Byline: Hanan Rubin

Double tax for affordability

Jerusalem from Mount of Olives. (photo by Wayne McLean via Wikimedia Commons)

For a long time, we have been seeking ways to make Jerusalem more than just the centre of the Jewish people, but also a city revived, with a young, optimistic spirit. We have succeeded in many areas, but a major issue remains: housing prices in many neighborhoods are unaffordable for young people.

With this in mind, the idea of raising the municipal tax came to be, with the goal of addressing this important issue. The first time we went to the government with a proposal to double the municipal tax on “ghost apartments” (empty apartments owned by non-residents) in Jerusalem, we were promptly shown the door: the ministers viewed this measure as potentially damaging for their friends abroad. While we share the deep connection with the very same people abroad, we insisted the move would promote our shared goals of a flourishing Jerusalem. But it is in the nature of good ideas to finally break through all obstacles and for disagreements and misunderstandings to be solved, and eventually the idea was approved.

Not everyone thinks increasing municipal taxes for non-residents is a good idea, but such disagreements are part of a legitimate dialogue between friends. However, I believe we might have lost the context of our shared goals. In my opinion, we’re looking at this all wrong. Instead of viewing the increased taxation as a penalty for homeowners, we need to think about this measure as an opportunity.

Jerusalem is in full bloom. Over the last few years, we have seen much progress in education, culture, tourism and the economy. It has bounced back from politicking, social tensions and terror attacks. Today’s Jerusalem is all about innovation, creativity and optimism. Across all sectors of society, Jerusalemites recognize the inherent value of diversity and coexistence. Jerusalem is a pilgrimage site, home to

Israel’s basketball champions (finally!), a place of wondrous architecture, sacred sites, top-notch museums and world-class restaurants. Everyone wants a part of Jerusalem – not in order to save it, but to take part in its success as a city combining tradition and innovation, religiosity and diversity.

It is this success that has made the beating heart of the Jewish world attractive for investors from the world over. Jerusalem currently has around 9,000 “ghost apartments,” including whole neighborhoods such as Kfar David or Mamilla, at the very core of the city. In the building where I lived until recently, seven out of 11 apartments were only in use for a few days each year. It is sad to see whole sections of the city empty. But it is even sadder to think of the young, dynamic population that won’t be able to afford an apartment in central Jerusalem so long as there is someone who will pay more.

Jerusalem is unlike any other city in the world. It is the fountain of ideology and innovation in the Jewish world. It is a challenge and an opportunity. It enjoys a unique, mutual bond with the Diaspora: connections formed here are of special significance to Jews both home and abroad. The cohort of young leaders being formed in Jerusalem is hard at work trying to create new paradigms.

Many owners of “ghost apartments” have invested time, energy and money in Jerusalem with the best intentions at heart, and have a great share in what has become of the city in recent years. But this phenomenon has driven housing costs to the level where it is nearly impossible for the average young Jerusalemite to buy an apartment, or even rent one at a reasonable cost. These young people will not be able to stay, and that is what gave birth to the idea of doubling municipal taxes for non-residents. Or, as I like to call it, “the pro-affordable housing tax.” This new ordinance is projected to generate around 10 million NIS annually, solely dedicated to creating affordable housing for the city’s young.

Again, this is not a penalty, but an opportunity to take part in one of the great challenges of the contemporary Jewish world – maintaining Jerusalem as a vital, tolerant and dynamic city.

Hanan Rubin is a Jerusalem city councilor and a co-founder of the political movement Wake Up Jerusalem, which focuses on quality of life issues for Jerusalem residents.

Need different view of Jerusalem

Sirens always make me pause. I fall silent and count one off, praying that there won’t be another. Because two sirens, as we used to say, are not women in labor.

Distant memories from the Intifada segue into those of summer last. Somehow, the rise of conflict in Jerusalem always comes along with the rising temperatures. But after the emergency meetings, the touring politicians, the dramatic headlines, there comes the first rain, and everything calms down. Then the countdown begins for next summer.

Some, though, aren’t content with just counting the days. Jeremy made aliya from D.C. six years ago. A reserve paratrooper officer, he rides his bike to work, halfway across town, each time reassuring his mother, thousands of miles away, that he wasn’t anywhere near the most recent attack. Last month, he joined a crowd of 5,000 to watch Matisyahu, the famous Jewish-American rapper, perform beneath the Old City walls. “Jerusalem If I Forget You gets a whole new meaning these days,” he tweeted, referring to the ancient prayer borrowed by Matisyahu for one of his songs.

Michal is a mother of four. At night, after putting her own children to bed, she has been going downtown, where she volunteers for a group seeking out dialogue with angst-filled youth bent on revenge. To her ever-concerned sister, she vows never to leave Jerusalem, with its crisp, cool air and still-low crime rates. It’s her husband who drops off the kids at school the following morning, where they are taught about the complexities of living in a mixed city, where you have to defend yourself with one hand and reach out to your would-be enemies with the other.

Another person is Ibrahim, a Hebrew University law student, and also a resident of Ras el-Amud, a Palestinian suburb shaken by recent events. Intimidating glares by Hamas supporters notwithstanding, he goes online every day, trying to convince people to stop the cycle of violence. Despite the long-standing advice of friends to relocate to Ramallah or the United States, he clings on to his naïve faith that there’s still hope in this conflict. Meanwhile, he alerts the authorities to suspicious happenings and, a few weeks back, confiscated a knife off of a 15-year-old brainwashed neighbor kid.

Then there’s Batia. She is an ultra-Orthodox woman. Every day she walks to work at City Hall. Despite having recently bought a canister of tear gas as a precaution, she prefers to put her faith in G-d and in the ubiquitous policemen. Just before Shabbat, she often goes up to them, to deliver fish, meat and chicken and to make their shift a little more pleasant.

Jerusalem keeps going, not through pompous statements, but through the hard work and devotion of its people, some elected officials, some social entrepreneurs and some ordinary citizens, united by relentless optimism and a profound love for their city. When things started getting really bad, I put out a call for an emergency meeting of Jerusalem civil society organizations. Within three hours, representatives from 33 organizations sat around a conference table at City Hall. It came as no surprise; even during “normal” times, the amount of people willing to sign up for civilian “reserve duty” is astounding.

There are teenagers handing out Israeli flags. Elderly people handing out small gifts to security personnel. Psychologists supporting youth in distress, activists helping out local businesses, and a string of independent online campaigns. These ordinary citizens allow the city to keep on living its life: thousands of students going back to school, the basketball team fighting to retain its championship title, and Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon, joining 2,000 people at the International Astronautical Congress last month.

This energy, this drive to take responsibility and think out of the box, are precisely what is needed to resolve the complexity of current events. We have to crack down on violence, while empowering moderate leaders; fight incitement on both sides and defend the right of every man and woman for freedom of worship; and make sure East and West Jerusalem get their share in infrastructure investments.

It’s time for this fresh perspective to rise from the bottom up. We are tired of instant solutions, quickly denounced by this side or the other of the political map. We are tired of those who take turns making political gains out of our hardship. Jerusalem is a different place, and requires a different point of view. The one we, young people of Jerusalem, discovered 10 years ago, when everyone else said the city was lost, and we formed Wake Up Jerusalem.

From this point of view, there is a lot of good to see. And even more to do.

Hanan Rubin is a Jerusalem city councilor and a co-founder of the solution-oriented political movement Wake Up Jerusalem, which focuses on quality of life issues for all Jerusalem residents.