The urban geopolitics of neighboring: conflict, encounter and class in Jerusalem’s settlement/neighborhood

Abstract

This article examines a unique, yet paradigmatic, case study of a colonial neighborhood in East Jerusalem that is undergoing a significant demographic transformation. 1 The French Hill neighborhood, built in 1971, was one of the first settlements in East Jerusalem. Initially, it was populated primarily by upper-middle class secular-Jewish residents. This group has been steadily diminishing as two other distinct new groups moved into the neighborhood: Ultra-Orthodox Jews and Palestinians. This volatile social mix has caused intense inter-ethnic and intra-ethnic collisions. Based on qualitative and quantitative studies, we argue that the juxtaposition of colonial and neoliberal logics of space reveals a shared, yet fragile, middle-class identity. We suggest that this new geopolitical space of neighboring calls for a discussion of political conflict, housing and current colonial conditions that brings class back to our understanding of the production of contested space. (ibid, table III/5). Correspondingly, within the Jewish population, the Haredi groups has grown substantially and become the largest Jewish sub-community in the city (ibid, III/19). These changes have transformed the demographic characteristics of several Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem, including FH. While the veteran residents have emigrated from the neighborhood, middle class Palestinians, especially those with Israeli citizenship, 5 and Haredi Jews have been drawn to FH due to low housing prices, good infrastructure and services, as well as proximity to, respectively, Palestinian and Jewish Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) parts of the city. FH became the only residential area in Jerusalem which is cohabited by these three distinct and, until recently, highly segregated communities of the city, namely secular Jews, Haredi Jews and Palestinians (Rosen & Shlay, 2014). Another phenomenon has simultaneously contributed to the changes in the neighborhood: Palestinians from the neighboring villages in East Jerusalem-Issawiya, a-Tur and Shuafat began to make frequent use of the playgrounds, amenities and commercial center in FH (Yacobi & Pullan, 2014). This was observed in recent years as well in some other Jewish areas in East and West Jerusalem (Shtern, 2016; Nolte & Yacobi, 2015; Rokem & Vaughan, 2017). The growing presence of both Haredi and Palestinian residents and transients alike has provoked considerable opposition among the long-term residents of FH. Driven by the fear of demographic transition, local 5 Palestinian citizens of Israel are graduates of the Israeli educational system; thus, they speak very good

(Ad)dressing belonging in a contested space: Embodied spatial practices of Palestinian and Israeli women in Jerusalem

“…Women's clothing is yet another arena that reflects the complicated geopolitical dynamics of Jerusalem with regards to gender and the ethno-national conflict, and more specifically, to borders and mobility. In line with recent studies about mobility and encounters in Jerusalem, our research also reveals the firm borders that exist on the one hand, separating between different "Jerusalems", and the shifting dynamics on the other hand, where Palestinians and Israelis increasingly share the urban space (Shtern, 2016;Shtern & Yacobi, 2019). For some women, the borders are perceived as insurmountable while for others they are more flexible: for example, most of the secular Israeli participants rarely go to ultra-orthodox or Palestinians areas of the city, whereas some Palestinian women, though not all, frequently transverse from east to west Jerusalem.…”

“…However, these dynamics are nuanced and shift across specific neighbourhoods and locales, and are not always generalizable to the entire city-scale (see also Najib & Hopkins, 2019a). At the same time, the women's narratives (to a larger extent Palestinian women) do convey a sense of growing encounters with the Other (Kerzhner et al, 2018;Rokem & Vaughan, 2018;Shtern & Yacobi, 2019).…”

“…In recent years, a growing body of research seeks to better understand how segregation and mobility patterns are manifested in these cities in a twofold manner. First, by extending the study of segregation beyond residential one to account for diverse forms of segregation and/or encounter of different publics: in parks, workplaces, public transportation, and more (Gaffikin, Mceldowney, & Sterrett, 2010;Kerzhner et al, 2018;Shtern, 2016;Shtern & Yacobi, 2019). Second, by employing a range of methodological tools that can capture a better sense of people's daily experiences, such as mental maps, GPS tracking, and space syntax analysis (Greenberg Raanan and Shoval 2014;Rokem & Vaughan, 2018;Valentine, 2007).…”

“…Even though the segregation between east and west of the city is still very present (Jabareen, Eizenberg, & Hirsh, 2019), growing numbers of Palestinians began to work in Israeli workplaces, study in Israeli institutions and even live in Jewish neighbourhoods, a process that has been termed by some as 'Israelization' of Palestinian Jerusalem. Consequently, in recent years Israelis and Palestinians in the city have experienced more encounters with one another in different life spheres (Shtern, 2016;Shtern & Yacobi, 2019).…”

Limited urban citizenship: the case of community councils in East Jerusalem

“…At the same time, a growing disconnect from the West Bank has rendered these neighbourhoods more dependent on Jerusalem's economy and services. As a large number of East-Jerusalemites work in West Jerusalem and consume services there, daily life has been increasingly characterized by encounters between Palestinians and Israelis (Feitelson andCohen-Blankshtain 2018, Shtern andYacobi 2019;Rokem and Vaughan 2018). Still, most Palestinians boycott the municipal elections despite their eligibility to vote, and collaboration with the Israeli government-commonly referred to as normalization of the occupation-is a contested issue.…”