For the past few weeks, Yehudit Oppenheimer has been a busy woman. Very busy, in fact. The executive director of Ir Amim, an NGO passionately committed to the goals of stability, equality and a future for Jerusalem that is mutually acceptable to Israelis and Palestinians, spent Dec. 11 racing among various committees in that city in an effort to thwart what she and her group perceive to be unilateral steps that will disrupt the very fabric of life in the city and impede any chance for a brighter future. She and her team could barely catch their breath after fighting plans approved by the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee on Sunday, Dec. 16, to build 1,500 housing units in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood of north Jerusalem. But yesterday [Dec. 19] they found themselves confronting yet another similar plan, this one involving the construction of hundreds of new units in Givat Hamatos, in the eastern part of the city.
Since Israel announced a massive building campaign in the E1 zone extending from Jerusalem to Maaleh Adumim, the members of this NGO have been hard at work writing memoranda and reports, arranging tours for journalists and citizens so that they can articulate the negative impact construction here will have on future generations and submitting their objections to the new plans to the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee. We waited several hours before Oppenheimer could finally meet with us for a special interview, but she eventually found the time. As it happened, her efforts had just resulted in something of a success. It was the end of the day, and the committee had just overturned plans to build on Givat Hamatos. Nevertheless, Ir Amim recognizes that this was just one victory in a long, drawn-out campaign.
