jerusalem municipality

A young Palestinian boy walks by a section of the Palestinian side of the Separation Wall in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Abu Dis. September 29, 2014. (Photo by Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Demographic hysteria leaves Jerusalemites by the wayside

For 50 years, the Israeli government has treated Jerusalem as a national symbol instead of as a city. Its residents, both Palestinians and Jews, are paying the price. By Efrat Cohen-Bar As far back as the 1970s, the Israeli government set a goal to maintain a Jewish majority of at least 70 percent in its…

By +972 Magazine August 3, 2017

A home demolition in East Jerusalem. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

East Jerusalem hit by wave of home demolitions

Nine families are made homeless in a series of demolitions in East Jerusalem. The pace of demolitions so far in 2017 outstrips that in 2016, currently the worst year on record. By Aviv Tatarsky Israeli forces conducted a wave of demolitions in East Jerusalem on Thursday, destroying four homes in al-Walaja, one house and four…

By +972 Magazine May 5, 2017

A Palestinian man demolishes his own home in Jerusalem after receiving a demolition order related to a lack of proper permits. (File photo Sliman Khader/Flash90)

The impossible choice faced by East Jerusalem Palestinians

Palestinians in East Jerusalem live in an ongoing state of limbo: either stay where they are and risk having any additions they make to their homes demolished, or move away and lose their residency status. By Suleiman Maswadeh It was a day I’ll never forget. I was 14, and my father invited me to “visit…

By +972 Magazine April 19, 2017

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Construction on a road ostensibly connecting the Cremisan Monastery to Jerusalem threatens to uproot olive trees belonging to Hisham Abu Ali and other residents of al-Walaja, West Bank. (Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

Jerusalem demolishes Palestinian homes beyond the wall for first time

Israeli authorities destroy three homes in al-Walaje, a village that was partially annexed to Jerusalem, yet has been totally neglected by the municipality. By Aviv Tatarsky Israeli authorities demolished three homes in the Palestinian village of al-Walaja on Tuesday. Bulldozers accompanied by Israeli soldiers raided the village at approximately 4 a.m. and began demolishing a…

By +972 Magazine April 14, 2016

Palestinian youth are seen in front of Al Issawiya village, East Jerusalem, Wednesday, January 11, 2012. A new "national park" planned by the Jerusalem municipality will cause extensive confiscation of lands from Al Issawiya and Al Tur neighborhoods. Designating sites as national parks is a common practice of the Jerusalem municipality aimed at limiting the very dense and populated Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhoods, cutting off their possibilities of development and working on the few remaining agricultural lands. (photo: Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

WATCH: How Palestinian land becomes an Israeli national park

Issawiya, a crowded Palestinian village situated on the slopes of Jerusalem’s Mount Scopus, is home to 23,000 people. The municipality is planning to build a national park atop land belonging to the village, rather than building schools and infrastructure that would benefit its residents. The Palestinian residents of the village aren’t taking the decision lying…

By Social TV August 18, 2015

A man walks toward the checkpoint at the entrance of Shuafat Refugee Camp in East Jerusalem, December 27, 2011 (Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

For Jerusalem’s Palestinians, a city of poverty and division

More than one quarter of Jerusalem’s Palestinian residents live behind the concrete separation barrier; Israel has revoked the residency of over 14,000 Palestinian Jerusalemites since ‘reunifying’ the city in 1967, including 107 last year alone. Three-quarters of East Jerusalem’s 300,200 Palestinian residents live below the poverty line, including 83.9 percent of children, according to a…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland May 17, 2015

Illustrative photo of an Egged bus (Photo by Kw0/CC 3.0)

The wave of Jerusalem attacks Israelis don’t hear about

One hundred Palestinian bus drivers in the capital have quit their jobs because of such violence from Jewish racists. If you’d asked me how many East Jerusalem Palestinian bus drivers in the capital had quit their jobs because of the violence they’d faced from Jewish assailants, I’d have said oh, maybe three. When I read…

By Larry Derfner December 16, 2014

A resident of Ras Shehada plugs the building's pipe to a pump to help the water pressure, East Jerusalem, March 15, 2014. The family of nine, living in the Ras Shehada neighborhood has been going 10 days without running water. (Activestills.org)

E. Jerusalem Palestinians demand running water be restored

In areas where nearly 80 percent live under the poverty line, residents are being forced to buy bottled water for drinking, cooking, showering and cleaning. Palestinian East Jerusalem residents turned to Israel’s High Court on Tuesday demanding that running water be restored to their homes, after suffering for three weeks without it. The petition was…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man March 26, 2014

Activists from Shua'fat refugee camp, 15.12.2013. (Activestills.org)

PHOTOS: Denied services by Jerusalem, Palestinian residents form emergency response team

Photos & text: Yotam Ronen, Oren Ziv, Shiraz Grinbaum /Activestills.org Although it is hidden away from the view of most the city’s residents by a separation barrier, the Shuafat refugee camp is officially part of Jerusalem. Therefore, like every other neighborhood in Jerusalem, Shuafat’s residents (who pay municipal taxes) depend on the city for their infrastructure…

By Activestills December 24, 2013

American activist Rachel Corrie (photo: Rachel Corrie Foundation)

Jerusalem deputy mayor: Defund theater showing Rachel Corrie play

Hatred for Rachel Corrie knows no limits, as a Jerusalem municipal official demonstrates by trying to ban a play about the ‘Israel-hater tourist.’ The director to +972 Magazine: ‘He should see it before judging.’ Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem David Hadari, of Nafatli Bennet’s Jewish Home party, demanded that the city stop funding the Khan…

By Ami Kaufman July 1, 2013

Palestinian youth blocked traffic in Bethlehem in a protest against the rising cost of living and criticizing the Palestinian Authority leadership, September 8, 2012. (photo: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)

Palestinian university shuts down in wake of violence, teacher strikes

Critics often say that Palestinians should concentrate on state-building rather than fighting the occupation. But the prolonged closure of a Palestinian university is a reminder that Palestine can’t get on its feet when it’s under Israel’s boot. It’s been 10 days since I’ve seen my students at the Palestinian university in the West Bank. A…

By Mya Guarnieri Jaradat March 16, 2013