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Martha's Vineyard

HaGefen Spotlight

The Many Faces of Jerusalem

Jerusalem is an ancient city that is the center of the world for Jews, Muslims and Christians. But it is also a vibrant, modern city. This was the optimistic message delivered by Osnat Post, an Israeli architect and city planner who has been involved in the development of Jerusalem since 1980. She lives in Falmouth now with her husband, Anton Post, a biologist at the Marine Biological Laboratory, but Osnat
travels back and forth to Israel for several continuing projects in Jerusalem.

A few statistics: East and West Jerusalem combined have a population that is 40% Arab and 60% Israelis, with the Arab population growing rapidly. The population of Jewish Jerusalem is also changing rapidly: 28% is Orthodox (compared to 7% in the larger Israeli population) and growing. Jerusalem is a poor city, with 65% of the Arab population under the poverty line and 36% of the Israeli population under the poverty line. The poverty levels are even higher for children.

With the high birth rates in both the Arab and Jewish populations, more housing is needed. At this point, there is a new master plan for both East and West Jerusalem administered by the Israeli Jerusalem municipality. The master plan includes commercial development on both sides of the city as well as significantly more housing. This plan involves a sophisticated approach to residents, with separate citizen planning teams, committees and cooperative endeavors. The plan is hampered on both sides by mistrust of the authority of the municipality, lack of respect for public (as opposed to personal) spaces, and lack of education.

These challenges are difficult but not impossible. The political challenges are more daunting, as politicians press for making sure that the majority of the population of Jerusalem remains Israeli. Osnat did not discuss politics but, as one participant put it, the development of Jerusalem is all about politics. Osnat and her professional colleagues in West and East Jerusalem are moving ahead in spite of multiple obstacles.

For maps, pictures and text on planning Jerusalem, Osnat donated a book which is in our library at the Hebrew Center. Many thanks to Osnat for the book and the stimulating talk, to Jeri Dantzig, Kanta Lipsky, Lisa Epstein, Zee Gamson and Anita Hotchkiss of the Social Action Committee for organizing this event, and to Anita Smith for publicity.