Adalah Co-organizes Objection to New Governmental Plan for Northern District

On 31 December 2001, 26 Arab local councils and municipalities submitted an objection to the Northern District plan entitled “Tamam II, Revision No. 9”. The plan was submitted at the beginning of September 2001 by the Northern District Committee for Planning and Building. It was initiated in 1986 by the National Council for Planning and Building, with the goal of Judaizing the Northern District.

The objection was organized by Adalah and the Arab Center for Alternative Planning, represented by Adalah staff attorney Suhad Bishara and urban planners Dr. Yosef Jabarin, Badria Bayrumi and Ahmed Jabarin from the Center.

The local councils and municipalities claimed in the objection that the plan discriminates against Arabs. The plan refers to the Arab population as a problem by virtue of its very existence in the Northern District, and asks planners to find solutions to this problem. Three problem areas are cited in the plan: that Arabs constitute a majority in the North; that Arab towns and villages are geographically contiguous; and that Arab towns and villages take control of lands and build illegally.

Additionally, the objectors claimed that all industrial and commercial areas are planned in or close to Jewish towns, and that the development of tourism is promoted only in these towns. The objectors claimed that restrictions set forth in the plan prevent the expansion of industrial, commercial, and development areas in the Arab towns and villages. Further, many of the Arab localities are surrounded by protected lands, which cannot be developed.

The objectors also argued that the plan neglects the poor living conditions in the Arab towns and villages, and does not refer to the housing problems, overcrowding, lack of land available for building and lack of public services. In most of the Arab towns, the plan sets forth town limits that exclude many of the towns’ residences, designating the excluded zones as non-development areas.

Though they comprise more than 50% of the population in the Northern District, Arab citizens were poorly represented in the planning process. There were no Arabs on the plan’s editors committee, responsible for finalizing the plan, and the steering committee had only two Arab members out of a total of 30.

The objectors demanded the cancellation of the existing plan and the development of a new document in accordance with modern planning norms, based on principles of equality, public participation, transparency, and adequate representation of Arabs in the planning process. No date has yet been set for a hearing on the objection, to be held at the National Council for Planning and Building in Jerusalem.