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Despite paying taxes, many Jerusalemites still without basic services

The Jerusalemites residing in the areas outside the Israeli West Bank barrier suffer from a lack of basic services, which the Jerusalem municipality is supposed to offer in return for the taxes residents pay.

Palestinians walk past Israel's controversial barrier as they make their way to attend the third Friday prayer of Ramadan in Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque, through Qalandia checkpoint near the West Bank city of Ramallah July 3, 2015. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman 
 - RTX1IUJK
Palestinians walk past the Israeli separation wall as they make their way to attend the third Friday prayer of Ramadan in Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque, through the Qalandia checkpoint near the West Bank city of Ramallah, July 3, 2015. — REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman

JERUSALEM — After Hanadi Yaacoub, a Jerusalemite from Beit Hanina in East Jerusalem, married a West Bank resident, she had to move to the Kafr Aqab neighborhood. Kafr Aqab is located outside the Israeli West Bank barrier that surrounds and separates Jerusalem from the West Bank. She moved because her husband could not live with Yaacoub in Jerusalem because he does not hold a Jerusalem ID. If Yaacoub lives in the areas that do not fall under the Jerusalem municipality’s jurisdiction, she will lose her Jerusalem ID.

Kafr Aqab is under the jurisdiction of the Jerusalem municipality, which requires a proof of residency in the Jerusalem municipal boundaries to preserve the Jerusalem ID. It is located outside the Qalandia checkpoint. West Bank residents cannot cross this checkpoint, which is why Yaacoub settled in Kafr Aqab, outside the checkpoint, so that her husband can move freely.

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