| Confidential Report by the Israeli Ministerial Committee for Jerusalem Affairs The major section of the 13 page report presents official confirmation of data and criticism for decades by Israeli mayors and mainstream politicians: “A great number of [Arab families] suffer from serious economic problems ... the level of physical infrastructure and social services in the non-Jewish neighborhoods are ... far below that of the Jewish neighborhoods.” Other major problems listed are: shortage of housing, roads, the deficient water and sewage system, and the lack of basic services for children, youths and the elderly. According to the report, only 13 of the city’s 30 Arab neighborhoods have zoning plans (which are a precondition for infrastructural improvements).
While the report thus admits many of the disastrous results of 27 years of Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem, the authors are not motivated by a new Israeli concern for the needs of the city’s Palestinian population. “The lack of proper social services in Jerusalem’s Arab sector has created a vacuum being filled by Palestinian groups, largely Hamas and Fatah ... Those groups today operate a wide range of leisure activities, training courses, and community activities.” In order to eliminate the threat represented by these groups, the report recommends to the Israeli government to invest approximately US $ 100 mil. in the improvement of infrastructure and services in East Jerusalem (Jerusalem Post, 3/11/94; unfortunately this report is not available to the public). |
