From Ramallah to Jerusalem: A bus ride through the occupation - Part II: The Jerusalem Light Rail Project

After passing through Qalandiya checkpoint and entering occupied Jerusalem, which is comprised of portions of the West Bank, or "unified" Jerusalem in Israeli lingo, I hop on a bus and pay five shekels for my remaining 30-45 minute ride to PASSIA. About 10 minutes into the ride I arrive in the Palestinian village of Shu'fat and witness one of the most visible and intrusive examples of Israelization of Jerusalem, the Jerusalem Light Rail - Mass Transit System (click on the Light Rail - Full System map above left for an enlarged version of the map).

Construction of the first phase of the light rail project began in April 2006, and upon completion (9 miles in total length) it will link the Israeli settlement of Pisgat Ze'ev with the West Jerusalem city center (see map above). Although, a segment of the light rail line lies within and on the green line (pre-1967 borders), which is represented by the dotted line on the map above, much of the rail line lies outside of the green line in Palestinian East Jerusalem, particularly along the main road linking the West Bank and the Old City in Jerusalem. These actions are clearly in violation of International Law (UN Security Council Resolution 465 of March 1, 1980), which states that "all measures taken by Israel to alter the physical character, the demographic composition, the institutional structure, or status of the Palestinian territories including Jerusalem, have no legal validity."

The rail construction in East Jerusalem has severely constricted traffic, cutting in half the amount of road available for vehicular travel (see photograph above). Therefore, nearly every morning and evening, when traffic between the West Bank and Jerusalem is heaviest, a bottleneck results and traffic becomes backed up for 15 minutes at the intersection of Shufat Road and Route 1 north of the Old City (see slideshow on right). The pot-holed roads throughout East Jerusalem are already in poor condition, as Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem receive less than 10% of the development budget for the Jerusalem Municipality while paying nearly 35% of the taxes levied by the municipality. As a result of the extremely limited funds available for Palestinian neighborhoods, there are 9,000 children not attending school and a shortage of 1,500 classrooms. Furthermore, 67% of Palestinian families in East Jerusalem are under the poverty line, compared to 23% of Israeli families in West Jerusalem.

Although, the Jerusalem Light Rail System was created under the guise of reducing congestion in Jerusalem and serving both Jewish settlements and certain Palestinian neighborhoods, the reality is much different. Neither the Palestinian Authority nor leaders from the Palestinian communities in Jerusalem were involved in the decision making process for the light rail project, although Palestinians are allegedly benefiting from the new transit system. Furthermore, given the widening cultural and social divide between Palestinians and Jewish Israelis in Jerusalem coupled with the $1.37 suggested fare for the light rail, which is nearly twice that of the Palestinian minibus transportation system, it is highly unlikely that significant numbers of Palestinians will use the light rail line.

In this context, the Israeli objectives of the Jerusalem Light Rail Project are clear and two-fold, link the the core of West Jerusalem with Hebrew University and the Israeli settlements in Greater Jerusalem, and most importantly create new, irreversible facts on the ground which solidify the ultimate goal of preserving Jerusalem as the "unified" and "eternal" capital of Israel.

Please click on the slideshow on the right, which contains a series of images of the Jerusalem Light Rail Project in East Jerusalem and Qalandiya checkpoint.