You think it’s hard getting Bellevue and Redmond to agree? Try building a light-rail line in Jerusalem:
Running about 15 kilometers, or nine miles, from Mount Herzl in southern and predominantly Jewish Jerusalem to Pisgat Ze’ev, via Shuafat, in the north, it touches on one of the most contentious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the ownership of the city that both Israelis and Palestinians claim as their capital.
Forty years ago this week, Israel conquered the eastern, Arab-populated half of Jerusalem from Jordan and declared that the city would be united for eternity.
The government expanded the city limits to take in outlying Palestinian villages, like Shuafat, and annexed them. The Palestinians were offered Israeli citizenship, but most refused, calling the occupation of the land illegal, and chose permanent residency instead.
The Israelis, of course, are still hoping that Tim Eyman will show up and lead them to the land of $30 car tabs.
Putting aside the annexation of former East Jerusalem suburbs and 1967 and all that, there is an additional challenge to building rail in Jerusalem: all the history that happened before 1967.
Every time you dig in Jerusalem–for a foundation, new roads, or what have you–you may run into a bona fide archeological site or cemetary or whatever. As soon as you encounter something, construction stops, a SWAT team of hyperfast archeologists swoop in to dig it all out. Only then can you get back to construction.
Jerusalem has been trying to build a municipal rail system for longer than Seattle has.
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