Israel 'deliberately denying Arab citizens bomb shelters'

The National

5 hours ago

The divided city, claimed both by the Palestinians and the Israelis, is the subject of a new piece of research by the Israeli NGO Bimkom, which looks at human rights issues through the lens of urban planning.
It might seem niche but in this part of the world, planning can be a matter of life and death.
Dr Braier's research has found that in Arab East Jerusalem, there is just one public bomb shelter. In Israeli West Jerusalem, on the other side of the dividing wall, there are around 200.
In addition to this, there are 'hundreds' of shelters attached to schools and other public buildings in West Jerusalem but only around 60 in the Palestinian neighbourhoods of the eastern part of the city.
The report said: 'These shelters are not clearly mapped on the municipality's website, and residents often aren't aware of their existence or location. Frequently, they remain locked during emergencies, especially at night.'
This is a deliberate policy by the Israeli authorities, said Dr Braier, arguing that it is just one way in which Palestinians are discouraged from living in Jerusalem.
It is part of a 'consistent, outspoken policy' to keep Jerusalem an Israeli-majority city, she said, adding: 'Of course, these policies are flawed on an ethical level but they're also impractical; there's no way to keep Palestinians out of the city.'
One way the Israelis have tried to do this is through 'discriminatory policies' against Palestinians by denying them planning permission for their homes and the construction of shelters.
When the sirens start to ring, chaos ensues.
'There's nowhere to go, children are very afraid, you're not sure what you're supposed to do; a lot of people don't have basic information,' said Dr Braier. 'There is a lot of stress.'
Palestinians have to resort to hiding in inner rooms with no windows in their homes, retreating to staircases or underground car parks. If they're outside, the advice is to take shelter under a bridge because it is safer.
'If you're close to where one of those missiles hit, that's probably not going to be enough,' said Dr Braier (below).
(Image: Supplied)
Arabs across Israel have fewer shelters than Jewish Israelis, according to Bimkom, with the national figure of households without bomb shelters of 26% rising to 46% among the Arab population.
This disparity is brought into particularly sharp relief in Jerusalem. Fixing the problem will be a costly business, said Dr Braier.
'This needs to be a long-term process of properly planning the neighbourhoods, bringing all the houses up to standard, giving out building permits,' she said.
'There needs to be a lot of financial aid because these things are very costly and this population is on the lowest socio-economic rings; people will need help to bring their houses up to standard.'
And the Israeli authorities can't ignore this problem forever, Dr Braier warned.
'If you say, 'We don't want Palestinians here so we're not going to plan housing' but there are many Palestinians here and they need housing, that's exactly how we see informal housing happening because people need to live,' she said.