New Yaffa housing plans must be revised

Adalah: Plans must include housing for local residents

Earlier this month, June 2013, the Israel Land Authority (ILA, formerly the Israel Land Administration) advertised the availability of land and permits to construct 40 apartments neighboring the impoverished Arab Palestinian neighborhood of Ajami in Yaffa-Tel Aviv.  Following this ad, Adalah, on behalf of the Yaffa Committee for the Defense of Land and Housing, sent a letter to ILA, the Minister of Housing, and the Mayor of Tel Aviv demanding the cancellation of the housing tender.

Adalah argued that the land tender should be immediately revised so as to also require the construction of affordable housing units for the local residents who suffer from a severe housing shortage. Residents of Ajami, Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, are among the poorest in the country.

New apartments will increase inequality in Yaffa

Adalah Attorney Jalal Dakwar argued in the letter that designating and marketing the land to wealthy buyers, without setting clear requirements to give preference to local residents, will only widen existing social differences and increase the marginalization of Ajami's residents.

ILA contradicting commitment to equal land development

Attorney Dakwar added that, "The ILA is contradicting its own previous declarations that equitable neighborhood development and the protection of local residents are priorities, especially if [the residents] are unable to afford expensive projects. This project also contradicts a Supreme Court decision that the ILA must give preference to local residents when developing housing." (ACRI case)

Ajami residents face ongoing urban neglect, lack of housing

Tel Aviv-Yaffa city councilman for Yaffa, Sami Abu Shehadeh, says that Palestinian residents of Yaffa face a wider crisis, and that Ajami especially is on the verge of calamity. This is partially caused by a government policy, not ended until 1985, prohibiting new construction in Yaffa, as well as the restoration of any existing building. The government simultaneously neglected local infrastructure. This left all of Yaffa in severe neglect and forced residents to move into neighboring empty buildings to find housing.

In 1995, the ILA signed an agreement with Yaffa residents promising to construct 400 apartments designated for them, but the ILA did not implement it. Ongoing promises made in 2011 and 2012 to advertise for and construct new affordable housing have not led to any new projects.

The ILA has created a number of luxury housing projects in Yaffa and but has not implemented a single affordable housing project. The projects being auctioned now in Yaffa will increase the socio-economic inequalities between Arab Palestinian and Jewish citizens of the state.