Fighting for the environment

SIMON GRIVER ISRAEL PRESS SERVICE

North Tel-Aviv is synonymous with affluence, while South Tel-Aviv and Jaffa have some of Israel's worst poverty and deprivation. It was therefore not surprising that a report published in February by Green Forum revealed that air pollution levels are three times higher in the south of the city than the north, that noise levels are 50 per cent higher in southern neighborhoods and that for every three parks in North Tel-Aviv, there is only one in Jaffa and the south.

Six months ago, Green Forum South Tel-Aviv and Jaffa was launched by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) and the Abraham Fund Initiatives (TAFI) to help local Arabs and Jews work together to fight environmental hazards in Tel-Aviv-Jaffa's poorest neighborhoods.

"The concept has been to form grassroots neighborhood committees, which promote a better environment," said Momo Mahadav, past director of SPNI's Tel-Aviv-Jaffa Centre for Environmental Action. "Goals are more easily achieved in middle-class neighborhoods but in South Tel-Aviv and particularly in Jaffa, where there is a mixed Jewish-Arab population, this is fraught with problems."

Jaffa and the adjoining Givat Schapira neighborhood of Tel-Aviv house nearly 70,000 residents, about 18,000 of whom are Arabs. To help overcome the prevailing mistrust between Arab and Jewish residents, Green Forum South Tel-Aviv and Jaffa is comprised of an equal number of Arabs and Jews.

Aviva Barazani, grants co-ordinator of TAFI, feels strongly that the Green Forum program in Jaffa fits in with the Abraham Fund's strategy of bringing Jews and Arab together in endeavors that promote their joint interests.

"Environmental issues are an ideal platform for furthering Jewish-Arab relations because of their inbuilt complexity," noted Barazani. "On the one hand, environmental hazards know no ethnic or religious boundaries and are, therefore, a great way to promote co-operation between Jews and Arabs. On the other hand, many environmental issues touch the heart of the conflict and the problems which divide Jews and Arabs, such as environmental justice, land issues and the concentration of environmental hazards within close proximity to certain populations."

Kamal Ajabra, chairman of the neighborhood committee in Jaffa's Arab quarter, also stressed Green Forum's important mission in nurturing co-operation. "Above and beyond the problems of improving the environment and public health in Jaffa," he noted, "this project is a great example of co-existence. It shows that Jews and Arabs can put their political differences aside and work together to improve the quality of life for everybody in Jaffa, regardless of race and religion."

Anat Barkai-Nevo, who recently succeeded Mahadav as director of SPNI's Tel-Aviv Centre for Environmental Action, observed that external friction from the larger political picture has so far not intruded on the activities of Green Forum in Jaffa. "What has been a bigger problem," she explained, "is that local residents have often insisted that they should be addressing more urgent issues, such as violence, drug addiction and poverty.

"But civic action generates a momentum of its own," she added. "The Green Forum neighborhood committee in Jaffa sends a message to the local and other authorities that there is now a responsible grassroots leadership. Today, this leadership is working on environmental and public health matters, but tomorrow it can address other, broader issues. In any event, a healthier local environment encourages less violence and is by definition less impoverished."

In addition to publishing its report on the imbalance of pollution and quality of life in Tel-Aviv-Jaffa, the Green Forum in Jaffa has also drawn up a work plan with clearly defined aims. The six-point plan addresses garbage, industrial pollution, noise levels, air pollution, the need for more parks and the proliferation of cellular antennae.

"We are tackling three of these issues in the coming months," said Mahadav. "The first is to do away with the large neighborhood bins which are often broken and are the source of unpleasant smells and health hazards. We want private bins for each building, which will encourage individual responsibility for garbage."

In addition, reducing traffic can lower noise and pollution. The construction of the Tel-Aviv Light Railway through the heart of Jaffa will help achieve this.

Since the establishment of Green Forum Jaffa, the Arabs and Jews living in the area are rapidly learning that they have common goals and a common future – and not only in matters relating to environment and public health.

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