Israel Blog #4: Issues of inequality in Israel: Ir Amim and Yousef Jabareen

Though our meetings with the Supreme Court Justices and our visit to the Knesset were interesting and helpful, we met with other groups that showed us that the Israeli legal system was not all roses and sunshine.  We met with a guide from Ir Amim and we met with Yousef Jabareen in Nazareth.

Ir Amim is a Jewish organization fighting for equality in Jerusalem.  The equality they are fighting for is not Jewish equality.  Instead, it is fighting for equal rights of Arab Palestinians living in Jerusalem.  They believe that the only way to achieve true peace in Israel is to bring the Palestinian population onto equal footing with the Israeli citizens  We discussed mainly two things:  1)  The wall that runs along 400 miles of the West Bank and the hardship this creates for Palestinians, and 2)  The unequal treatment of the Palestinian citizens in Jerusalem by the municipality of Jerusalem.

The wall along the West Bank creates a huge hardship for Palestinians.  The existence of the wall is understandable.  The early 2000s were a dangerous time to live in Jerusalem.  Bombs exploded often, and by 2005 bombings were almost a weekly occurrence.  The bombers generally walked from West Bank towns into Jerusalem to make their attacks.  Israel's solution for safety was to build the wall to separate mainland Israel from the West Bank, with checkpoints at various locations for individuals to cross.

The wall separating the West Bank from Israel runs through Jerusalem

Though safety is necessary for the innocent people in Israel who were attacked, the actions of a few terrorists have resulted in a lot of hardship for many Palestinians.  The wall cut through the middle of some Jerusalem Communities, forcing the people to choose which side they wanted to live on.  Travel between the two sides was made difficult, turning a ten minute walk into an hour or longer endeavor.  Individuals living in the West Bank worked in Jerusalem because 1) there was a minimum wage in mainland Jerusalem, and 2) the average wage was four times as much in Jerusalem.  There was just more  economic opportunity in the city.  The wall created difficulty for Palestinians who wanted to take advantage of these opportunities and live where they wanted to live.

The green topped building was built at the turn of the century to be the capital of Palestine, in anticipation of a two state agreement.  The wall through cuts right through this Jerusalem neighborhood.  

The second thing that the guide from Ir Amim spoke to us about was the unequal treatment of Palestinians in Jerusalem.  Municipal codes on neighborhood building location, size (two stories), and other housing logistics are strictly enforced against Palestinian citizens.  On the other hand, exceptions are made for Israeli neighborhoods, which are built in East Jerusalem, with multiple story buildings.  The other issue that is common is the issue of municipal funding.  Palestinians make up 30% of the population of Jerusalem.  They do not receive 30% of the funding for maintenance and upkeep.  Part of the issue is that Palestinians boycott municipal elections, because they believe participation would be endorsement of the Jewish state, which they oppose.  It is a complicated situation.  We drove through a few of the Jewish communities and a few Palestinian communities, and the Jewish communities were in a much better state of repair, and the Jewish communities had wider roads and more space (the road space was a premium on the mountain).  It was unfortunate to see the things that Palestinians in Jerusalem have to deal with, but I'm glad we were able to get a glimpse of it while we were there.

In Nazareth, we visited Yousef Jabareen, the head of the Arab Center of Law and Policy.  Dr. Jabareen wrote an article advocating for equal rights for Palestinian Israeli's.  The situation with Israeli Palestinians is different than the Palestinians who live in Jerusalem.  The individuals in Jerusalem are not Israeli citizens, and they do not recognize the state of Israel.  The Israeli Palestinians are citizens of Israel, recognize the state, and want to live with equal rights within the state of Israel.  Dr.  Jabareen explained to us many inequalities that Palestinians face.  I was struck by the similarities between the concerns of Dr. Jabareen and the inequalities that minority groups in the United States face.  Examples of these inequality are job opportunity, educational achievement, and religious discrimination.  (Dr. Jabareen methodically explains these inequalities in the linked article.  I encourage you to read it if you are interested in the specifics).  Even though Israel has its own unique struggles, at the core they still struggle with the same issues that we do as a country.

I'm glad we received a Palestinian perspective while we were on the ground.  It helps to be able to weigh these experiences against some of the other ones we had in Israel.