Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, December 1997, Pages 112-114

Northwest News

Jerusalem Municipality Deputy Director-General Challenged on Policies in Meeting With Portland Group

By Elaine Kelley

Deputy Director-General of the Jerusalem Municipality Avraham Schwartz visited the Portland World Affairs Council Aug. 29 as part of a U.S. Information Agency tour of the U.S. from Aug. 17 to Sept. 8.

Schwartz is a member of the right-wing Agudat Yisrael Political Party and, upon his return to Jerusalem, will take on new responsibilities for the municipality in managing overall housing construction in Jerusalem.

Those participating in group interviews of Avraham Schwartz were Jan Abushakrah, who lived in Jerusalem for 15 years and worked as the founder and director of the Palestine Human Rights Information Center; United Methodist Pastor Dan Simmons; Frank Afranji, a Palestinian Muslim from Ramallah; and Rabbi Daniel Isaak of Portland's Congregation Neveh Shalom. USIA escort interpreter Robert Miller translated most of Schwartz' comments.

Schwartz first described the diverse groups living in Jerusalem and the numbers registered in public and private education. He said that of the 150,000 students in elementary through secondary schools, about 63,000 Jewish students are in private ultra-Orthodox schools and 55,000 Arab students in Jerusalem qualify for Israel's public schools. Of these, Schwartz said, "about 25,000 Arabs decided to accept municipal funds and recognition," while 30,000 "are not willing to get into that framework." For them a Jordanian curriculum is provided.

Schwartz declined to explain the absence of Arab universities in Jerusalem or discuss the cultural and economic obstacles precluding Palestinians from attending Israeli universities, but insisted that Israel provides the Jordanian educational framework strictly because "Arab students prefer to study later on in universities in Arab states."

However, according to Samir Abushakrah, a Palestinian lawyer who worked at the PHIC in Jerusalem with his wife Jan Abushakrah, Israeli higher education policies are designed to discourage Palestinians from applying. Samir Abushakrah said that Israeli law does not prohibit outright the enrollment of Palestinians in Israeli universities, but that the system discourages Palestinians from applying. He referred to an entrance exam required of all university applicants which was designed for students who attended Israeli high schools, who speak fluent Hebrew, and have lived in the Jewish culture. Abushakrah, an Israeli citizen raised in the Galilee and educated in an Israeli high school in the Hebrew language, was one of 120 accepted into the Hebrew University's law school in Jerusalem out of 3,000 who applied.

He said that his own experience is exceptional. "The entrance exam is a real obstacle for non-Jews," he said, but unless one is cognizant of how the system works it may appear that the educational system is open and equitable. "There are different standards for Arabs."

In answer to Schwartz' statement that Arabs "prefer" to study in Arab universities in Arab countries Abushakrah noted an Israeli Supreme Court decision back in the 1960s which denied licensing to a proposed Arab university in Jerusalem, a decision based on the argument that there was no academic need for an additional university.

Abushakrah said that while these policies may be gradually changing, historically Palestinians have been denied a quality education in Israel and, as a result, those who were able traveled outside the country to pursue an education.

Jan Abushakrah, now living in Portland and teaching sociology at Portland Community College, led the questioning by confronting Schwartz on his government's housing policies. She presented a written statement listing the specific policies the group had come to discuss, issues that included restrictions on residency rights for Palestinians, the confiscation of identity cards, refusal to register children born in Jerusalem, failure to approve family reunification requests, confiscation of Palestinian land, restrictions on building in Palestinian areas, discrimination in municipal services, and Israel's continued occupation of East Jerusalem. "Our group is primarily concerned with housing and what is happening to Palestinians in Jerusalem, and with Ras Al-Amoud," she began. Schwartz argued the legality of the controversial take-over by ultra-Orthodox Jews in the historically Arab neighborhood of Ras Al-Amoud saying that, "In Israel, like any other place, a person can buy land and try to pass a plan. If everything is accepted, they are approved."

The sale of property in the Ras Al-Amoud neighborhood is still being investigated. Fouad Hadiya, who has been accused by fellow Palestinians of selling his East Jerusalem property to the Jewish American millionaire Irving Moskowitz, has denied ever selling his house and is ironically getting help to prove his statement from Moskowitz' own lawyer, Eitan Geva, who said that Moskowitz purchased the four-acre plot in 1991 from two Jewish seminaries and that therefore he owns the building on the land as well.

Schwartz described himself as an advocate of diversity in Jerusalem, explaining the $50 million investment plan approved by the city government for East Jerusalem to build infrastructure, utilities and transportation. "These are sums that western Jerusalem did not get and is not about to get," he said. "The subsidies go to the buyer, not the seller," adding that the role of his office is not to solve social problems but to provide housing to people who want to buy apartments.

Jan Abushakrah offered Schwartz evidence to her claim that "Arabs are not buying these buildings" in East Jerusalem, only Jewish citizens. Schwartz offered the explanation that the reason Arabs are not buying apartments is a "difference in the way of living in East Jerusalem and West Jerusalem. In the west," he said, "we have condominiums on land of two or three dunums that can house 12 or 13 families, or even more. And we build quite a bit up," he said, referring to the tall, modern apartment buildings preferred in Israeli construction. "They [Arabs] have a method of living in small, low buildings," he said, adding that "Arabs do not want to live in high-rise apartments," because, Schwartz claims, "in their mentality they never lived in such a form of housing and we have the same problem in Lod where they don't want to live in a high-rise." Schwartz expanded on his claim that the Arab residents of East Jerusalem do not want to adapt themselves to the kind of housing construction practiced in West Jerusalem.

Jan Abushakrah offered reports by the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem on discrimination in mortgage rights of East Jerusalem residents. "There are differences," Abushakrah stated. "Theoretically an Arab with ID has the same rights as a Jewish Israeli, but if you look at the acceptable neighborhoods they are limited. Only in a few neighborhoods, such as Beit Safafa, can they apply for mortgage rights," she stated. She summarized the reports by B'Tselem, which suggest a pattern that shows Palestinians are not having the same success at getting housing as Jewish residents. Abushakrah mentioned an April 1997 report by B'Tselem, The Quiet Deportation, listing thousands of cases in Jerusalem where residents are forced to move to neighborhoods outside the municipal boundary because of a lack of housing. "They lose ID, national insurance and other important rights," Abushakrah explained. Schwartz challenged the B'Tselem reports, criticizing the group's method of eliciting information and questioning its objectivity. "B'Tselem manufactures events and give documentation you can't rely on," Schwartz maintained. "The information they give here," Abushakrah responded, "comes from a previous administration of the Jerusalem Municipality." Schwartz ended his discussion on housing with, "The question is how we process data. We don't all see the same things."

Pastor Dan Simmons began asking Schwartz about Palestinians who are in danger of losing residency rights if they leave the city. Simmons mentioned the case of the Palestinian Greek Orthodox family of Georgette Carsey who had lived in Jerusalem for many generations. Simmons explained that a year ago Carsey's husband, who had previously lived in Gaza, though he was not actually from Gaza, was told by the Israeli Ministry of Interior that he would not be allowed to continue living in Jerusalem. So the husband is now living in Gaza while his wife and children are in Jerusalem, and Georgette Carsey has been warned that if she goes to visit her husband she will lose her residency rights as well. "This is a security issue," Schwartz replied. "I cannot respond. The security of Jerusalem is not part of the municipality. I don't want to get involved in that."

Rabbi Isaak described his community at Congregation Neveh Shalom. "The community supports Israel and peace," Isaak said, and shared his community's concern about the "direction" Israel is currently taking, and the symbols that indicate that direction, such as the controversial opening of the tunnel in Jerusalem that sparked violence and the symbol of the Har Homa settlement development project on Arab land on Abu Ghneim mountain.

Afranji voiced his concerns with the current Israeli government and with Schwartz' involvement in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish movement. He asked, "What is the difference between Hamas' position and your position? Hamas is abhorrent, not acceptable. But when Hamas says all of this land is Islamic land, and when Jews say all of this land is Jewish land, I say no. Do you believe in peace? Do you believe we are an equal people, or is one superior to the other?" To this Schwartz answered, "As nations we are equal, with one difference. Jews returned to the state of the Jews. Two people have no choice, just to live next to each other. But we came to our own country. The difference is that our right is understood and is fundamental. Israel is for the Jews."

Good Samaritan Ministries Sponsors Benefit for East Jerusalem Counseling Program

Good Samaritan Ministries, which sponsors counseling programs in about 36 countries around the world, held its second annual benefit for Al-Sadiq Al-Taieb Association (ASTA) Drug Treatment Center in Bethany on the West Bank. GSM is the principal sponsor of the center, providing $20,000 each year for operating expenses. "An Evening in Bethany II" was held Sept. 20 at GSM's international headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, to help Al-Sadiq Al-Taieb with its fund-raising goal to raise $220,000 to purchase the building in Bethany on the West Bank where the treatment center is housed. The owner of the building gave notice to ASTA last year that the building would be sold. Unless ASTA is able to buy the building, the organization must find a new facility to rent. Majed Alloush, director of ASTA in Bethany, informed GSM in Portland and a decision was made to try to raise the funds to purchase the building. ASTA made a down payment of $70,000 last fall. The balance must be raised through donations and grants.

The Evening in Bethany event drew a number of local Palestinian families as well as GSM supporters and volunteers. The buffet dinner of Palestinian foods was donated and prepared by Basim and Nihaya Ibsies, formerly of Ramallah. Classical Arabic music by Arabic Melodies and belly dancing by Armenian dancer Zarouhi, plus a silent auction with a variety of goods and services donated by local families and businesses, all combined to make the evening a good time as well as a good cause.

GSM International executive director Bettie Mitchell, who recently returned from a world tour of GSM's counseling programs in seven countries, including the one in Bethany, presented some background on the history of ASTA and showed a video of treatment center operations. Episcopal pastor Rev. Jeff Bullock told about his recent pilgrimage to the Holy Land and his visit to Gaza and Palestinian villages on the West Bank, including the village of Biram, the birthplace of Palestinian Melkite priest Fr. Elias Chacour which had been demolished by the Israeli army during the 1948 war.

Among the guests at "An Evening in Bethany" was retired Episcopal Bishop William Spofford and his wife, Polly. Bishop Spofford served as bishop chaplain at St. George's College in Jerusalem in 1994. As Episcopal Volunteers in Mission, the Spoffords coordinated services and Holy Land excursions for students at the college. Bishop Spofford retired as assistant bishop of the Diocese of Washington, DC at the National Cathedral, and prior to that was bishop of the Diocese of Eastern Oregon. He has written a book about his experiences in the Holy Land, Pilgrims in Transition: Jerusalem Jottings, Galilee Gleanings, and Sinai Solitudes. The Spoffords currently live in Portland, Oregon.

This year's "Evening in Bethany" event raised almost $4,000. Bettie Mitchell says that GSM intends to make the event an annual fund-raiser for ASTA.