced by the residents of East Jerusalem.


Israeli water utility company Hagihon has stopped the regular supply of running water to a number of Palestinian neighbourhoods in occupied East Jerusalem, according to a statement issued by Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem.Photo by APA images

The failure of the authorities to conduct adequate planning and development in East Jerusalem has led to a planning crisis, which is manifested in a housing shortage, threats of house demolitions, fines for construction without a permit, lack of adequate urban development and an extraordinary lack of infrastructure and public buildings such as schools, roads and transportation, water and sewage networks, parks and playgrounds.

In general, the outline plans that have been devised over the years for the Palestinian neighbourhoods do not conform to the planning level that is considered acceptable in West Jerusalem.

Construction percentages are low, the area designated for construction in the plans is limited and vast areas are reserved as open landscapes, thereby preventing any construction within them. In addition, since 1967 Israel has expropriated approximately 26,300 dunams in East Jerusalem for the purpose of building neighbourhoods for the Jewish population and for government offices.

In this manner, the land reserves that enable the natural growth of the Palestinian neighbourhoods have been significantly reduced. A review conducted by the organization Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights indicates that between the years 2005-2009, only some 55% of requests for building permits in the Palestinian neighbourhoods were approved, compared with some 85% in the Israeli neighbourhoods.

In areas for which there is no outline plan, Palestinian residents do not even bother to submit a request for a building permit. The planning failure has led to wide-scale building without permits, which is estimated at approximately 20,000 structures, constituting about 39% of all houses in the Palestinian neighbourhoods.

With the constantly increasing population, the distress is further exacerbated, yet Israeli authorities have done very little to address it. A press release on behalf of the Municipality of Jerusalem, published in September 2014, paints a grim picture with severe ramifications:

“The Arab neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem grew and developed over recent decades without any master plans or valid outline plans, by virtue of which the overall array of life in the neighbourhood could be regulated (legal construction of housing, allocations for public needs, commerce and employment and an organized road system).”

In recent years, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat began acting, as he put it, “to generate fundamental change” with regard to this issue and to instruct the municipality’s professional staff to begin planning the neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem. Master plans for the neighbourhoods of Beit Safafa, Sharafat, Sur Baher, Beit Hanina and Shuafat are currently being advanced by the municipality. As of May 2015, these plans have not yet been approved.

On the other hand, the plan for Arab a-Sawahra in the south-eastern part of the city managed, during 2014-2015, to receive the desired approval of both the local planning and building committee and the regional committee. This is the largest plan approved in East Jerusalem, which covers an area of 1,500 dunams and includes an option for building 2,200 housing units. The approval of this plan is a first step in a long process. Residents will have to submit detailed plans later on, so many years are expected to pass before the first house is built in Arab a-Sawahra. Similarly, in the other neighbourhoods where the municipality is promoting a planning arrangement, the residents will continue to suffer for many years from an inability to obtain building permits.

Building without a permit exposes the residents to the danger of demolition orders and even the loss of a roof over their heads, as well as to legal proceedings, heavy fines and more.

In 2014, 98 structures in East Jerusalem were demolished and 208 residents have been uprooted from their homes. Between the years 2011-2014, 302 structures in East Jerusalem were demolished.

Due to the exorbitant costs imposed on families when the authorities arrive to demolish their houses, recent years have seen a rising phenomenon of residents who receive demolition orders and decide to demolish their houses themselves.

The circle of those afflicted by the policy of house demolitions has grown over the past year, due to the Israeli authorities’ decision to renew the policy of demolishing and sealing the houses of terrorists in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. A principled legal petition against this policy, filed by human rights organizations, was rejected, as were the individual petitions filed on behalf of the families.

Other Palestinian families in Jerusalem face a danger of losing their homes due to the activity of Israeli organizations, which seek to “Judaize” East Jerusalem by establishing settlement areas in the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods, mostly in the Old City, Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah.

The Sub Laban family, for example, has been living since the 1950s in a house in the Muslim Quarter, which it received from the Jordanian administration. The family’s house was previously owned by a Jewish organization, and therefore a settlers’ organization is attempting, through legal proceedings, to bring about the forced eviction of the family.

The danger of eviction is also looming over the Shamasneh family from Sheikh Jarrah, another family of refugees who received their house from the Jordanian administration in the 1950s. In this manner, under the cover of the law and through the Israeli legal system, properties that were owned by Jews before 1948 are transferred to the hands of Israeli organizations, while Palestinians cannot get back the houses and properties they had owned before 1948.

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