On November 1, the Jerusalem Administrative Court accepted Ir Amim’s petition (27276-07-15), submitted together with the residents of Kufr Aqab, against the Jerusalem Municipality and its mayor on the matter of substandard and dangerous road conditions in this north Jerusalem neighborhood beyond the Separation Barrier. The petition was submitted via Adv. Moen Odeh.
Petitioners described the poor state of upkeep of roads passing through the neighborhood, and said that this constituted clear and blatant discrimination versus other Jerusalem neighborhoods, particularly West Jerusalem neighborhoods. According to the petitioners, their neighborhoods receive just 0.02% of the municipal budget intended for roads.
The Court’s decision obligates the respondents to develop and produce a plan for the improvement and repair of roads, including sidewalks and drainage systems, in the Kufr Aqab neighborhoods within three months of the date of the Court order, stipulating that they must be prepared to implement the plan within 6 months after submission of the plan. The Municipality and mayor were ordered to pay the appellants’ court costs of NIS 25,000.
Judge Mintz stated in his judgment that the respondent’s request to add the State to the petition in itself evidences the respondent’s mishandling of the budget. Moreover, “Even if there is some difficulty in bridging the infrastructure gaps that have been created over the years, the respondent did not present any realistic plan – neither partial nor in stages – designed to improve the condition of roads and drainage systems in the neighborhoods."
The judge specifically drew attention to the issue of the neighborhoods beyond the Separation Barrier:
“It should be noted that the unique nature of the areas of the neighborhoods that are the subject of this petition has not escaped me, as well as the existing complexity, in practical terms, of finding ways of implementing the Municipality's powers and its obligations to act within its jurisdiction… But even if this complexity is not solely the Municipality's ‘fault,’ but rather the outcome of various complex factors and decisions that are also of a political nature and were not made by the Municipality, even in this case it is incumbent upon the Authority to constantly examine the priorities and how to realize them… [the Authority] cannot divest itself of all responsibility for fulfilling its obligations, as the respondent has done in this case for all intents and purposes.”
Please link here for Displaced in their Own City, Ir Amim’s recently launched report on the eight Jerusalem neighborhoods detached from the city by the Separation Barrier.
Background
On September 28, the District Court heard an administrative petition filed on July 14, 2015 by Ir Amim, in cooperation with the residents of Kufr Aqab, against the City of Jerusalem and its mayor regarding the poor state of road infrastructure in the northern neighborhoods beyond the Separation Barrier (Administrative petition 27276-07-15). The petition was filed by Attorney Moien Odeh, 10 years after government decision 3873 regarding the State’s responsibility to ensure provision of services to the populations of the Jerusalem areas impacted by construction of the Barrier.
The September hearing evidenced the ongoing conflict between city and state authorities in assigning responsibility for the neighborhoods beyond the Separation Barrier. The Court expressed surprise at the Municipality’s position, repeatedly stating that a struggle between the Municipality and the State should not translate into a struggle for residents of the eight neighborhoods, entitled to receive an appropriate level of services.
The administrative tensions cited by the Court stemmed from the Municipality’s September 7, 2015 court request to include the government of Israel as an additional respondent to the petition. On October 21, 2015, the District Attorney’s Office, responding for the government, rejected the request to join as a respondent and harshly criticized the Municipality for its failure to exercise responsibility for redressing petitioners’ concerns, citing the Minister of Transportation’s allocation of NIS 423,000,000 to the Municipality – half of which remains unused by the City. Also responding on behalf of the government, the National Security Council stated that representatives of the Municipality are in daily contact with the Council and have at no point requested assistance. Moreover, security should not be an obstacle in executing its responsibility for servicing the area.
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