Jerusalem's Light Rail As a Means of Normalisation

Anti/Thesis 30

Introduction At first glance, the Jerusalem light rail – Anti-Thesis The Violence of whose first line was inaugurated only a few Infrastructural months before Casablanca’s – might also appear to atone for a long period of infra- Connectivity: structural neglect. An East-West connection in a city where public transport was Jerusalem’s Light long segregated, it facilitated movement from marginalized Palestinian areas of Rail as a Means East Jerusalem into the city centre. It simi- larly operated on registers of symbolism of Normalisation and affect reflecting a sense of modernity, progress, and comfort – one in which Palestinians were included, seemingly for the first time in half a century of Israeli occupation. And nonetheless, in the sum- Hanna Baumann mer of July 2014, Palestinian residents attacked the light rail in a sensational man- It is commonly claimed that infrastruc public service was attacked by residents. ner, disrupting the operations of the tram- tures are so banal and taken for granted The violent disruption of the light rail, the way for two weeks (Baumann, “The Heavy that they only become visible when they article argues, called attention to the Presence”). It is commonly claimed that collapse or cease to function. Indeed, manner in which Jerusalem’s light rail infrastructures are so deeply embedded Rodgers and O’Neill termed the exclu serves to normalize both Palestinian in our experience of the built environment sion or disconnection of certain areas urban space and movements, thus feed and are so banal or taken for granted that from infrastructural services “infrastruc ing into an agenda of annexation. The they only become visible when they col- tural violence”. In East Jerusalem, where expansion of infrastructural networks, lapse or cease to function (Graham and infrastructure has long been underfunded and the resulting connectivity of previ Marvin; Graham and McFarlane 12). and Palestinian Jerusalemites are exclu ously marginalized areas, then, can also Indeed, the exclusion or disconnection of ded from access to many urban services, act as a form of violence rather than certain areas from infrastructural services infrastructure also became apparent as a atonement for past neglect. has been termed “infrastructural violence” political question when it appeared in the (Rodgers and O’Neill 401). In East form of a new light rail connection – and Keywords: Jerusalem, infrastructure, Jerusalem, where infrastructure has long even more so when this ostensibly useful mobility, transport, occupation, light rail been underfunded (Margalit; Ir Amim;

Middle East – Topics & Arguments # 10 –2018 Anti/Thesis 31

ACRI) and Palestinian Jerusalemites – in – not only in the common political par- dence to the allegation that the tram’s particular those living in areas cut off by lance of maintaining relations with Israel, routing is at least partially motivated by the Separation Wall (Al Khalili, De Leo and but in the Foucauldian sense. Following bolstering the annexation of East Dajani; Hammoudeh, Hamayel and Foucault, normalization is an attempt to Jerusalem. Thus, the Palestinian leader- Welchman) – are excluded from access to “reduce the most unfavorable, deviant” ship views the light rail project as cement- many urban services, infrastructure also elements and “bring them in line with the ing the occupation by serving settlements became apparent as a political question normal” (Foucault 62). Rather than exclud- and as deepening the annexation of East when it appeared – and even more so ing and isolating Palestinians, the normal- Jerusalem (Barghouti). The physical link- when the ostensibly useful public service izing approach includes them in the sys- ages established by hard infrastructure, of the light rail was attacked by residents. tem and, in incorporating Palestinian however, are only one aspect of the light space and mobilities, minimizes their rail’s normalizing effect. Beyond merely This violent disruption of the light rail, this deviation to align them with the interest connecting in functional terms, linked article argues, calls attention to the man- of state power. mobility flows also function on symbolic ner in which the expansion of infrastruc- registers, which even operate through the tural networks can also act as a form of Crossing Lines bodies of those moving. The light rail violence. Based on eight months of on- The first line of the tram (the Red Line), instils a sense of familiarity with Palestinian site research in the frame of my PhD which was completed in 2011, links the spaces that were previously out of bounds research, I show how Jerusalem’s light rail settlement of Pisgat Ze’ev to the adminis- to Israelis and thereby lays the ground- makes both Palestinian urban space and trative and commercial center of West work for appropriation of those spaces. Its movements “legible” (Scott) in order to Jerusalem. Along its 14-kilometre, 23-stop ability to facilitate a temporary, securitized normalize this part of the city and its resi- route from the northeast of the city to presence of settlers in a Palestinian area dents. As Palestinian circulations are inte- Mount Herzl in the southwest, it makes five may be more powerful than the obduracy grated into the Israeli system of the city, stops in Israeli settlements in East of its tracks; its ability to reconstitute they are aligned with the interests of the Jerusalem, three in the Palestinian neigh- Palestinian behaviour in public spaces Israeli state. While the violence of the bourhood of Shuafat (one on the border may have further-reaching implications Israeli mobility regime has generally been to Beit Hanina), and three just on the than a physical link alone. located in the restriction of Palestinian Green Line (see Map 1). movement (Hammami; Handel; Kotef), The Appeal of Normalization: Modernity the argument here is thus that even an The planned expansion of the Red Line, as and Tolerance expansion of urban service provision well as a planned second and third line, The co-presence of different groups on facilitating movement might be seen as will connect some of the most populous the tram has been used to construct the violent. This violence lies in the ongoing settlements in the north and south of East light rail as a symbol of a modern and cos- process of East Jerusalem’s normalization Jerusalem to the city centre, giving cre- mopolitan metropolis (Nolte and Yacobi).

Middle East – Topics & Arguments # 10 –2018 Anti/Thesis 32

Transportation Masterplan argued that the light rail transit

has the potential of bringing various population groups closer, promoting peaceful co-existence, and thus setting Jerusalem as a role-model of coexistence in the Middle-East. (Jerusalem Transportation Masterplan 2)

This view, echoed repeatedly (Alstom), aligns with observations made in a report the municipality commissioned from Richard Florida’s Creative Cities Group, which sees “diversity” as “one of Jerusalem’s strongest assets” but argues that the city needed to become more “tol- erant” by encouraging the “blending” of different groups (Creative Class Group). Palestinian acceptance of the tram was thus sought through extensive community outreach work through schools and mosques, but also through the use of Arabic signage and announcements, nei- ther of which can be found on other Israeli public transport. It also emerged from the ● West Jerusalem ● Settlement affective and atmospheric appeal of the ● Green Line ● Palestinian neighbourhood infrastructure itself. Operating on the level Map 1: Locations of Light Rail stations and the route of its Red Line since 2011. Courtesy of the author. of “fantasy and desire,” as Larkin argues, “infrastructures create a sensing of In seeking to convince Alstom, one of the pied land, that the light rail was a peaceful modernity” and make aspirations emo- CityPass members criticized for taking project, a briefing by the Jerusalem tionally real (Larkin 332-4). The futuristic, part in an infrastructural project on occu- silver train with its streamline silhouette

Middle East – Topics & Arguments # 10 –2018 Anti/Thesis 33

stands in compelling contrast to the his- toric cityscape through which it passes, an image of progress difficult to disavow. For Palestinians, being offered a high-quality urban service by the municipality, and being included in this showcase project, was unusual and unexpected. They noted the level of comfort of the JLR, with the unimpeded movement of the train resulting in an embodied sense of modernity, what Sheller refers to as a “co-constitution of motion and emotion” (Sheller). The old buses of the East Jerusalem bus compa- nies were described as loud, hot, rattling, and often stuck in traffic. The light rail, by contrast, was air conditioned and moved smoothly and quickly, providing an unde- niably more comfortable experience (see Figure 1).

Normalization and Security Figure 1: The Jerusalem Light Rail on its route along the Green Line, 2014. Courtesy of the author. In addition to projecting an image of har- monious shared space, Palestinian usage to minimize risk (Foucault 65). In addition along the Shuafat main road and adjacent of the light rail was also aimed at protect- to cancelling out the dangers of areas, ostensibly to identify individuals ing the infrastructure and the Jewish pas- Palestinian opposition by compelling East attacking the tram (Interview with CEO, sengers on it, as the former CEO of the Jerusalemites to partake in the light rail Bladeworx). As the light rail became the light rail operator noted (Interview with project, a broad range of more conven- site of increased incidents of violence Former CEO, CityPass). Here we see how tional means of protection and surveil- during 2015, Jerusalem’s Israeli mayor, Nir security thinking and normalization are lance were put in place to securitize the Barkat, visited Beit Hanina in October intertwined: rather than exclude danger- tram (Interview with VP Projects and 2015 to investigate “ways of restoring ous elements, as disciplinary power does, Consulting Services, MTRS 3, 31 July security to the light rail line in that area of normalization in a security-based system 2014). Drones were used for the first time the city,” carrying a handgun converted to integrates dangerous elements in order for policing purposes in Jerusalem, flying an assault rifle (Hasson). What might be

Middle East – Topics & Arguments # 10 –2018 Anti/Thesis 34

called the militarization of civilian infra- metaphorical sense. Even the temporary, ing gone awry. Enabling “freedom of cir- structure takes place on two levels here: mobile presence of passengers on a train culation” is in fact a form of security On the one hand, the light rail and the can have a cumulative effect of altering (Foucault 49, 64). The seemingly contra- passengers on it are the object of securi- the character of a neighbourhood, a type dictory approaches of facilitating tization. On the other, the train itself, as of gradual encroachment that results in a Palestinian movement and securitizing it well as the ridership, also have a strategic new normal (cf. Bayat). Promoters of are thus two aspects of the same logic. On purpose in line with a territorially expan- Jewish-Israeli settlements in East the one hand, the uniqueness of sionist Israeli agenda in the conflict over Jerusalem note a “strengthened pres- Jerusalem’s cultural diversity is high- in Jerusalem. ence” of Jews in East Jerusalem thanks to lighted as part of the municipality’s urban the light rail (Municipal Councilmember branding strategy. On the other, the Israeli Beyond the fact that incorporating Arieh King in Wishart). As the means by mayor also insists that Jerusalem is a “nor- Palestinians’ everyday public transport use which settlers move through (and into) mal city”, its frictions and occasional out- into the Israeli system enables increased hitherto inaccessible spaces, the light rail bursts of violence merely reflecting the control over their movements, the light rail itself has become the frontier – one which same challenges faced by other cities of also assimilates East Jerusalem’s urban had to be securitized to ensure its effec- the “free world” (Barkat). This dual space with the city’s west. James Scott has tiveness. Thus, seemingly innocuous pub- approach serves to both commodify the shown how state power seeks to simplify lic transportation infrastructure, which presence of Palestinians and to obfuscate local knowledges, practices and spaces in unusually also served Palestinian the city’s particular situation of prolonged order to make these more “legible” from Jerusalemites, has had the effect of occupation while legitimizing securitiza- the centre and facilitate their assimilation increased surveillance, and ultimately, tion. The light rail plays an important role into its own administrative apparatus increased Israeli presence in East in advancing both narratives. (Scott). Visually aligning the space along Jerusalem. the JLR with West Jerusalem by introduc- Disrupting Infrastructural Circulations ing architectural elements along the route, Enhanced ease of movement, then, is also Despite being presented as a beneficial the light rail has made Shuafat (see stops associated with more Israeli control over, urban service that brings different resi- marked in black on Map 1) more legible and surveillance of, Palestinian move- dents of Jerusalem together, the JLR and expanded the comfort zone of Jewish ments. If we follow Foucault in under- seems to not have instilled a sense of Israelis who previously would not have standing the manner in which things belonging or gratitude in its Palestinian entered Palestinian neighbourhoods should circulate (or not) as essential to passengers. If anything, passengers (Baumann “Enclaves, borders, and every- how sovereignty is exerted over a city, we related a quiet sense of resentment day movements”). Thus, the tram has come to view security as more than a side- about the fact that pragmatism forced made the area accessible to settlers and effect of freedom of movement, or the them to partake in this Israeli institution. other Israelis both in a spatial and in a state response of excessive freedom hav- While the train eased the everyday com-

Middle East – Topics & Arguments # 10 –2018 Anti/Thesis 35

mutes of an estimated 14,000 Palestinians brought in heavy machinery to cut down ter services and freedom of movement. per day (Jerusalem Transportation three electricity pylons supplying the train. Palestinians were aware of the image of Masterplan), and close to half of all East progress projected by the tram, which has Jerusalemites took the train at least occa- Palestinian residents as well as Israeli lent legitimacy to expropriation. Residents sionally (IPCC), Palestinian attitudes observers noted that the light rail was rejected the light rail, then, because they toward the train remained ambivalent. attacked because it had become the most perceived it as an advancing colonial fron- Some residents supported a full boycott, visible symbol of the municipality, and tier rather than the “urban revival” mecha- others expressed concerns with regard thus the Israeli occupation, in Shuafat. An nism with the potential to become “a pro- to their personal safety, or an unwilling- occupier’s infrastructure, especially if it moter of coexistence,” as it was billed by ness to pay for tickets in what they per- makes inroads into a previously inacces- the municipality (Jerusalem Transportation ceived as a colonial enterprise. sible area, can become the very “embodi- Masterplan 2-3). ment of colonial experience” (Masquelier Following a slow increase in acts of vio- 829), of territorial appropriation. When the Conclusion lence by radical settlers along the Shuafat incorporating effects of the light rail had After half a century of occupation, much of main road, in the summer of 2014, the vio- been exposed through the rise of settler Palestinian East Jerusalem is disconnected lent murder of a teenage boy from a well- violence, Palestinians’ initial ambivalence and excluded from the city at the same known Shuafat family sparked clashes in toward this comfortable new means of time as infrastructural incorporation the neighbourhood, during which the transport turned to outrage. The attacks advances (Dumper; Shlomo). This para- light rail became the target of collective on the train’s infrastructure undermined its dox of concurrent exclusion and incorpo- outrage. During three days and nights of practical function of making Shuafat ration is traceable to Israel’s unresolved thorough destruction of the es-Sahel and accessible, and, on a symbolic level, relationship to its Palestinian subjects Shuafat Center light rail stops, young served to demarcate the neighbourhood more broadly (cf. Azoulay and Ophir; Palestinians clashed with police and bor- as unsafe for Israelis yet again, reversing Robinson). Rather than a form of atone- der guards, throwing rocks, Molotov cock- the sense of legibility previously achieved ment for past neglect, however, we should tails, and fireworks. Protesters began by through Israeli interventions in the urban see the connections forged by infrastruc- breaking security cameras at the stations, space. As reliable infrastructure is seen as tures such as the light rail within the con- then smashed and burned station shel- a sign of a well-functioning political order text of Israel’s settler colonial project. ters, signage, ticket machines, signals, and (Barry), the disruption of those infrastruc- traffic lights. The rubber lining of tracks tures is an exposure of the weakness of Due to the obduracy of their materiality, was set on fire and underground wiring that political order. Here, it also exposed infrastructures become facts – often irre- was melted by a Molotov cocktail which as untrue the argument by which the light versible ones – that then delimit the deci- exploded inside a manhole. On the final rail was justified: that Palestinians were sions that may be made in the future, even night of confrontations, Palestinians happy to give up their sovereignty for bet- the possibilities that might be envisioned.

Middle East – Topics & Arguments # 10 –2018 Anti/Thesis 36

Hanna Baumann While urban planning and official govern- embody Israeli norms in order to partake ated by imagery of modernist optimism. ment policy in Jerusalem has consistently in new mobilities. We believe, as Larkin notes, that “by pro- is a post-doctoral researcher at The aimed to constrain the possibilities of a moting circulation, infrastructures bring Bartlett’s Institute for Global Prosperity, Palestinian-determined East Jerusalem Understanding infrastructural service pro- about change, and through change they University College London, as well since 1967, the provision of services ben- vision in this way, then, expands the exist- enact progress, and through progress we as a visiting lecturer at the Centre for efitting Palestinians, including the facilita- ing understanding of “infrastructural vio- gain freedom” (Larkin 332). Yet we have Urban Conflicts Research, University tion of their movement, is a new develop- lence” (Rodgers and O’Neill 401). Rather seen that increased connectivity and cir- of Cambridge. Her dissertation was ment. More than a cementation of the than only at work when residents lack culation is not necessarily associated with concerned with the politics of mobility occupation through hard infrastructures, access to urban networks, we see that more freedom. Connective infrastruc- and infrastructure in East Jerusalem. however, the daily routines, neighbour- infrastructure can also have violent effects tures, while enabling movement, also email: [email protected] hood characteristics, institutions and even when new connections are established. It entail the limitation of possibilities: circu- bodily comportments that are altered in might be argued that the ethno-national lation is fixed along certain routes and their wake may contribute significantly to conflict over territory at work in Jerusalem thereby precludes other options of the the increasing inextricability of the city. makes Jerusalem an exceptional case “indefinite series of mobile elements” The visual alignment of East Jerusalem, with regard to the violent effects of infra- (Foucault 20) that make up the city. The advanced by the light rail, serves to proj- structural expansion. Yet in less overtly way mobility is organized in the city is thus ect a unified city by erasing difference contested cities, too, improving marginal not merely reflective of current power and making Palestinian space legible and areas’ access to the city centre may not relations, it also actively shapes the poli- thus governable. Smooth movement necessarily lead to reducing urban exclu- tics of the future by delineating the field across intra-urban boundaries offers the sion or inequality. It may serve to normal- of possibilities within which city dwellers’ embodied sense that the city’s divergent ize newly connected neighbourhoods, lives can be lived. The short-term improve- parts are part of an organic, coherent leading to increased state intervention or ments to the quality of life through whole. Shared spaces project an atmo- displacement through gentrification upgrading of infrastructure, opening up sphere of tolerance, presenting the city as (Grube-Cavers and Patterson; Lin and connections between previously isolated open, normal and unified and use circula- Chung). The danger for marginal groups neighbourhoods, and easing movement tion as a means of depoliticizing and nor- that stems from creating access channels across the city come at the price of incor- malizing the occupation of East Jerusalem, for dominant groups, the “tyranny of prox- poration and loss of autonomy – foreclos- while also advancing its annexation imity” (Edwards 424), is thus at work out- ing future possibilities for the city. through physical movement. Travel side of (settler) colonial or conflict set- behaviour is altered through disciplinary tings, too. systems and surveillance – but also through registers of fantasy and desire, The way in which we perceive and under- forging mobile subjects who come to stand infrastructures tends to be medi-

Middle East – Topics & Arguments # 10 –2018 Anti/Thesis 37

Works Cited Barkat, Nir. “Opinion: What Dumper, Michael. Hammami, Rema. Ir Amim. Jerusalem the World Can Learn from “Jerusalem’s Infrastructure: “Qalandiya: Jerusalem’s Tora Municipality Budget Analysis ACRI. “East Jerusalem Israel after July’s Wave of Is Annexation Irreversible?” Bora and the Frontiers of for 2013: Share of Investment 2015: Facts and Figures.” Deadly Attacks.” Newsweek, Journal of Palestine Studies, Global Inequality.” Jerusalem in East Jerusalem, 2014, Association for Civil Rights 3 Aug. 2016, http://europe. vol. 22, no. 3, 1993, pp. 78-95. Quarterly, vol. 41, 2010, pp. www.ir-amim.org.il/en/ in Israel, 12 May 2015, www. newsweek.com/what-world- 29-51. policy_papers/jerusalem- acri.org.il/en/wp-content/ can-learn-israel-after-julys- Edwards, Penny. “The municipality-budget-analysis- uploads/2015/05/EJ-Facts- wave-deadly-attacks-486473. Tyranny of Proximity: Power Hammoudeh, Doaa, 2013-share-investment- and-Figures-2015.pdf. Accessed 12 March 2018. and Mobility in Colonial Layaly Hamayel, and Lynn east-jerusalem. Accessed 12 Accessed 12 March 2018. Cambodia, 1863-1954.” Welchman. “Beyond the March 2018. Barry, Andrew. “Discussion: Journal of Southeast Asian Physicality of Space: East Al Khalili, Nura, Daniela Infrastructural Times.” Cultural Studies, vol. 37, no. 3, 2006, Jerusalem, Kufr ‘Aqab, and Jerusalem Transportation De Leo, and Muna Dajani. Anthropology, 24 Sept. pp. 421-43. the Politics of Everyday Masterplan. “The Use of “Planned Informality as a By- 2015, https://culanth.org/ Suffering.” Jerusalem the LRT Line by the Arab product of the Occupation: fieldsights/724-discussion- Foucault, Michel. Security, Quarterly, vol. 65, 2016, pp. Population in Jerusalem the Case of Kufr Aqab infrastructural-times. Territory, Population: Lectures 35-50. (Internal JTMT Briefing for Neighbourhood in Jerusalem Accessed 12 March 2018. at the College de France, Alstom).” 2014. North.” Planum, The Journal 1977-78. Palgrave Macmillan, Handel, Ariel. “Gated/gating of Urbanism, vol. 26, no. 2, Baumann, Hanna. “Enclaves, 2007. Community: the Settlement Kotef, Hagar. Movement and 2013. borders, and everyday Complex in the West Bank.” the Ordering of Freedom: movements: Palestinian Graham, Stephen, and Simon Transactions of the Institute On Liberal Governances of Alstom. “The Jerusalem Light marginal mobility in East Marvin. Splintering Urbanism: of British Geographers, vol. Mobility. Duke UP, 2015. Rail Train Project in Shuafat”. Jerusalem.” Cities, vol. 59, Networked Infrastructures, 39, no. 4, 2014, pp. 504-17. 2010. 2016, pp. 173-82. Technological Mobilities Larkin, Brian. “The Politics and the Urban Condition. Hasson, Nir. “Jerusalem and Poetics of Infrastructure.” Azoulay, Ariella, and Adi ---. “The Heavy Presence of Routledge, 2001. Mayor Calls on Civilians Annual Review of Ophir. The One-State the Jerusalem Light Rail: to Carry Weapons in Anthropology, vol. 42, no. 1, Condition: Occupation Why Palestinian Protesters Graham, Stephen, and Wake of Terror Attacks.” 2013, pp. 327-43. and Democracy in Israel/ Attacked the Tracks “ 6 July Colin McFarlane, editors. Ha’aretz, 8 Oct. 2015, Palestine. Stanford UP, 2013. 2014. Infrastructural Lives: Urban https://www.haaretz.com/. Lin, Jen-Jia, and Jo-Ching Infrastructure in Context. premium-jerusalem-mayor- Chung. “Metro-induced Barghouti, Omar. “Derailing Bayat, Asef. Life as Politics: Routledge, 2015. calls-on-civilians-to-carry- Gentrification: A 17-year Injustice: Palestinian Civil How Ordinary People Change weapons-in-wake-of-terror- Experience in Taipei.” Cities, Resistance to the “Jerusalem the Middle East. Stanford UP, Grube-Cavers, Annelise, attacks-1.5406662. Accessed vol. 67, 2017, pp. 53-62. Light Rail”.” Jerusalem 2009. and Zachary Patterson. 13 March 2018. Quarterly, vol. 38, 2009, pp. “Urban Rapid Rail Transit and ––› 46-58. Creative Class Group. Gentrification in Canadian IPCC. “Opinion Survey about Building a Creative Society in Urban Centres: A Survival Developments in the City Jerusalem – Prepared for the Analysis Approach.” Urban since July, October 2014.” Honorable Mayor Nir Barkat, Studies, vol. 52, no. 1, 2015, 2014. 2015. pp. 178-94.

Middle East – Topics & Arguments # 10 –2018 Anti/Thesis 38

––› Margalit, Meir. Chronic Sheller, Mimi. “Automotive Discrimination in East Emotions: Feeling the Car.” Jerusalem: Evidence from the Theory, Culture & Society, vol. Municipal Budget. Jerusalem 21, no. 4-5, 2004, pp. 221-42. Center for Social & Economic Rights, 2003. Shlomo, Oren. “The Governmentalities of Masquelier, Adeline. “Road Infrastructure and Services Mythographies: Space, amid Urban Conflict: East Mobility, and the Historical Jerusalem in the post Oslo Imagination in Postcolonial Era.” Political Geography, vol. Niger.” American Ethnologist, 61, 2017, pp. 224-36. vol. 29, no. 4, 2002, pp. 829- 56. Wishart, Adam. “The Train that Divides Jerusalem.” BBC Nolte, Amina, and Haim One Panorama, 2015, https:// Yacobi. “Politics, Infrastructure vimeo.com/136422517. and Representation: The Accessed 12 March 2018. Case of Jerusalem’s Light Rail.” Cities, vol. 43, 2015, pp. 28-36.

Robinson, Shira. Citizen Strangers: Palestinians and the Birth of Israel’s Liberal Settler State. Stanford UP, 2013.

Rodgers, Dennis, and Bruce O’Neill. “Infrastructural Violence: Introduction to the Special Issue.” Ethnography, vol. 13, no. 4, 2012, pp. 401-12.

Scott, James C. Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human (CC BY 4.0) Condition Have Failed. Yale UP, 1998. ISSN: 2196-629X https://doi.org/10.17192/ meta.2018.10.7593

Middle East – Topics & Arguments # 10 –2018