Discrimination Against Arab Communities
in Israel and Palestine
05 June 2012
By Stephen Lendman
An April joint Bimkom Planners for Planning
Rights/Arab Center for Alternative Planning (ACAP)
report titled "Outline Planning for Arab Localities in
Israel" explains state-sponsored discriminatory
injustice.
Bimkom's Cesar Yeudki called study findings "a recipe
for further widening the gaps between population
groups in Israeli society."
The report discussed Arab community planning for the
first time. It reviewed 119 areas with about 950,000
residents. It compared variations in planning
solutions for Arab and Jewish locations.
Over decades, Arab areas transformed from rural to
densely urban "with no overarching strategy." Israeli
planning procedures failed to meet needs of a growing
population.
Housing, infrastructure and adequate land allocations
are sorely lacking. In contrast, Jewish communities
get preferential treatment. Two main Arab groups lack
housing solutions:
(1) Residents who own land located outside areas zoned
for development.
(2) Others without land unable buy it for home
construction.
Israel's Interior Ministry bears responsibility.
Partial solutions only are offered. In addition, drawn
out planning procedures leave them out of date when
approved.
The 2003 Or Commission concluded that discrimination,
neglect and hardship contributed to September 2000
Intifada eruptions. While the Arab population grew
sevenfold since 1948, residential areas remained
virtually unchanged. Lack of planning and bureaucratic
foot-dragging were blamed.
Until 2000, most Arab communities had no approved
plans. Early that year, the Interior Ministry
initiated efforts for the "advancement of outline
planning in the non-Jewish sector."
Initially about 30 communities were included. Later
they more than doubled. The project included master
plans for 13 locations in north and Central Israel. A
regional one for Wadi Ara areas was also completed.
At the same time, nine local plans were initiated.
Twelve years later, approval was gotten for only half
the designated areas. In other words, the Interior
Ministry's fulfillment belied its promise.
Development requires careful planning with regard to
housing, industry, commerce, public buildings, open
spaces, agriculture, infrastructure, and other
essential needs.
Failure to complete them properly leaves vital issues
unaddressed. Quality of life deteriorates. Unregulated
building fails to keep up.
Jewish areas get preferential treatment. Arab ones
function largely on their own, hit or miss, including
running afoul of zoning requirements.
As a result, ad hoc plans haven't solved Arab
problems. Systemic ones exist. They include
unrealistic estimates of housing needs relative to
population size and growth.
Arab citizens are marginalized and neglected. Dozens
of their communities in Israel's North, Central, Haifa
and Jerusalem districts have no approved plans. In
total, areas without plans include over half the Arab
population.
In preparing their report, Bimkom and ACAP conducted
comparisons of Arab and Jewish areas having similar
characteristics. They include population and area
size, local government similarities, and other
factors.
The study examined the amount of land allocated in
outline plans per locality. Attention was paid to
future residential development, industry and
employment.
Findings showed population projections for Jewish
areas greatly exaggerated. Plans prioritized them
generously. They're given more land, funding, and
allocations for infrastructure, schools, medical
facilities, open areas, and other needs.
In addition, industrial and employment considerations
got much greater attention. In contrast, Arab
communities were deprived.
For example, Taibeh's population matches Rosh Haayin.
Each has about 40,000 residents. Both have similar
municipal status and jurisdictional area
characteristics.
Plans, however, treat them differently. Taibeh's
population projection is 45,500 residents compared to
Rosh Haayin's 100,000. At the same time, Israel's
Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) estimates 65,800
Taibeh residents and 47,700 for Rosh Haayin by 2030.
Underestimating Taibeh's growth means fewer public
resources for it. Moreover, by the time plans are
approved, they're outdated.
As a result, planned Taibeh residential development is
40% less that Rosh Haayin's. It needs more but didn't
get it. In addition, land for Taibeh's industrial
growth is 55% lower than Rosh Haayin's. Opportunities
for business and commerce are lacking. Jobs aren't
created. Residents lose out. So does overall quality
of life.
Moreover, Jewish communities are situated on public
land. Arab towns get by on what's privately owned. It
means much less is available without government help.
According to ACAP's Reem Swaid:
"The vast majority of the Arab population in Israel,
in dozens of communities, has not been provided with
appropriate planning that answers its needs."
"Housing and good planning are basic rights of all
citizens - whether they are Arab or Jewish, whether
they live in central Israel or in the periphery."
Prioritizing Jewish needs over Arab ones leaves
one-fifth of Israel's population marginalized and
cheated. It's been that way for decades.
National Parks Over Neighborhood
Needs in East Jerusalem
Another April Bimkom report was titled "From National
to Public - National Parks in East Jerusalem." It was
a first of its kind initiative. It discussed national
park planning and development.
Findings showed "their conglomeration points toward a
news trend: the designation of areas as national parks
instead of open and public ones has become a tool for
limiting" Palestinian neighborhood development.
Moreover, multiple national parks in the heart of the
city's urban fabric is unique to Jerusalem. Some
include existing houses, commerce and industry.
Jerusalem's Municipality is advantaged two ways:
(1) National parks don't require land expropriation.
(2) Development and enforcement responsibility is
transferred from municipal control to the National
Planning Authority (NPA).
As a result, a national body has development control.
At the same time, the Jerusalem Municipality bears
responsibility for all its residents. Nonetheless, it
abdicated it to NPA authority. Arabs lose out to
Jewish priorities.
Currently, a detailed plan for establishing a national
park between the Palestinian neighborhoods of Al-Isawiyyah
and At-tur is under review. Its official name is Mount
Scopus Slopes National Park.
It encompasses about 75 hectares or nearly 200 acres.
It encompasses all land between two crowded
Palestinian communities. It deprives them of space to
grow. According to Bimkom's Efrat Cohen-Bar:
"The Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem are
crowded and they suffer from neglect and extreme
shortage of public infrastructure."
"The residents are in desperate need of space by means
of which they can improve their quality of life, even
if slightly. The designation of land as a national
park is a powerful and unjustified planning tool that
is harmful for the population of East Jerusalem."
Israel wants all Jerusalem for its exclusive capital.
Palestinians are systematically deprived and removed.
They're driven from their own land. They're
marginalized and deprived.
They're on their own to reverse decades of injustice
and ill-treatment. They're headed for cantonized
isolation on worthless scrubland if fail. That's
powerful motivation to prevent it.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached
at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book is
titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized
Banking, Government Collusion and Class War" http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html Visit
his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to
cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on
the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive
Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and
Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are
archived for easy listening. http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour.
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