Social Scape

SOCIAL SCAPE

There is a social framework in Jerusalem that requires a balance between both its Jewish and Arab residences. This emphasizes a dependence on one another to maintain a functional community and requires a need to establish a means of coexistence. This scape demonstrates this idea visually using a series of lines or paths following the amount of labour, where and by whom. Facts and percentages will also be given to support this argument.
Throughout Jerusalem’s history, ever since Israel’s independence in 1948, there has been an inflation of Jewish communities and a repositioning of Arab communities creating what is generally known today as East and West Jerusalem within the municipality boarder of Jerusalem. This has had an effect on labour percentages, creating a trend within employment by sector, the ethnic background of the employees, and where the employees live within greater Jerusalem. This in itself adds a level of tension between the residences and a need to communicate in a system of dependence.
Although the majority of the population in West Jerusalem is Jewish (%), a 1994 study demonstrates that “an estimated 12,000 Arabs were employed by Jews in the Jewish part of the city, making up some 40 percent of the Arab workforce in Jerusalem” (Klein, pg. 22). This is a large percentage of employees required to transport into the area, principally from areas either in East Jerusalem of from the West Bank. “According to figures the mid 1980’s, when employment of Arabs was at it’s highest, the Bethlehem and Ramallah districts supplied most of the day labourers to Jerusalem” (Klein, pg. 22). This issue was enforced during the lengthy closure imposed on the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1993. The closure lines were almost identical to Jerusalem’s municipality boundary. “Close to 90 percent of the employees of large East Jerusalem workplaces, such as the Arab electric company, the Al-Magased Hospital, and the Waqf offices are Palestinians who live outside the city. These institutions could not function properly because of the inability of employees to get to work regualarily.” (Klein, pg. 36)

“The fact that Jerusalem is an open city has an effect on the incomes of the Arabs who live there. Tourists can move freely from one side of the city to the other, creating mutual, though asymmetric, dependence between Jewish and Arab service providers in this field. The strong Israeli sector needs Arab manual labourers, and the Arabs are dependant on incomes from workplaces in Jewish Jerusalem.”(Klein, pg. 24)

According to data taken from the Jerusalem Institute of Israeli Studies (1996; Kimhi, 1997; Dumper, 1997: 214-16), Arabs employed in east Jerusalem work a significantly higher percentage of industry, construction, and commerce jobs than Jewish people employed in West Jerusalem.

Political Scape

POLITICAL SCAPE

“The differences between the population groups in the city and its environs, and the diversity of identities, identifications, and interests that distinguish the groups encourage conflicts of interest and competition between them, Both alike lead to geographical segregation and struggles for territorial control, economic resources, and the shaping of the way of life of all the groups together and each group separately.”

There is a disagreement as to whether Jerusalem is a divided or a united city. Upon first coming to Israel I might have agreed that it was a diversified city with a mixed population, though not a divided city. However, research for this topic has only demonstrated that there is in fact a definite line in the city, whether it is a built wall, a street, a line on a map, or even a line seen only by the inhabitants of a Jerusalem neighbourhood, it is there.
In an attempt to explore the concept of a line in Jerusalem, a series of maps were compared by eliminating all things but the border lines. A contrast was then made and a noticeable difference between each line was observed. Each line was different. The only line that was the same was that of the constructed wall. Therefore, the line could be perceived as abstract, or the intangible line.
Over time, the 1967 line, which divided the city physically and politically, has become smudged, as has the annexation line that Israel established just a few days later. It can be noted that the municipal boundary that Israel established in 1967 is different from the metropolitan boundary as defined by the geographic distribution of the population and by its economic, employment, and transportation networks. It is this discrepancy that prompts the comparison of the changing boundaries, and a study into why this is so.
The important political dimensions in shaping Jerusalem’s boundary lines can be emphasized from two points of view. The entrance of Palestinian authorities into Arab occupied cities bordering Jerusalem (Bethlehem, Ramallah) has condensed East Jerusalem’s metropolitan operations and the extent of its influence. Also, the closure line established in 1993 seems to be more a political boundary then a municipal one, which marks the area of sovereignty in Jerusalem. “The damage the closure has caused to the Palestinian status of east Jerusalem serves the purpose of the Israeli government. While closure was not imposed [to suppress East Jerusalem’s businesses], the longer it has lasted the more the Palestinians have come to perceive this as the major reason for its presence” (Klein, p. 38).

“Ever since Israel and the Palestinian Authority began implementing the Oslo agreements in May 1994, the political map of Jerusalem and its environs has changed. Until then there was a single boarder as far as Israel was concerned, the annexation boundary which was also the Jerusalem municipal limit. The establishment of the Palestinian Authority and its penetration into Jerusalem made the Jerusalem political border less then straightforward, the Palestinian Authority is forbidden to operate within Israeli Jerusalem, but the Authority has found ways of circumventing this prohibition, and this has brought into sharper relief the political-national boundary line that passes through the city. Alongside this boundary, additional boundary lines have been added – electoral district lines for the Palestinian Authority’s legislative council and the Palestinian administrative district of Jerusalem. These two lines coincide and are identical with those of the Jerusalem district that existed when East Jerusalem and the West Bank were under Jordanian sovereignty.” (Klein, p. 39)

Infrastructure Scape

INFRASTRUCTURE SCAPE



The infrastructure of Jerusalem is heavily based on the exclusive zoning of land according to neighborhoods, demonstrating a large socio-economical gap between different classes in the city. Since the annexation/reunification of Israel in 1967, extreme measures in zoning have been planned resulting in the confiscation of Palestinian land in order to extend the municipal boundaries and invite the Jewish population. Different tactics have been staged in order to suppress the Palestinian population and increase the Jewish population to a desired ratio of 70:30 between the two ethnicities by the Israel municipality. Israeli long-term construction operations to create Jewish neighborhoods include the expropriation of previously Arab neighborhoods including Ramot, East Talpiot and Gilo, which all strategically surround the border between East and West Jerusalem. More recently during the E1 development plan by the Israeli municipality, originally an Arab town was demolished to create Har Homa, leaving a large fraction of the population out of homes. These steps are all a product of Israeli urban planning expressing Israeli sovereignty, allowing Jewish communities to prosper while obstructing Palestinian development.

The Israeli bureaucracy plays a key role in the zoning, infrastructure and living conditions of the Arab communities in Jerusalem, strategizing the suppression of the Arab population and orchestrating reasoning for the discrimination caused by these geographical changes. These general zoning laws seep their way on a personal level to the Arab population creating conditions of dense borderline poverty, hardly having a village appeal that the Israeli government speaks out to preserve through urban planning. With the influx of funds from the Israeli government, modern transit ways and public transportation routes run through West Jerusalem and it’s outlying Jewish neighborhoods. With the Hebrew University, Government Buildings, Hadassa Hospital and French hill located directly north and north east of our site there exists a divide in public transportation servicing, voiding service completely to the Palestinian neighborhoods to the south and instead, routing around these neighborhoods to the City Centre. In addition to this polarized condition of public transit within Jerusalem, the roads that service the Mt. Scopus and French Hill area are completely removed from the Palestinian neighborhood Wadi Joz. A heavy retaining wall emphasizes a drastic elevation difference and blocks this servicing road from Wadi Joz completely, making intersections impossible. The residents of the Palestinian communities find themselves bypassing around their neighborhoods and walking to Israeli established areas in order to reach public transportation and to access the main roadways.

Visual Scape

VISUAL SCAPE

The distinctive separation between the social classes in Jerusalem is apparent through the imagery associated with the neighborhoods throughout the city. The socio-economical status is reflected in the physical conditions of the neighborhoods surrounding the Sheikh Jarrah site, including maintenance of streets and the treatment of building surfaces. These visual clues reflect character, while also presenting a hierarchy and status of each neighborhood. To the south west of our site is the Arab neighborhood of Wadi Joz, an industrial area cluttered with grungy auto repair shops and underdeveloped housing complexes. Located at the pit of the valley, buildings are clad with graffiti, washed with dirt and in overall decrepit condition signifying it’s dilapidated state and status as a lower class village. In contrast to these underdeveloped Palestinian neighborhoods, heading north across no man’s land is a well-developed and relatively high-class residential Palestinian community. Physically, this field is an extension of our olive grove site, and it also serves as a buffer between the low and higher-class Palestinian neighborhoods that clearly separates the differing conditions. A sharp turn in atmosphere is clearly distinguished with empty, clean roads, less utilization of outdoor residential space, ornate, stylized and clean exteriors as well as the use of landscaping creating the image of a rustic community set within the forest. Towards the north east of the site, the powerful image of Israel’s economy is presented through the public buildings set on Mt. Scopus including the Regency hotel, Sports Complex, government offices and Hebrew University, which have evidently been considered in design, scale and maintenance unlike the buildings in Wadi joz.

Although stone is the most common and emblematic building material of Jerusalem amounting to 66% of household building material, the treatment of these surfaces differ from each community. Within the high-class Palestinian neighborhood, architectural considerations including arches and decorative window treatment are used to beautify the exterior of a building, while Wadi Joz buildings have plainer and worn out facades. The costs of their weak and old houses are too high to repair, and a removal or building permits almost impossible to attain. In comparison to the use of stone in household building materials, the public buildings lining Mt. Scopus to the northeast, a pristine polished stone is used as a primary building material identifying Israel’s economic success.

A visual clue to determine the living conditions of a residential neighborhood is the uses of balconies, roofs and outdoor spaces. The number of water heaters and satellites atop of a flat top roof can determine the density of a housing complex. The housing density in Wadi Joz is at 4.9, totaling 5,700 in population, whereas Sheikh Jarrah has an average housing density of 4.2, with a population of 2,400. In Wadi Joz, it is not uncommon to see three or four satellites perched on a small three storey-housing unit. Balconies and roofs provide as extra storage space and hanging clothes, where it is obvious that these functional spaces aren’t necessary in the high-class residential areas allowing for pitched roofs and empty balconies. With the current Israeli municipal policies, there are inadequate housing conditions for the Palestinians including decreased standards of living with poor infrastructural systems and lack of housing units to provide for the Palestinian population comfortably within each neighborhood.

Ecology Scape

Ecological Scape

A strong language of the division is presented surrounding the olive grove site through the use of landscaping. Towards the northeast, natural barriers are created through the use of densely forested areas, shielding the elevated Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood atop of the northwest hill. This provides an effective buffer to segregate this public and high-class community and also presents an image of power to separate itself from the Palestinian neighborhoods below. Opposite along the west, forestation is also present on Mt. Scopus, beginning from the height of the Hebrew University flooding down to the pit of the valley located south where Palestinian neighborhoods such as Wadi Joz are located. The language of strict division through barriers is present in both these scenarios, guarding the Israeli public buildings located on both hills from the conditions that meet to the centre below. The use of trees and vegetation can be traced back to the national myth of tree planting being a Zionist ritual, contrasting with the deserts and wastelands associated with the Arabs. In response, the Palestinians began to plant olive trees, which symbolizes the enduring roots in the land and village of Israel. Our site is located on an olive grove, which happens to also be sandwiched between both heightened and heavily forested areas.

Aside from forestation, barriers in landscape are also present through the use of large open fields allowing no construction. These areas in Jerusalem are often indicated ‘green space’, a term used by the Israeli municipality for breathable communities and maintaining the primeval village appeal of many Palestinian neighborhoods. In reality, creating these areas of green space severely restrict the areas of development for Palestinians and the desire for village appeal stands as a justification to suppress the Palestinian population. It is planned by the Israeli municipality that 40 percent of East Jerusalem is considered green space, most of which being in Palestinian neighborhoods. The product of this plan has been the severe restriction of needed Palestinian community development and access to natural resources. Approximately 3400 Palestinian homes have been threatened by demolition due to these green space zoning laws and lack of building permits. These green areas have not only become empty spaces in every case but have also transformed into Jewish neighborhoods, specifically Abu Ghneim and Rekhas Shuufat.

A clear example of these green spaces as buffering fields is present southwest of our site between two neighborhoods. The lower neighborhood is Wadi Joz, a mixed community filled with auto repair garages, shops and underdeveloped housing units. Landscaping is not considered in this area, where the rare tree would be used as an extension of a wired property fence. This area uses what they need, through the demolition of vegetation to create paved streets, and exposed crumbling rocky hills. Neighborhood boundary markers aren’t necessary, for the surrounding Israeli neighborhoods clearly represent their boundaries through forestation, height and the forceful construction of retaining walls. North of Wadi Joz is a field considered No Man’s Land which divides the two neighborhoods physically, and also puts a strain on the differences in living conditions. This field is an extension of the south portion of our olive grove site, strewn with rubble and grass and is vacant from any construction. On opposing sides of this field are two different neighborhoods, which both have different uses and associations of this field. The lower class Wadi Joz houses to the south line it’s perimeter with extended gardening, animals, storage and play areas for their children, but on the other side of the field where the higher class Palestinian neighborhood resides, elements of fencing and borders are present through an abrupt stop in the rolling hills and forestation and use of retaining walls at the edge of the field. This community expresses a contrasting sentiment to Wadi Joz, where landscaping through forestry and vegetation is key to provide the image of a charming rustic community set within a forest, but is conserved strictly within it’s borders. These planning policies are contrived and planned carefully by the Israeli municipality to express a certain sentiment associated with the desired image of Israel, which calls for the suppression of Palestinian land. The only release from these severe separations is present on our site in the form of a cultivated and ordered olive grove, choked by the surrounding hierarchy and divided neighborhoods.