In July 2012, former interior minister Eli Yishai announced that 23 cities with ministry-appointed mayors would hold elections this October. In April this year, newly appointed minister Gideon Sa’ar made a change in Yishai’s decision: All but one city would hold elections.Due to administrative and financial problems, the ministry stated, the city of Taiba would have to wait until November 2015.The Knesset Interior Committee’s decision has angered some of Taiba’s residents, and they are determined, following years of ministry involvement, to take control of the municipality again. Backed by the signatures of 4,000 supporters, resident and future mayoral candidate Shuaa Mansour has appealed the ministry decision, and the case will once again go before the committee.“The Interior Ministry has held financial control of Taiba’s municipality for 12 years. The residents of the city have not participated in elections since 2005,” he tells Metro. “It is unbelievable that a democratic country does not ask the inhabitants what they want.”Although Taiba’s political drama has existed for years, most of the main players have changed. Yet those who have remained and those who have recently entered the scene carry different stories of blame, and different solutions.With a population of approximately 40,000, Taiba is the third-largest Arab city in Israel. It was once the educational and cultural center of the southern Triangle, extending from Umm el-Fahm to Kafr Kasim. Much of the population consists of working professionals, and there are many beautiful white-stone homes with colorful gardens. Stores, restaurants and traditional Arab coffee shops line the streets.But over the years, the city has seriously deteriorated. A walk around the city shows a different reality from what one sees on the surface. Garbage piles distract from what could be a quaint city with character. Although the main streets have been repaved and traffic circles built, many streets are filled with potholes and running water. Children often play in the streets, since recreation areas are limited, and teenagers often loiter about aimlessly. The town has become a hotbed of crime, and educational levels have declined, with only 32.8 percent of the students who took the bagrut (matriculation) exam last year passing.City resident and former MK Walid Haj Yahia believes there are two reasons for the city’s problems.“The government has played a role in bringing Taiba down,” he explains. “It does not give the proper budget for the development of the town, and it helped some candidates win the mayoral seat so they could help implement governmental policies.”The second reason, he goes on, is “the people themselves. Many problems are caused in the management of the city, since elections in Arab communities are based on extended families rather than political parties. Corruption and mismanagement in the form of hiring unqualified schoolteachers or principals, [offering] exemption from paying taxes, or illegal building can result when constituents expect favors for votes.”In 1998, elected mayor Issam Massarwi inherited a municipality with soaring debts. The Interior Ministry reduced the debts to zero. Following Massarwi’s resignation, deputy mayor Salah Jbara took over. By 2005, the debts had once again reached a high level. The town held elections, and Sheikh Abdul Hakim Haj Yahia won in a landslide. Just nine months into his tenure, with debts still high, the ministry asked him to step down.Taiba has since had a succession of ministry-appointed mayors, and for many residents, the question remains: Why are they being denied their democratic right to vote for a mayor? The reasons offered vary. According to ministry spokeswoman Efrat Orbach, the ministry has appointed mayors over the years because “the city of Taiba is characterized by both financial and administrative problems. The municipality has failed in its routine operation and supply of municipal services to the residents.”Taiba had accumulated debts amounting to NIS 180 million, in addition to NIS 900m. in lawsuits, mostly between 2002 and 2007. The ministry’s goal, she says, is to take control of the debt and keep it stable.However, some of the town’s citizens are skeptical of this explanation.Haj Yahia and Mansour believe the government has an unstated agenda to confiscate land and water resources from Taiba’s citizens, and in order to implement its policies, it appoints mayors who will be yes-men.“A mayor from Taiba will never sign the land over to the government,” Mansour states defiantly. Much of the land there is privately owned.“As the population grows and the land space lessens, people will be forced to build illegally,” says Haj Yahia.Resident Khalid Massarwi – an engineer and a member of the Arab Center for Alternative Planning, as well as of the Popular Committee for the Defense of the Land and Housing – agrees.“In 1990, when Taiba was given city status, its land amounted to 19,195 dunams [1,919 hectares, or 4,743 acres]. The current map shows the land area has been reduced to 18,774 dunams – 421 dunams were taken from the northern and southern parts of the city,” he says.According to Massarwi, “the map also indicates that the government plans for another 13% of Taiba’s land – approximately 2,500 dunams [250 hectares, or 617 acres] – to be confiscated for national and local infrastructure such as Route 6, electricity, railway, water and gas lines, and the sewer system.”Additionally land around Route 6 amounting to 900 hectares has been declared protected, untouchable land, rendering it unusable by its owners.And Route 444, which runs parallel to Taiba, has commercial properties on both sides, limiting the building area and again creating a loss of land use for owners.“Often an inconspicuous advertisement about a piece of land that the government has its eye on will run in a newspaper, but it will run only for one day, hardly giving owners a chance to file an objection,” Massarwi explains. “And when land is confiscated, the financial compensation is not equal to the value of the land.”Without going into detail, Orbach states that the government has or will have plans to connect the city water supply sources, approve detailed town planning schemes that allow additional building and construction of public buildings – such as schools, community centers, kindergartens and a nursing home – a railway line and a drainage system. She does not respond to questions about confiscation of land or water resources.“Don't listen to everything you hear,” says Fayek Odeh, the appointed mayor, with some frustration. “The maps of Taiba are clear.”When he entered the mayoral office, he says, there were demolition orders for 10 homes, but he had the orders reversed. He believes that other orders, which some say number 300 homes, will not be carried out.Still, he acknowledges that land might be confiscated for certain government projects, but if so, the owners will be compensated.“These projects will benefit Taiba,” he says. “And since Taiba is the center of the area, what benefits or is bad for Taiba affects the other towns in the area.”With a small smile, he adds, “You want to ask about Mekorot [the National Water Company]? There are high areas in Taiba that the water does not reach. The government is not taking control of the water as some claim; it wants to fix the problem so that when water does not reach certain areas, there is a temporary solution.”Odeh, who has been in his post for 20 months, lists several of the municipality’s accomplishments under his tenure, including more schools, improved roads and better social services.Haj Yahia, however, feels that not enough has been done.“Taiba is begging for help,” he says. “The situation has not improved very much, and the question is, why? Since the mayors have been appointed by the government, the government should supervise them and help them.”It was recently discovered that a NIS 52.12m. debt to Mekorot, according to ministry records, was not reported by the ministry-appointed trustee. As a result, there was a postponement of funds to Taiba.“The ministry-appointed mayors have done nothing to benefit the town,” Mansour believes. “Since they are working with all the freedom, with all the money that they have collected from the residents and from the government, Taiba should look like Tel Aviv. If this were the case, we would accept an appointed mayor, but this is not the case.”He argues that “after 12 years of managing the city, they do not admit that they failed, and now they [finally] want to correct their mistakes.”Odeh believes that the city’s residents should be patient and accept the ministry’s decision. The people have the right to elect their mayor, he feels, but with all the problems the city has faced, he is taking a professional stand.“Taiba’s debt should be solved so the next elected mayor can start on a solid footing,” he says. “It’s better than hitting more bumps.”Mansour believes the mayor should be elected from within, with the Interior Ministry supervising the finances.“Is no one from the city qualified?” questions. “There are many intellectuals in Taiba who care about the city and can do a better job than a governmentappointed mayor.”In a response to his letter of appeal, the ministry wrote that the right to elect and to be elected is not absolute and must be balanced with other interests.But Haj Yahia feels differently.“Elections are a right, and citizens have the right to decide their future,” he says. “The people of Taiba should stand strong against [this] negative phenomenon and change past norms, and that needs courage, strength and devotion.”
