'There's nothing we can do,” says criminal justice attorney Baruch Ben-Yosef. Residents of Ma'aleh Adumim turned to Ben-Yosef for legal advice concerning the heavy air pollution pouring out of neighboring villages E-Tur, Eizariya and Abu Dis. Villagers in those areas burn not only garbage but also old mattresses, electrical cables and tires to extract metal for resale. The fires create clouds of toxic smoke that blow over Ma'aleh Adumim and even reach parts of north Jerusalem. This reporter covered the issue for The Jerusalem Post on October 30, 2015. Soon after that article appeared in Metro and In Jerusalem, Ma'aleh Adumim's atmosphere cleared up for a while. But after a few weeks, smoke from garbage burning in the villages returned, worse than before. Ma'aleh Adumim residents must now decide between exposing themselves and their children to potentially deadly airborne toxins over years and packing up to leave. While before, many were afraid to complain publicly for fear of making the situation worse, they are now ready to talk about the problem as loudly as possible. Many accuse local offices of being indifferent. The harassed clerks at the Municipal Association for Environmental Quality and the Ma'aleh Adumim Municipality have reached the point where they don't accept phone calls from certain people anymore. They explain to those who do get through that they (the clerks) have no authority to intervene. The Arab villages where the fires start are located in Areas B and parts of C of the West Bank, under the Palestinian Authority. The PA seems indifferent to the problem. “It would take a war to make them stop burning garbage,” says Ben-Yosef grimly. “The only thing we can do is stop loaded garbage trucks from entering the villages.” An ineffective measure, as Paula Stern, CEO of a Jerusalem tech writing company, attests. “The amount of garbage piled up between Ma'aleh Adumim and Eizariya is incredible. There's a wadi between the two areas that they're filling with garbage. Then they burn it. You can see the flames. There's also a field just past us on either side of the road to Jerusalem. The Arabs make bonfires in those fields. Last week the fires got out of control and burned for three or four days. The embers smoked for another three or four days.” Stern, like many of her neighbors, isn't aware that local authorities have no ability to implement a change. “I don't understand why no one's taking care of it,” she says. “The city turns a blind eye. If this happened in a Jewish neighborhood, it would be shut down immediately. Here, if you build something in your yard without a license, you get fined. If you commit a traffic violation, you get a ticket. How is the pollution being ignored? Last week there were big billows of black smoke that burned for days – plastics and God knows what else. Depending on wind direction, the smoke goes over the heads of the soldiers at the checkpoint and towards [the French Hill [neighborhood]. The soldiers have no protection, no masks of any kind. As the mother of a soldier, I wouldn't like my son to be serving there,” she asserts. Stern points out that parts of northern Jerusalem are exposed to the pollution from the villages. “Today there were three fires, one closer to Pisgat Zeev. Basically, all the northern part of Jerusalem is breathing this without knowing where it's coming from,” she says. Yael Kaner, a business consultant, says, “I commute to Jerusalem. Last week there was a really huge blazing fire by the checkpoint. You couldn't get away from it, and it went on for a good week. Any given week, there are three or four fires. You wonder, 'Is this how the people in the villages function or is it a political ploy to get rid of us?'” Depending on the location in Ma'aleh Adumim, some residents have only started feeling the pollution recently, while others have been suffering for months. Mordechai Oberstein says, “We live close to Eizariya. There are times when you go outside and you can't breathe. It's terrible. It's like inhaling something sharp, the smell of burning plastic magnified by one million. My son and wife have asthma, which is getting worse. As an American, it's mind-boggling. If this happened in the States, it would be a big environmental issue. I don't think that the mayor doesn't care, but there's a sense of impotence. We don't even get acknowledgment.” Living in the Mitzpeh Nevo neighborhood of the town, Rabbi Zev Shandalov says that the pollution has become a problem only in the past few weeks. “I leave the house at 5:45 a.m., and as soon as I walk out the door, my throat burns and my eyes feel irritated. We see the pollution now; it's gray smoke coming over in one long stream,” he says. Unaware that PA cooperation is the key to solving the problem, he says, “I hope that the Ma'aleh Adumim and Jerusalem municipalities will do something about it because it's getting worse.” Barbara Ginsberg, whose neighborhood is often enveloped in the harsh smoke, writes in an email: “Driving to and from Jerusalem is like going through a thick smoke cloud whose smell penetrates closed windows. This pollution, as reported by the Board of Health, can cause lung cancer, asthma and breathing problems. Young children and babies are particularly susceptible. Adults are having problems with coughs, asthma attacks, choking when the air enters their homes, and even bleeding lungs. My sinuses are infected all the time. The pollution isn't always visible, but you can smell it. I have double-glazed windows, but the smoke is so powerful that it fills my house. “The mayor and deputy mayor of Ma'aleh Adumim refuse to meet with us and do not answer any letters. Residents who did get through to the deputy mayor's secretary were told that 'We know the problem and where it is coming from and are doing whatever we can to stop it. We have other problems in Ma'aleh Adumim.' “I contacted the Municipal Association for Environmental Quality and was told that they cannot do anything,” Ginsburg continues. “They suggested we report the problem to the army, as Ma'aleh Adumim is under military jurisdiction. They implied that if enough complaints were reported, the military would go into the problematic towns and villages and speak to the PA and ask them to stop the pollution problem. I answered that this works for three days or a week, and then the smoke starts again, with a vengeance. Why doesn't our government withhold money from the PA until the problem stops completely?” Ginsberg laments. Some families have already moved out, Ginsberg says. And in spite of a deep attachment to the city, she and her husband, both retired, are also considering leaving. “But what about those who can't afford to move? Those with schoolchildren happily rooted in the community?” she asks. What indeed will the future of beautiful Ma'aleh Adumim be if the black smoke continues roiling over the town? “The PA doesn't give a damn,” concludes Ben-Yosef. “There's no one to talk to.”
Smoke can be seen rising over the trees as one looks from Ma’aleh Adumim towards Eizariya(photo credit: PAULA STERN)Updated: Read More