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It's a thin line that separates East from West Jerusalem, a social goal in the city of Palestinians in East Jerusalem.
Before 1967, East Jerusalem was under Jordanian rule, after the Six Day War, Israel exerted control over the Eastern half of the city. Neighborhoods in the east of lack of infrastructure, education, housing and municipal services.
Some historians believe that the political leadership of this country would inevitably be exchanged in a future peace deal with the Palestinians and thus avoided investment in its upkeep. Others say the ongoing neglect is a product of a biased policy that seeks to emphasize Jerusalem's Jewish character while marginalizing the Arab population.
Either way, the gaps between East and West are clear.
But East Jerusalem Residents also face an issue of status. Most Palestinian residents of the city are clbadified as "permanent residents" but are not Israeli citizens and do not enjoy full citizenship rights.
"It's about right. The right of movement, the right to vote, the right to anything, we are second degree residents, "East Jerusalem resident Mohamad Nabulsi told I24news. "We are not even citizens, to go to a visa, to go out of Israel, to come back, to come back to your homeland.
East Jerusalem Arabs included about 38 percent of the city's population, and they were entitled to social security benefits and pensions.
While Israel formally offers East Jerusalem Arabs the right to apply for citizenship on paper, in reality, only a small number of applications are approved and most remain in liminal 'pending' status.
Nabulsi's story is very much Jerusalem Arabs. He left Jerusalem for an extended period of time, only to discover that he had been revoked. But he took his case to Israel's supreme court and won.
"I decided to come back to my homeland and I found out that I can not live in Jerusalem because I changed the center of my life according to the law," Nabulsi said. "As a resident in Jerusalem, as I am a Palestinian I am a resident of the United States, I went to short and I managed to get back my residency. "
According to Nabulsi, this status issue impedes basic freedom of movement.
"So how does it feel? I have many Israeli friends and they are completely free, like someone from Europe, and they can travel, and they can get to know each other. "Nabulsi said.
Adi Lustigman, a human rights lawyer I24news that Arabs in the city faces a unique challenge.
If they want to just join the modern world, the world, they want to relocate for work they are always in their minds, they will be forced to leave their homes, "Lustigman told I24news.
"I think the first thing is that Israel does not want those people," "Lustigman added.
Lustigman hopes to see the government alter its policy, not just on a national level.
"I expect the government to recognize that the people in the United States are here to stay, they are here originally, many of them are here before the legislator's parents, and they are a moral and legal obligation by international law, for the people in Jerusalem to live normally, without discrimination, and with equal rights in this area, "Lustigman told I24news.
Taxation without representation
East Jerusalem residents say their neighborhoods lack proper public transportation, infrastructure, sewage treatment, education and other basic municipal services.
Aida al-Qleibo is an east Jerusalem resident who ran for municipal elections in the 'Our Jerusalem'. But she quickly withdrew herself from the race.
"The idea was to light a spark, to tell people, we are losing us completely, we're losing everything we can to Palestinians to run in the future, "Qleibo told I24news
East Jerusalem residents have traditionally boycotted municipal elections as they see it as normalizing Jerusalem as the capital of a Jewish state. In the last round of the municipal elections in 2013 only about two percent of the Arab population turned up to the ballot box.
"At this point we have been boycotting the elections for several years," he said, "with the Palestinian situation, currently, trust is something we lack a lot of," Qleibo said.
Members of the Our Jerusalem. The party's leader and founding member Aziz Abu Sarah said in his withdrawal that it was called by Israeli authorities.
"So we got it the worst and the next time," said Qleibo. "When Palestinians want to go down for the elections they will be able to do so, it will probably be more socially accepted, because people will have had time to think about it. . "
Ben Avrahami, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat's advisor to Advisor to East Jerusalem Affairs, said that although there are many gaps in the city, Barkat's tenure in office has been improved.
"We have seen an unprecedented degree of investment in new clbadrooms, we have built in Barkat's tenure here in Jerusalem, innovative plans, extracurricular plans, new teachers, in the system, with very important and significant changes in the way they address challenges of education in east Jerusalem, to put new Hebrew clbades, new schools for children in the municipal schools, "Avrahami told I24news.
"We are in the middle of the process in East Jerusalem, we are investing more than 50 million shekels every year in Jerusalem."
Jersalamites live today as compared to the situation ten years ago, "Avarahami told you" I24news.
But such wide-scale investments can take place in the city of East Timor.
"These are complimentary but they are not enough," Qleibo told I24news. "Building permits is the biggest problem we have. Palestinians can not build homes in Jerusalem, but they have to wait for it.
Qleibo also says investment in education is lacking in Jerusalem's east.
"There are many clbadrooms still missing, so they are not actually in the best state they should be in," said Qleibo, baderting that other municipal services are also lacking.
"The garbage trucks on the way to those streets – some of them are only once in a while, so they are trying to make a difference in West Jerusalem – that can not be negotiated , "Qleibo said," It was a platform that would resonate with Arab voters.
"My idea when I first entered the elections was to help people in the municipality, because it is unfair, to pay for taxes and not be represented at all, and not being able to have someone to represent Palestinians in the municipality creates a huge void, "Qleibo said.
Emily Rose is i24NEWS Middle East match.
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