JERUSALEM MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

1.  In the end, for all intents and purposes, the municipal elections in Jerusalem did not include an Arab list. Its members, except for the #1 on the list, Ms. Sundus Al-Hut, all resigned – though not officially, as their resignations were submitted after the cut-off date, and so the list was still considered to have run. The heavy pressures and even threats by the PA and extremist elements

upon the candidates did their job, and only Al-Hut, impressively, was able to withstand them; her name,

times, and spent many years in Beirut and Germany. and those of some Jewish Meretz-party candidates, remained on the list until the end.

Al-Hut impressive achievement should be noted, in that she remained in the campaign up until the very last day, despite the threats and pressures.

2. In previous elections, it was agreed upon by local Arab politicians that their interests would be represented by the Meretz party. However, Meretz, and the left in general, no longer arouses confidence in the Arab sector, and the new Arab list, with Jews on it as well, was launched, amid much internal Arab political infighting.

3. The list and its election run was financed by Jewish businessmen who supported the break-off.

This, essentially, buttresses the claim by those who opposed the list, saying it was not an authentic Jerusalem list and did not represent the Arab neighborhoods. The fact that the break-off was financed by Israelis is a proof, they say, that the story is a Jewish political dispute, into which were dragged Arab elements. However, it should be emphasized that it is actually the Arab political vacuum in Jerusalem that enabled this situation. As such, the fact that a list self-defined as “Arab” made it this far into the campaign and did disintegrate along the way, as happened in the past, is an impressive achievement.

4.  Reports of possible long-term electricity outages in case of war in the north have the Arab neighborhoods worried. The residents claim that their neighborhoods are not prepared for such an eventuality or others, citing a lack of protected areas and accessibility (see below). They even claim that fire hydrants have not been installed, because of a fear that water will be stolen.

5. With the approach of Ramadan, there are still many elements in the city seeking to increase unrest – despite Israel’s consent to relax the restrictions on Temple Mount worshipers. Specifically, the age below which worshipers will not be permitted to enter has been lowered.

There are also many in the Arab sector who actually do not wish to aggravate the situation, and who do not want to see the small crack that has developed in Jerusalem’s co-existence because of the war in Gaza into something that will force Israel to respond harshly.

As previously reported here:

Imad al-Hatib is expected, in the coming days, to be appointed the Jerusalem Affairs minister in the new “technocrats’ government” of the Palestinian Authority.

Certain roads in eastern Jerusalem are not passable for emergency vehicles, affecting hundreds of residents in tens of buildings.

The problem is the narrowness of the roads. The fear is that another tragedy like the fire earlier this month in Ras el-Amoud in which a mother and three children were killed could happen again.

Abu Darwish of the Old City has died.

His real name was Mustafa al-Kurd, and he established the Al-Hakwati Theater and the Arab Music Center in Jerusalem. He was arrested several times, and spent many years in Beirut and Germany.

Social Media

→ The Al-Quds Al-Busawla webpage highlighted a call not to take part in the municipal elections. It featured a description of the mixed Arab-Jewish list headed by Ms. Sundus Al-Hut.

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It is still too early to predict the long- term effects of the failed municipal elections run of the Arab list (which included some Jewish candidates as well) in Jerusalem. The run itself was an achievement of sorts, given the heavy pressures exerted on the candidates not to participate. In addition, past experience was that Arab lists never made it to the finish line. It is hard to know, however, whether the campaign broke a taboo and will encourage another Arab attempt to compete in the future.

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