RVDB - West Bank Infrastructure

RVDB
Urban Planning

Project: Rob van der Bijl and Liesbeth Sluiter, Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS, 2004-2016

West Bank Infrastructure
Nederlandse versie...

Infrastructures, particularly roads are preconditional for spatial and social segregation on the West Bank. Rob van der Bijl (urban planner) and Liesbeth Sluiter (photographer) investigate these infrastructures since 2004. They compile maps, images and histories of the Jerusalem region which they conceive as a key area within the West Bank. Site visits and investigations in november 2010 have been focused on several road projects in this area, including latest events at Highway 443. Moreover indepth research is ongoing regarding the CityPass project, the construction of a tramway that will connect the centre of West Jerusalem to settlements in the north of East Jerusalem. Please, check our Report here...

Unfortunately since our 2010 fieldtrip the situation is not improved at all. January 2016 UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls for policy changes. He is deeply concerned over reports of Israeli declaration of 370 acres in the West Bank, south of Jericho, as so-called “State land”. The following statement was issued by the UN: "The Secretary-General is deeply concerned about reports of the Israeli Government authorizing the declaration of 370 acres in the West Bank, south of Jericho, as so-called “State land”. If implemented, this declaration would constitute the largest land appropriation by Israel in the West Bank since August 2014.
The Secretary-General reiterates his call for substantial policy changes on the ground by Israel that will improve the lives of Palestinians. Settlement activities are a violation of international law and run counter to the public pronouncements of the Government of Israel supporting a two-State solution to the conflict."

On Saturday August 11, 2007 the New York Times reported the construction of a new road through the West Bank that entails a full segregation between Israeli and Palestine traffic. Hence this road along the eastern side of Jerusalem is a double road. Striking detail: the Palestine road includes less turn offs than the road reserved for Israeli traffic.

Study area according to the map of Freytag & Berndt (left) and SAI/TAG, Btselem, Peace now (right). For their project Van der Bijl and Sluiter have contact with the compilers of the SAI/TAG-map.

While at negotiation tables and Western TV desks opportunities are discussed for less or no new settlements in the West Bank, a comprehensive car-infrastructure has been created in the very same area. This infrastructure provides permanent links between the West Bank and Israel. Without this road network in 'occupied territory' the policy of settlements would simply be impossible. In reality, the roads support a military-based control by Israel on Palestine territory.
A view on the well-known (touristic) maps - Freytag & Berndt, Hildebrand, etc. - reveals the fact that the roads from Israel connect directly with the roads in the Palestine area. Jerusalem and vicinities serve as an obvious example in this respect. Here the car-infrastructure gives access to the surrounding region and offers connections with more remote towns and places in all directions. North of Jerusalem runs the '60' to the Palestine city of Ramallah. And route number 1 from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem runs along the northern trunk road into the city of Jerusalem. As a matter of fact the road continues into Palestine territory up to the far-east side, still as road number 1.
For those who willing to perceive the truth, a trip by car on the roads of the Jerusalem region and beyond offers a reaveling view on the spatial dimensions of Apartheid. The Israeli roads cross Palestine territory, while these roads lack any relationship with their environment (except at the check points). The roads basically don't offer accessibility, only via connections. They connect Israeli places in occupied territory with destinations (work, leisure, family, etc.) at the other side of the border. And of course they offer interconnections between the many military nodes and centres. For those who aren't able to recognize it, these roads are just nice connections within an Israel that seems much bigger than in reality. With respect to logistics, but particularly with respect to psychology, the roads serve as permanent and necessary condition for Apartheid.

Checkpoint Al Azaria (Jerusalem), meanwhile replaced by a wall.

Rob van der Bijl and Liesbeth Sluiter investigate these roads. They perform an investigation by means of photography, journalism and mapping the logistic and psychological reality of the West Bank Infrastructure. Their story will illustrate their planned 'car map'. This map is used to depict precisely and profoundly the logistics of Apartheid. In addition, images and stories will be compiled of daily commuters, workers and all the other people who use the roads whether they want to or not, particularly those who are doomed to survive at shoulders and edges of the remaining land.

Study area according to the map image of Google Maps (January 2009).

Study area according to the map of Jeff Halper (February 2004).

The project started in 2004. Lack of finances forced us to slow down the pace of our activities. However, at the end of 2008 we resumed our work. In November 2010 we made site visits in the region of Jerusalem.

Long quote from Yourmiddleeast.com

Rawabi, Arabic for hills, is a project that seems impossible to skeptics and optimists alike. Even today, the fact that this is happening seems to astonish some. “Rawabi: is it real or is it a mirage?” asked BBC Arabic in a recent broadcast. But it is very real, proven by the six cameras that constantly update in real time on the development’s website.

Spearheaded by Palestinian-American businessman Bashar Masri, Rawabi stands today only about a year away from the projected first building completions. Masri’s company Massar International funds the project in partnership with the Qatari company Diar.

The planned buildings are sleek and polished; they line the hillside in perfect rows. “Rawabi is more than a place to live, it is a way of living,” says the slightly mechanical female voice behind the promotional video. Five neighborhoods surround the heart of the city, which ad campaigns promise will be a bustling commercial district.

Complete with industry, health services, schools, and a police station, there will be no need for the future inhabitants to ever leave. Rawabi is a slice of the American dream that has been placed in the middle of Palestine. Not all would agree that this is a good thing, and the project has sustained criticism from some Palestinians as well as violence from the nearby Israeli settlers.

The most salient criticism of the project is that it strengthens the Palestinian Authority, a body that grows increasingly unpopular by the day in the Occupied Territories. Rawabi is built in Area A, the rare pieces of land that are under complete PA authority. The city would fit perfectly into Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s strategy of “ending the Occupation, despite the Occupation,” a euphemism for economic development supported with little political action.

Masri is aware of the criticism, but insists that the planned city reflects the local culture in both aesthetic and practical ways. “Just to give you a few examples, we knew that Rawabi should be structured around the traditional ‘hai’ neighborhood system that is all across places in Palestine, where neighbors know each other and can gather,” he said in an interview with Green Prophet.

“This project is not motivated by politics, it is motivated by our right to be here. It is our right to build on our land wherever we wish.” Economically speaking, it would be much more profitable for him to pursue business initiatives in other parts of the globe, but to him, “Palestine is home.”

In the projections, the hills surrounding Rawabi are significantly greener. Every year from now until completion, 15,000 indigenous trees will be planted. In some cases, trees planted by the Jewish National Fund were replaced with local flora. The entire city envisions a greener way of living. According to the developers, “Rawabi will prove that Palestinians are capable of protecting the environment, and will do so better than the residents of the settlements.”

According to Masri, finding people to live in Rawabi will not be an issue, since there are so many Palestinians crowded into the existing cities and town. Price will also not be an impediment, as the apartments have been purposefully aimed at middle class Palestinians. Mortgage plans have people paying off their loans at $500-700 a month, similar to the price of renting a flat in Ramallah.

The Palestinian economy has been crippled by strict trade restrictions, a series of military checkpoints, and ongoing segregation of their land. In this sense, Rawabi will be able to alleviate some pains. Underemployment and unemployment are two of the Palestinian economy’s most pressing issues to date. The largest private sector development to ever take place in the West Bank, the new city will create 10,000 construction jobs and 4,000 permanent jobs afterwards.

For now, the developers have their fingers crossed, hoping that politics doesn’t derail their fragile venture.
(www.yourmiddleeast.com, 15 October 2012)

More quotes

EU report: Israel policy in West Bank endangers two-state solution
Area C noted in the report is part of a division of the West Bank stipulated by the Oslo Accords: Area A, where the Palestinian Authority has full civilian and security control; Area B, which is those parts of the West Bank that come under Israeli security control and Palestinian civilian control; and Area C, which is territories under full Israeli civilian and security control.
A newly approved internal report of European Heads of Mission, titled “Area C and Palestinian State Building,” cautioned that the chances for a two-state solution on 1967 borders will be lost if Israel does not change its policies in Area C.
(www.israeli-occupation.org/, 12 January, 2012)

The EU has decided to pursue a series of steps which may undermine Israel's control of Area C in the West Bank, an official EU document suggests. The document, titled "Area C and Palestinian state building," states that Europe will support road, water, infrastructure, municipal, educational and medical projects in the area, in order to "support the Palestinian people and help maintain their presence (in the area)" (Ynet).
(Aidajerusalem.org - UNSCO Daily Press Brief Thursday, 12 January, 2012)

Palestinians irate over new Jerusalem light rail - Jerusalem’s light rail starts test runs this spring, with its sleek silver cars gliding across the city and promising to relieve the perpetual congestion. But Palestinians see no reason to celebrate.
They hope to derail the $1 billion tram because they fear it will further entrench Israeli control over east Jerusalem. They’ve asked a French court to force two French multinationals, Veolia and Alstom, out of the project and are urging Arab countries to cancel contracts with the two companies.
The 14-km. first line (Line 1, the “Red Line”) runs from Mount Herzl in west Jerusalem to Pisgat Ze’ev, the largest of several Jewish neighborhoods Israel built in the eastern sector after capturing it in 1967.
Palestinians say Israel is creating more facts on the ground with the tram, just as it has with its ever-expanding Jewish enclaves in east Jerusalem that are now home to 180,000 Israelis.
“The purpose of this project is to make a bridge between the settlements... and west Jerusalem and they use our land, Palestinian land,” said Ahmed Rweidi, an adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. “The train is illegal and the settlements are illegal.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he’s not willing to give up any part of Jerusalem, and insists Israel has the right to build anywhere in the city.
Government spokesman Mark Regev said “the light rail will serve all of Jerusalem’s residents and beyond, Arab and Jew alike.”
The campaign against the train seems to be part of a wider attempt by Palestinian activists and politicians to use new ways to challenge Israeli rule over the lands they want for a state. Frustrated by the failure of nearly two decades of peace talks, they are increasingly trying to hit Israel where it hurts – the pocket book.
(...)
Spokesman Philippe Kasse rejected claims that the tram creates a new reality on the ground, noting that buses now service the future train route.
“We are told (by critics) that this tramway is a weapon designed to make irreversible the annexation of east Jerusalem and the colonization policy led by Israel,” he wrote in an e-mailed response. “Replacing an existing bus line by a tramway is neither using warfare nor establishing a political fait accompli.”
(The Jerusalem Post, ABE SELIG, 02/03/2010)

"Israel’s Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday (RVDB: December 26, 2009) that a major access highway to Jerusalem (RVDB: Highway 443) running through the occupied West Bank could no longer be closed to most Palestinian traffic. ... In a 2-to-1 decision, the court said the military overstepped its authority when it closed the road to non-Israeli cars in 2002, at the height of the second Palestinian uprising. The justices gave the military five months to come up with another means of ensuring the security of Israelis that permitted broad Palestinian use of the road. ... Limor Yehuda, the lawyer who argued the case for the civil rights group, said she hoped the court would apply the ruling to all segregated roads in the West Bank to end the dual system there."
(New York Times, December 29, 2009)

"Each time I drive out of Jerusalem into the West Bank, it strikes me: The hills are changing. Israeli settlements are redrawing the landscape-daily, insistently. While governments change, while diplomatic conversations murmur on and stop and begin again, the bulldozers and cranes continue their work.
From my home in West Jerusalem, the road that Israelis use to head south toward Hebron runs through two tunnels in the mountains. Known simply as the Tunnel Road, it was built in the mid-1990s during the Oslo peace process, when Bethlehem was turned over to Palestinian rule and Israelis wanted a way to bypass the town on their way to settlements that remained in Israeli hands.
A turn from the Tunnel Road takes you past the Palestinian village of Hussan to Beitar Illit, a settlement covering two hills. The streets are lined with apartment buildings, faced in rough-cut, yellowish-white stone, all with red-tile roofs, so alike they could have been turned out by the same factory. In 1993, when Yitzhak Rabin and Yasir Arafat shook hands and peace seemed close enough to touch, about 4,000 people lived in Beitar Illit. Now, 34,000 live here, and more will soon move in."
(Gershom Gorenberg, Blog at southjerusalem.com, January 2009)

"Israel is constructing a road through the West Bank, east of Jerusalem, that will allow both Israelis and Palestinians to travel along it - separately. There are two pairs of lanes, one for each tribe, separated by a tall wall of concrete patterned to look like Jerusalem stones, an effort at beautification indicating that the road is meant to be permanent."
(New York Times, August 11, 2007)

References

Gershom Gorenberg; The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements, 1967-1977. New York: Times Books, 2006.

Jeff Halper; Obstacles to Peace. A re-framing of the Palestinian - Israeli conflict. Jerusalem: ICAHD & PalMap, Second Edition, February 2004.

Malkit Shoshan; Atlas of the Conflict Israel - Palestine. Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2010.

Rob Van der Bijl; Een Strategie van Scheidend Asfalt. In: Blauwe Kamer - Landschapsarchitectuur en Stedenbouw. Februari 2011, nr.1, pp.26-35. (Including pictures by Liesbeth Sluiter)
Download here... (Sorry, this article is available in Dutch only)

Karolien Van Dyck; Openbaar vervoer en politieke controle: een empirische studie van het citypass project op de westelijke Jordaanoever. Universiteit van Gent, 2008-2009.

Eyal Weizman; Hollow Land: Israel's Architecture of Occupation. OpenDemocracy Ltd., 2007.

Background

A reliable estimate of the area's size is crucial for a good understanding of the infrastructural conditions. Therefore, with the aid of Google Maps, we made a series of maps (same scale, same size) in order to compare the area of Jerusalem/Tel Aviv with respectively the Gaza strip and coastal zones of Holland and Los Angeles.
The region of Jerusalem is small. This is also true for the distance between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, hardly 70km. The coast of the Gaza strip measures half this distance, slightly more than 30km. The coastal zones of Holland and Los Angeles are added to allow comparisons. The Gaza strip for example fits easily in both these areas.

Region of Jerusalem.

Region of Tel Aviv (touches at the east the region of Jerusalem).

Gaza-strip.

Coast of Los Angeles.

Coast of Holland (Randstad).

Report

In November 2010 Rob van der Bijl and Liesbeth Sluiter made site visits in the region of Jerusalem. They examined the three main targets of their research: Road 443, East Ring Road and CityPass.

Road 443 is the existing by-pass link through Palestine territory between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. At one of our Jerusalem bound trips we are entering the exit, or for that matter, the entrance to Israel.

Eventually the East Ring Road will operate as a strategic short cut for Palestinians between Ramallah and Bethlehem. At the very same time the planned road will offer access to Israeli settlements in East-Jerusalem. Here we are entering the construction site of the first portion of this 'double' road (not opened yet).

CityPass is the project for a new tramway between West Jerusalem, including the historic centre, and new settlements beyond the Green Line at the north of East Jerusalem. Here we are inspecting the newly built portion of the line in Pisgat Ze'ev. Operation was scheduled for April 2011, but eventually started a few months later between August and December.

This report offers a first impression only. The results of our research are and will be elaborated in forthcoming publications. All pictures by Liesbeth Sluiter. Special thanks to Jan de Jong.

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Stedebouwkundig Ontwerp, Advies & Onderzoek

Project: Rob van der Bijl en Liesbeth Sluiter, Amsterdam, 2004-2016

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Westoever Infrastructuur
English version...

Infrastructuur, in het bijzonder autowegen vormen de condities voor ruimtelijke en sociale segregatie op de Palestijnse Westoever. Rob van der Bijl (stedebouwkundige) en Liesbeth Sluiter (fotograaf) onderzoeken sinds 2004 deze infrastructuur. Zij stellen kaarten, beelden en verhalen samen van de regio Jeruzalem, die ze binnen de Westoever als een sleutelgebied beschouwen. Locatiebezoeken en onderzoek in november 2010 zijn gericht geweest op diverse wegprojecten in het gebied van Jeruzalem, inclusief recente gebeurtenissen rond Highway 443. Bovendien is diepgaand onderzoek lopende naar het CityPass-project, de bouw van een tramlijn die het centrum van West-Jeruzalem zal verbinden met nederzettingen in het noorden van Oost-Jeruzalem. Onze resultaten zijn en zullen in de loop van 2011 worden gepubliceerd in diverse media.

Download hier... ons eerste artikel: Een Strategie van Scheidend Asfalt. (In: Blauwe Kamer, februari 2011). Zie ook ons eerdere verslag (november 2010) hier...

Helaas is de situatie sinds ons veldwerk in 2010 in het geheel niet verbeterd. Januari 2016 roept VN Secretaris-Generaal Ban Ki-moon op tot wijziging van het beleid. Hij is erg ongerust over de Israëlische aankondiging om 370 'acres' op de Westoever, ten zuiden van Jericho, als zogenaamd “State land” te bestempelen. In dit verband is door de VN de volgende verklaring uitgebracht: "The Secretary-General is deeply concerned about reports of the Israeli Government authorizing the declaration of 370 acres in the West Bank, south of Jericho, as so-called “State land”. If implemented, this declaration would constitute the largest land appropriation by Israel in the West Bank since August 2014.
The Secretary-General reiterates his call for substantial policy changes on the ground by Israel that will improve the lives of Palestinians. Settlement activities are a violation of international law and run counter to the public pronouncements of the Government of Israel supporting a two-State solution to the conflict."

Zaterdag 11 augustus 2007 bericht de New York Times over de aanbouw van een weg door de Westoever waarop het Israëlische en het Palestijnse verkeer van elkaar zullen worden gescheiden. De weg die langs de oostzijde van Jeruzalem loopt is dus een dubbele weg. Veelzeggend detail: het Palestijnse deel heeft veel minder op- en afritten dat het deel dat gereserveerd is voor Israëlisch verkeer.

Studiegebied volgens de kaart van Freytag & Berndt (links) en van SAI/TAG, Btselem, Vrede nu (rechts). Van der Bijl en Sluiter hebben voor hun project contact met de samenstellers van SAI/TAG-kaart.

Terwijl aan onderhandelingstafels en West-Europese TV-desks de mogelijkheden van minder of veel minder, of geen nieuwe nederzettingen werd besproken, is op de Westoever ('West Bank') een auto-infrastructuur gerealiseerd die het gebied op duurzame wijze koppelt aan het Israëlisch territorium. Zonder het autowegstelsel in 'bezet gebied' is de nederzettingenpolitiek simpelweg ondenkbaar. De autowegen maken de fysieke controle van de Israëli's op het Palestijns gebied pas goed mogelijk.
Een blik op de bekende (toeristische) kaarten - Freytag & Berndt, Hildebrand, etc. - maakt duidelijk dat de autowegen van Israël naadloos aansluiten op de wegen van het Palestijns gebied. De omgeving van Jeruzalem spreekt boekdelen. Het autostelsel hier ontsluit de omliggende regio geheel en biedt verbindingen met verder weg gelegen plaatsen in alle richtingen. Naar het Palestijnse Ramallah ten noorden van Jeruzalem loopt de '60'. Weg nummer 1 van Tel Aviv naar Jeruzalem loopt via een noordelijke tangent in Jeruzalem, met behoud van nummer, door in het Palestijnse gebied tot ver in het oosten.
Een autorit over deze wegen biedt voor degenen die het willen zien een onthullende kijk op de ruimtelijke dimensies van Apartheid. De Israëlische wegen doorkruisen Palestijns gebied waar die wegen zelf geheel vreemd aan zijn (behalve dan bij de controleposten). De wegen hebben in wezen geen ontsluitende functie, maar alleen een verbindende. De wegen verbinden Israëlische woonplaatsen in bezet gebied met werkplaatsen over de grens. En natuurlijke verbinden ze de talrijke militaire knooppunten en centra met elkaar. Voor degenen die het niet willen weten zijn de wegen gewoon mooie verbindingen waardoor Israël veel groter lijkt dan het feitelijk is. Niet alleen in logistiek, maar ook in psychologisch opzicht vormen de autowegen een duurzame en noodzakelijk conditie voor Apartheid.

Checkpoint Al Azaria (Jeruzalem) is inmiddels vervangen door een muur.

Rob van der Bijl en Liesbeth Sluiter willen deze logistiek op journalistieke wijze onderzoeken, fotograferen, en letterlijk in kaart brengen. Hun verhaal zal de illustratie vormen van een door hen te vervaardigen 'autokaart'. Hun kaart zal precies en indringend de logistiek van Apartheid in beeld brengen. Daar omheen zullen zij de beelden en de verhalen draperen van de bouwers en van de dagelijkse gebruikers, en vooral van degenen die soms tegen wil en dank van die wegen gebruik maken, maar nog veel vaker gedoemd zijn te overleven in de berm of het resterend land.

Studiegebied volgens het kaartbeeld van Google Maps (januari 2009).

Studiegebied volgens de kaart van Jeff Halper (februari 2004).

Het project is gestart in 2004. De voortgang is door gebrek aan financiële middelen bescheiden geweest, maar eind 2008 hebben we de werkzaamheden weer opgepakt. In november 2010 is veldwerk in Israël uitgevoerd.

Citaat uit Yourmiddleeast.com

For now, the developers have their fingers crossed, hoping that politics doesn’t derail their fragile venture.
(www.yourmiddleeast.com, 15 oktober 2012)

Meer citaten

"Palestijnen mogen na zeven jaar weer gebruik maken van een snelweg die door de bezette Westelijke Jordaanoever loopt. Het algehele verbod op Palestijns verkeer voor snelweg 443 is door het Israëlische hooggerechtshof onrechtmatig verklaard. De vierbaansweg is de kortste route tussen Tel Aviv en Jeruzalem; 28 kilometer ervan loopt over Palestijns grondgebied.
De uitspraak, die alleen voor dit wegdeel opgaat, kan gevolgen hebben voor andere Israëlische besluiten die in de loop der jaren de Palestijnse bewegingsvrijheid op de Westoever hebben ingeperkt.
Het Israëlische leger heeft Palestijnen in 2002 verboden over de 443 te rijden of te lopen, nadat vijf Israëli’s waren omgekomen bij beschietingen van en stenenregens op passerende auto’s door Palestijnen. Alle toegangswegen vanuit 22 naastgelegen Palestijnse dorpen zijn sindsdien afgesloten met metalen hekken en betonblokken. Alleen via lange omwegen kunnen de dorpelingen de ziekenhuizen en markten van de nabijgelegen stad Ramallah bereiken."
De Volkskrant / Alex Burghoorn, 30 december 2009)

"Tussen de Palestijse steden Ramallah en Nablus slingert een tweebaansweg, route 60. Israëlische militairen bekijken vanaf controleposten en wachttorens de auto's die door het heuvelachtige landschap rijden. Auto's met gele, Israëlische nummerborden mogen doorrijden. Groene, Palestijnse nummerborden zijn er schaars: die mogen alleen met speciale toestemming op de weg komen. ... De Palestijnse steden en dorpen op de Westelijke Jordaanoever zijn eilandjes geworden, enclaves rondom een ingenieus web van Israëlische dorpen, steden en wegen."
De Volkskrant / Guus Valk, 22 november 2008.

Referenties

Gershom Gorenberg; The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements, 1967-1977. New York: Times Books, 2006.

Jeff Halper; Obstacles to Peace. A re-framing of the Palestinian - Israeli conflict. Jerusalem: ICAHD & PalMap, Second Edition, February 2004.

Malkit Shoshan; Atlas of the Conflict Israel - Palestine. Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2010.

Rob van der Bijl; Een Strategie van Scheidend Asfalt. In: Blauwe Kamer - Landschapsarchitectuur en Stedenbouw, februari 2011, nr.1, pp.26-35. (Inclusief foto's van Liesbeth Sluiter)
Download hier...

Karolien Van Dyck; Openbaar vervoer en politieke controle: een empirische studie van het citypass project op de westelijke Jordaanoever. Universiteit van Gent, 2008-2009.

Eyal Weizman; Hollow Land: Israel's Architecture of Occupation. OpenDemocracy Ltd., 2007.

Achtergrond

Voor een goed begrip van de infrastructurele condities is een reëel besef van de gebiedsgrootte cruciaal. Als achtergrond is hieronder met behulp van Google Maps daarom een vergelijking gemaakt tussen het gebied van Jeruzalem/Tel Aviv met achtereenvolgens de Gaza-strook en de kusten van respectievelijk de Randstad en Los Angeles.
De regio van Jeruzalem is klein en dat geldt ook voor de afstand tussen Jeruzalem en Tel Aviv, amper 70 kilometer. De kust van de Gaza-strook meet slechts de helft van deze afstand, iets meer dan 30 kilometer. Ter vergelijking zijn de kusten van de Randstad en Los Angeles toegevoegd waarbinnen de Gaza-strook makkelijk blijkt te passen.

Regio Jeruzalem.

Regio van Tel Aviv (raakt in het oosten aan de regio van Jeruzalem).

Gaza-strook.

Kust Los Angeles.

Kust Randstad.

Verslag

In november 2010 hebben Rob van der Bijl en Liesbeth Sluiter lokatiebezoeken gemaakt in de regio van Jeruzalem. Ze hebben toen de drie belangrijkste doelen van hun onderzoek verkend: Road 443, East Ring Road en CityPass.

Road 443 is de bestaande by-pass link door Palestijns gebied tussen Tel Aviv en Jeruzalem. Op een van onze ritten richting Jeruzalem naderen we de exit, of eigenlijk, de entree tot Israël.

Uiteindelijk zal de East Ring Road functioneren als een strategische kortsluiting voor Palestijnen tussen Ramallah en Bethlehem. Tegelijkertijd zal de geplande weg toegang bieden tot Israëlische settlements in Oost-Jeruzalem. Hier naderen we de bouwplaats van het eerste deel van deze 'dubbele' weg (nog niet geopend).

CityPass is het project voor een nieuwe tramlijn tussen West-Jeruzalem, inclusief het historische centrum, en nieuwe settlements voorbij de Groene Lijn in het noorden van Oost-Jeruzalem. Hier inspecteren we het nieuw gebouwde deel van de lijn in Pisgat Ze'ev. Exploitatie was gepland voor april 2011, maar startte uiteindelijk een paar maanden later tussen augustus en december.

Dit verslag biedt slechts een eerste indruk. De resultaten van ons onderzoek zijn en zullen worden uitgewerkt. Alle foto's door Liesbeth Sluiter. Speciale dank aan Jan de Jong.

Zie verder:
Rob van der Bijl; Een Strategie van Scheidend Asfalt. In: Blauwe Kamer - Lanschapsarchitectuur en Stedenbouw, februari 2011, nr.1, pp.26-35. (Inclusief foto's van Liesbeth Sluiter)
Download dit artikel hier hier...

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