Author: Odaya Friedman
Islam Idaes and I meet at Feel Beit, a new Jerusalem cultural center overlooking East Jerusalem. Our view takes in the neighborhood where she lives, Abu-Tur. As we sit down to talk, she tells me how easy it was to get here; she lives just down the street. This is despite the movement restrictions and barriers between parts of Jerusalem or al-Quds. Throughout the interview, I will learn that Islam knows how to deal with challenges and how to frame them to be more surmountable. Once she understands challenges in depth, she has the steadfast ability to advance important matters that promote her vision and advance her goals.
Islam Idaes (Credit: Islam Idaes)
What was your academic path?
I began by studying architecture at the Palestine Polytechnic University in Hebron. On finishing my degree, I returned to Jerusalem and started working in urban planning at an East Jerusalem-based private firm. This trial period led me to realize that I needed to develop myself further professionally - I did not know enough about Israel’s Planning and Building Law. When you work within the framework of Israeli planning institutions, it is vital to know the meaning and implications of Israeli law on the state of planning and infrastructure, and consequently, on the reality on the ground. For example, in East Jerusalem, in addition to the lack of planning infrastructure, there is a widespread phenomenon of construction without building permits, which affects residents’ quality of life. I, too, live in a building that lacks full planning permission - that’s how it was when my parents bought it decades ago. I wanted to understand the demolition orders and why it is so incredibly difficult to grant permits retroactively. I realized that once I understood the legal system, I could, on the one hand, help reduce non-permit-related construction issues and, on the other hand, become a better and more knowledgeable professional. I understood that strengthening my professional language and my Hebrew skills would increase my chances of successfully integrating into the labor market. Both were necessary to open up job opportunities with the Jerusalem Municipality and various planning offices, so I enrolled in the Hebrew University’s Urban Planning M.A. track and a Hebrew language program to develop and acquire proficiency. This step let me communicate productively with professionals in my vicinity, in the planning institutions around the city, and in private and government offices.
Can you describe your University experience?
It was interesting, certainly not simple. I started studying at the end of 2015, a very difficult time in Jerusalem following the murder of Muhammad Abu Khadir. I was concerned, and my parents were uncomfortable as they thought it was dangerous for an Arab woman to study at Hebrew University. I did not speak Hebrew, nor did I know the system. It was a challenge, but I wanted to overcome these obstacles. In Jerusalem, each group is suspicious of the other, and there is a lack of trust between the sides.
Given that I did not feel safe in my city, I was surprised to find that I felt safer at the University. Even before I knew Hebrew properly, there was a pleasant atmosphere. I realized that this was a place I sought to spend time in and study. Even after completing my master's degree, I stayed on campus and worked with the Urban Clinic, which also helped me a lot to grow professionally.
Do you feel safe in Abu Tor?
Not always. Abu-Tor comprises two neighborhoods, a Jewish-Israeli neighborhood and an Arab-Palestinian neighborhood, and I live next to the boundary between the two. If I lived in the center of the Arab area, I would feel even less secure due to the lack of infrastructure like lighting and planning and the high rates of crime and violence that generally exist in East Jerusalem, particularly in Abu Tor. Additionally, instead of giving me a sense of security, the police in Abu Tor create a sense of insecurity and suspicion. However, despite all this, it is my neighborhood and living space.
Abu Tor - Islam’s place of residence and work (Credit: Islam Idaes)
What are the main difficulties you encounter?
The first is the language barrier. Throughout my studies, I also worked as a community planner for Abu-Tor, Silwan, and Ras al-Amud, which helped me improve my Hebrew and acquire professional experience. I realized that I could not be a planner in my city without the language skills and an understanding of the planning system and the law. Second, social-familial challenges. Being a woman who works in planning within a traditional society is complex. Before attending Hebrew University, I had opportunities to study abroad; however, due to constraints, I stayed here. Ultimately, I believe everything was for the best, and my decisions put me in an advantageous position.
And after the master's degree?
Immediately upon completing my degree, I started working as a freelancer. I joined planning teams for local master plans and detailed plans, especially those in East Jerusalem, and worked with the Urban Clinic as a project coordinator. My first job as a self-employed consultant was working with my Hebrew University lecturer, Yaara Rosner-Manor, on a master plan for Wadi Joz and a detailed employment site plan for Issawiya (both neighborhoods in East Jerusalem). My role on the planning team was to be the architect who coordinated, accompanied, and promoted the planning with the relevant consultants and planning institutions. All of these provided me with intensive learning opportunities about the nature of my role.
So you haven’t been directly employed by the Municipality.
No. I had the opportunity to work as a staff member in the City Planning Department at the Municipality of Jerusalem. However, I realized that such a position would limit me in the nature and scope of my work. I chose to remain independent and work beside the Municipality to lead change more effectively. Additionally, because I am self-employed, my opinions are often accepted as a professional living in these neighborhoods [as opposed to an ‘outsider’]. My professional thoughts contain socio-cultural elements pertinent to residents’ day-to-day lives. My independence gives me greater freedom to express my professional opinion and be in touch with more interested parties.
Maybe when we become planners, we have the vision to come back with renewed vigor to save the neighborhoods where we grew up, but it's more complicated than that.
As part of my commitment to my neighborhood and my living space, I am on the community board of the Abu Tor community council. As residents, we created a vision for Abu Tor together with the director of the community council. We produced a clear statement of principles to guide the current and future development of the neighborhood. Based on our statement of principles, the Jerusalem Development Authority allocated a budget of several million NIS and commissioned a neighborhood master plan. I now work with the professional team preparing the neighborhood master plan, together with that same Hebrew University teacher. This is an example of my contribution to my neighborhood after gaining the professional knowledge and language skills required to initiate planning processes that may promote the community and solve planning issues.
Abu Tor - Islam’s place of residence and work. Credit: Islam Idaes
What are the urgent issues in East Jerusalem?
Government Resolution 3790 allocated budgets to East Jerusalem to reduce socio-economic gaps that deepened over decades between the city's East and West, such as unemployment, lack of security, unlicensed construction, violence, and school dropout rates. These problems severely affect the local population, resulting in low levels of education and increasing levels of violence in the neighborhoods. The first major problem I would like to elaborate on is the lack of public buildings and classrooms. To meet the classroom shortage, the Municipality began renting out residential buildings and turning them into schools. In practice, they are not up to standards, thus creating an environment not conducive to learning. The students feel as if they are in prisons - the classrooms are very small, there are no playgrounds outside, and the schools lack all the primary conditions for a proper and good quality educational environment that the standards require. The state of the education system in the Wadi will harm the whole new generation and hurt their sense of belonging to the spaces they use - ostensibly, this is their space, but they do not feel like it was created for them. All of these spatial, planning, and sociological problems are intertwined, which harm communities living in East Jerusalem and do not allow a sense of belonging, causing vandalism and preventing people from taking part in creating their public space.
Another big problem I would like to expand on is the housing crisis and housing overcrowding. The most urgent issue in East Jerusalem is dealing with the overcrowding in the neighborhoods and reducing the number of houses built without a permit. The Municipality has misguided prejudices about Arab society, which need to be addressed - for example, in most cases, it is thought that Arab society does not cope well with multi-story residential buildings. A change in planning policy needs to be implemented to meet the needs of the residents of East Jerusalem and address overcrowding and land use issues. My participation in the planning teams influences a paradigm shift regarding planning policy in the relevant institutions. I have the opportunity to present a concept and tools that are culturally and contextually adapted to East Jerusalem residents. The unplanned organic densification being led by residents on their land results in an unexpected load on the infrastructure, education, transportation, and employment systems which are not designed to absorb the unplanned growth.
Is the Municipality of Jerusalem solely responsible for East Jerusalem?
Yes, in all legal respects. In recent years, a lot of money has been allocated to reduce gaps between the city's two parts. Indeed, various municipal players and residents' representatives are interested in improving the situation. Still, the question is how and what to improve. It is impossible to control everything, and some issues should have been taken care of twenty or thirty years ago. There is also the question of trust - how to instill trust in residents who have experienced a lot of damage and suffering, whose homes have been destroyed time and time again, whose basket of services is insufficient, and who live in distressed conditions?
Do you feel that as the years go by, the policy improves?
Recently, the policy has become more flexible. According to the government's resolution, there are efforts to increase the number of employed people to reduce poverty, but there is no change regarding the housing supply. The government's policy aims to improve the quality of life for the residents of East Jerusalem. Still, there is little local involvement in decision-making, and there is almost no progress in increasing the housing supply. Decision-makers do not allow sufficient supply, so there is no solution to this basic need. People should live in legal and good-quality housing, knowing that it will not be demolished at a moment's notice.
What is your dream for the future?
That’s a tricky question. First of all, to improve the quality of life for myself, my family, and my society, and to continue to grow professionally, to lead programs on a broader and more significant scale, and to see myself and be seen as a "social architect." I hope to promote educational advancement and, more specifically, to continue to improve spatial planning. I also want to contribute to changing the perceptions that Israeli planning institutions have about Arab society. We need to deepen our understanding of how to improve the quality of life in the context in which we live, in my neighborhood, and throughout the city and country. I hope that being an active and involved planner will lead to me continuing to contribute and point out inequalities. Hopefully, I can also formulate implementable plans with my skills and toolbox.
Translation: Galya Globerman