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JERUSALEM – A half-billion-dollar Israeli project aimed at developing the Palestinian areas of East Jerusalem and lifting people out of poverty receives a warm welcome from those who are supposed to benefit from it.
This program will improve living conditions in impoverished Palestinian neighborhoods and allow residents to access the robust economy of Israel. But the city's long-neglected Palestinian community views the project with deep skepticism and mistrust, fearing that this will be a way to consolidate Israel's control over the eastern sector after more than 50 years of occupation. .
"All these projects have nothing to do with," said Ziad Hammoury, who heads the Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights, an advocacy group. "It's about controlling more and more in East Jerusalem. "
The" Leading Change "program, launched in May, aims to reduce the huge social gaps between Palestinian neighborhoods and the western part of the city.After years of neglect, Palestinian neighborhoods suffer from poor infrastructure, neglect and poor public services and nearly 80% of Palestinian families live in poverty
The program will invest 2 billion shekels, or 560 million dollars in education, infrastructure and help Palestinian women enter the labor market.The money will be spent for various programs, including nine pilot projects, over five years in order to attract others. investments governs
The program was instituted by the nationalist government of Israel. He opposes any division of the city but seems to have concluded that the strengthening of the Palestinian areas of Jerusalem is also in the interest of Israel.
"All those who truly believe in a unified Jerusalem and aspire to full sovereignty must act with determination." Zeev Elkin, Jerusalem's Minister of Jerusalem Affairs, said at the launch of the project last May. Elkin should play a leading role in the implementation of the program, and he presents himself to the mayor of Jerusalem in this year's elections.
The program's designers recognize political sensitivities but argue that the economic benefits will be real They say that the integration of Palestinians into Israeli society will offer more opportunities.
"It is a population like the others. It deserves to receive public services like everyone else, "said Shaul Meridor, head of the budget department of the Ministry of Finance." Economically, it is very clear to everyone that if we help this population to be in better shape , they will benefit and everyone else too. "
Israel captured East Jerusalem in the Middle East War in 1967 and annexed it is not internationally recognized. Is like an indivisible part of its capital, while Palestinians look for the region, which houses the most sensitive holy places in the city, as the capital of a future state.
Since 1967, Palestinian residents of Jerusalem -Is eligible for Israeli citizenship but most did not look for it, believing it would mean recognizing Israeli rule.
Instead, they have residency status, allowing them to e work and travel freely in Israel. As non-citizens, they do not vote in Israeli elections. Few of them use their residency rights to vote in municipal elections, a political statement that forbids them a way to influence their daily lives.
Palestinians represent 37% of the population of Jerusalem, or 866,000 people. Despite the representation of Jerusalem as being united, there are marked differences between the Arab and Jewish parts of the city.
The pedestrian streets and winding bike paths of West Jerusalem contrast with the littered streets of East Jerusalem garbage cans. . Many Palestinians work in menial jobs in the west side, where wages are higher and work is more plentiful. A ring of Jewish neighborhoods that Israel has built in East Jerusalem enjoys the same infrastructure and development as the west side.
One aspect of the new project is to encourage Hebrew learning and promote the adoption of the Israeli curriculum. the Palestinian, according to the organizers, aims to open the doors of the Israeli economy. They say the project will also address land use issues, build shopping centers and increase access to public services.
Lior Schillat, Director General of the Jerusalem Institute of Political Research, called the program "historic" the first time that an Israeli government was investing so heavily in the economic development of the region
In 2014, the government set aside a special budget of 200 million shekels ($ 55 million) for the region, a fraction of the current project. The city spends 9 to 11 percent of its budget on Palestinian neighborhoods, which is not commensurate with their population, said Meir Margalit, a former Jerusalem city council member. A spokesman for the municipality said the city had made "unprecedented" investments in East Jerusalem in recent years.
The organizers say that they expect to see the change brought by the new program in a few years. Palestinians are turning to Israel for economic opportunities rather than to the West Bank or the Middle East. He said that more people are enrolling in Israeli universities and colleges, more are applying for citizenship and half of all occupied Palestinians in East Jerusalem are working in West Jerusalem or in the surrounding Jewish cities. He said that mistrust could be alleviated once the change is seen on the ground.
Mohammad Owaida, a resident of East Jerusalem, adviser to the Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs and participating in the project, said that he was not concerned about the intentions of the government. the project brings change.
"I do not care about the agenda of Elkin, I am concerned about improving the lives of 400,000 people," he said, adding that he believed that most people were in agreement with him but that they were too scared to say it
others say that it is flawed because its design residents of East Jerusalem – few of whom occupy government positions – although organizers say they consult residents frequently.The launch of the project, held at the Israeli president's residence, included a number of Israeli dignitaries, but few Palestinian faces.
"It's a nice project but it arrived too late and did not include local representatives," said Ramadan Dabash. One of a handful of Palestinians to stand for the Jerusalem City Council. "Who knows East Jerusalem as those who live here?"
Critics disen They also saw past Israeli attempts to meet the needs of Palestinians in the city.
"These are attempts to incite the Palestinian population to renounce or dilute their national identity as Palestinians and become Israeli," said Daniel Seidemann, a Jerusalem expert who is very critical of government policies.
His Solution to the Problems of East Jerusalem
"A Frontier."
Copyright 2018 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This document may not be published, distributed, rewritten or redistributed.
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