Between Ruin and Restoration: An Environmental History of Israel

Chapter Nine: Environmental Challenges Facing Arab Society in Israel

190 CHAPTER NINE ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENgES FACINg ARAB SOCIETY IN ISRAEL Hussein Tarabeih Arab society in Israel is exposed to a unique array of environmental challenges that are due to the sector’s political and economic status as minorities in the state. before the establishment of the state of israel in 1948, arabs owned approximately 95 percent of the private land in Palestine (excluding what is now the occupied Palestinian territory or the West bank and Gaza) (Khalidi 1992). today, arab society in israel constitutes approximately 18 percent of the total population (2008 report of the israeli Central bureau of statistics), but it owns less than 4 percent of the total land area.1 as will be discussed throughout the chapter, the issue of land confiscation is the driving factor behind the majority of environmental problems in the arab sector. in addition, socioeconomic processes such as rapid urbanization of arab-israeli towns and the political climate (as evidenced by ongoing conflicts with the occupied Palestinian territories, syria, and Lebanon) combine to intensify environmental conflicts. Due to urbanization, lack of immigration , high birthrates, increasing standards of living, and geographically constricted jurisdictions, arab towns require additional land for residential developments, public institutions, commercial developments, environmental infrastructure, and public parks (yiftachel 2000; ozacky-Lazar and Ghanem 2003). There is increasing pressure for construction and infrastructure development along roads. Projects routinely invade open space either without plan- ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENgES fACINg ARAb SOCIETy 191 ning or without taking into account future plans, safety and environmental considerations, and nature, landscape, heritage and cultural values. increased construction and infrastructure generate a wide range of environmental conflicts within the towns and in meeting zones with neighboring Jewish towns, causing substantial damage to quality of life and environment, partially evidenced by numerous complaints from arab and Jewish residents (sofer and Gal 1995; towns association for environmental Quality-agan beit natufa 2009). environmental conflicts that develop within and around arab towns are intensified by the Jewish-arab geopolitical dispute, governmental policy that perpetuates division between arab and Jewish populations, and a belief within the arab community that most of their land has been seized since the establishment of the state for developing the Jewish sector (rouhana 1997; Hoffman 1982; yiftachel 1995, 2000; shmueli 2008; tarabeih 2008). Clearly, environmental challenges in the arab-israeli community can be considered within the framework of environmental justice. in this chapter, the environmental conditions experienced by the arab population in israel will be described along with the drivers for the disparities that exist between its reality and that of the Jewish majority. TRADITIONAL ARAB LAND DEVELOPMENT spatial development of arab villages in israel and Palestine historically (and even as late as the 1990s) has followed a pattern of private land expanding in sections from a center in concentric circles. This spatial pattern of expansion is not planned through a municipality, but rather results from individual initiatives to construct additional family residences and to expand commercial and agricultural endeavors. The aggregation of individual building initiatives creates an urban disorganization that poses challenges for creating infrastructures for public services including drinking water, sewer-system drainage, trash collection, and transportation. The patchwork of various land uses also created, and continues to create, problems characteristic to traditional societies —problems that grew in complexity as populations grew (tarabeih 2008). These problems were then compounded when the villages and towns sought to expand beyond their municipal boundaries. villages did not have public land, and when towns grew to become small cities, local governments were unable to secure additional land to meet these needs, as will be discussed in the sections below. ISRAELI ENVIRONMENTAL ADMINISTRATION AND THE ARAB SECTOR israeli history of addressing environmental challenges is primarily a history of its Jewish sector. The israeli government acknowledged, in 1993, that environ- 192 HUSSEIN TARAbEIH mental progress in the arab sector was behind that of the Jewish sector. yossi sarid, the minister of the environment at the time, delivered the following statement to the Knesset (israeli Parliament) during environmental Quality Week: “The ministry of environment is now emphasizing an increase in its activity in the arab sector. for years, the topic of environmental quality has been neglected in this sector, at the levels of environmental administration, environmental infrastructure and public awareness of this topic” (sarid 1993). This statement marked the beginning of environmental intervention in the arab sector, starting with the establishment of seven regional environmentalquality units and town associations. before the...