HRW from IPA ISRAEL March 18 2020 ENG Revised
Unofficial Translation from Hebrew to English by Human Rights Watch [on Official Israel Planning Administration, Senior Local Planning Division Letterhead] March 19, 2020 To Eric Goldstein Acting Director Middle East and North Africa Division Human Rights Watch Dear Sir, Re: Planning in the Arab communities of Jisr al-Zarqa, Ein Mahel and Qalansawa Ref: Your letter dated March 12, 2020. Your letter in reference has been forwarded to me. Prior to providing responses to your specific questions, I shall address the overall issue of planning and building in Arab communities in Israel and the claim made in your letter regarding Israeli policies that allegedly restrict and confine Arab villages. These remarks constitute a response to paragraph 2 of your letter as well. The Planning Administration has been investing a great deal of effort over a number of years in promoting a broad planning strategy to update master planning in Arab communities, including Druz and Bedouin communities, as an outcome of a number of targeted government resolutions. These government resolutions address multi-sector development, including, inter alia, strengthening and empowerment of local authorities; economic and employment development; development of infrastructure and social services, housing and public institutions, tourism, security, planning and more, under continuous government monitoring of implementation and spending of the generous budget allocated for this purpose. Of the 132 Arab communities, 119 have current master plans that have been approved, are in the approval process, or are in preparation. These plans cover some 96% of the total population of these communities. The plans form a planning framework that encompasses the entire area of the community and determines zoning distribution for the coming decades as well as future development trajectories (residential, employment, tourism, public buildings, open public spaces and more), and they are made in a process that includes public involvement and participation.
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