Dear All,
OSM is used around the world as an international tool to reach consensus about facts on the ground as local populations see and experience them. We are all aware that Jerusalem has been declared by the Israeli government as the “United Undivided Eternal Capital of the Jewish State of Israel”, and that every one living in it is equal under the democratic law of the Knesset. In (Israeli) theory this works fine for those who choose to not look at facts on the ground.
Since said declaration was made, Israeli authorities have ignored the E. Jerusalem population. The infrastructure in place for sewage, clean water, waste management and house building is the same as what it was during the Jordanian rule, and as is such clearly (and intentionally) insufficient do to natural population growth. Very few schools have been built (if any at all) in the Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem. According to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), the school system is missing 1,650 classrooms, contributing to the highest school dropout rate in both Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories - 50%. The only two prominent municipal services provided are: a. Housing demolitions for homes built not in accordance with the non existing infrastructure plan (presenting quite the catch 22), and b. those offered to Jewish settlements. These settlements use both manipulative and violent ways to gain and steal land in the middle of Palestinian communities with the goal and vision of “Jewdiazing East Jerusalem.”
There is nothing this population can do within the existing democratic structure to change and better their situation. East Jerusalem Palestinians have a very different legal status compared to West Bankers, or Palestinian Citizens of Israel. In 67 they received ‘Residency Status’ (similar to the U.S. Green Card). This status is easily revoked when one leaves for over a year, or moves to a suburb of Jerusalem. It entails all sorts of legal dis-empowerment’s compared to the Jewish Israeli citizens in Jerusalem. In fact over 14,000 Palestinian who were born here, and come from families who’ve lived in Jerusalem for generations - cannot ever come visit again.
Indeed East Jerusalemites do not practice wishful thinking. The East side of town is the largest Palestinian city in this area (over 300,000), it has always been the political, cultural, economic and religious capital of the Palestinian people. The only barrier to this at the moment is the physical one (the 8 meter high “security barrier”) built through the Palestinian communities, separating families, and devastating economies. The Municipality has consistently ignored the Palestinian population since 1967, the Israeli Jerusalem is not their capital.
Indeed, millions of Israelis and others across the West accept that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, as do I. Some may be unaware that millions of Palestinians and others across the Arab world also recognize Al-Quds as the capital of Palestine, as it has functioned for generations until 10 years ago, when the wall was built and Palestinian governing bodies were violently run out of town.
But to precise, in fact (!), the International community (including the U.S. Government) has never accepted Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. As testament to this, there are no foreign embassies in Jerusalem, they are all in Tel-Aviv. According to international law, the European Union, and the United Nations General Assembly, Jerusalem is not the capital of Israel either.
It is unfortunate the current discussion has become borderline offensive. Everyone involved I have met so far are friendly and reasonable. The realities in Jerusalem are not simple. To engage and work in poor (Palestinian and Israeli) communities that have been used as political pawns for decades by both the Israeli and Palestinian politicians and gain their trust is almost impossible. Each community is very much a world of its own, each neighborhood dealing with its own challenges. I am active in Both Israeli and Palestinian communities in Jerusalem. I wish for them to have the capacity to map and present their realities as they experience them. As a Jewish, Jerusaelmite I am concerned my city is losing it’s character. I am also concerned with Human Rights violations that happen daily in my city. Human and urban rights are not political issues, they are rights we all deserve, not just a privilaged few. I do not appriciate having my charachter called into question without even an attempt to connect with me after we met, we shook hands, smiled at each other and had a fasinating conversation. This level of communication is simply less than what we are capable of. I have invited Dimka to understand these realities and come visit across that greenline he wouldn’t cross earlier. I would like to extend that invitation to this mapping community and to offer a meeting and a tour of Jerusalem.
In regards to political mapping, since 1948 all around Jerusalem the municipality has changed the old Palestinian neighborhood names to Jewish Israeli names: Katamonim is now Gonenim, Baka’a is Geulim, Musrara is Morasha… Lately this practice of Jewdyizing names has been taking place in the current Palestinian neighborhoods (occupied in 1967) in East Jerusalem: Silwan on maps has been changed to Ir-David (City of David), Shiekh Jarrah is now Shim’on Hatsadik, Ras-AlAmud= Ma’aleh Zeitim… This is happening to Street Names, Building Names and many other landmarks across Palestinian communities in E. Jerusalem. These names are facts, changing on maps that a dis-empowered, local population can do nothing about. These new names are what you will find on current maps of Jerusalem. These “facts” on the map do not represent the local realities. Lets admit, all Maps of Jerusalem are political. Mapping in Jerusalem is a political activity. Engaging in the mapping process of Jerusalem is political and to do so makes US ALL political activists. The political question we need to answer together is, will the map reflect a local community experience and reality, or will it reflect what so many other maps already represent: dominant political and economic oppression?
