ACRI submitted a petition on June 8 to the High Court of Justice, on behalf of representatives of East Jerusalem residents, demanding a fundamental overhaul of the postal service in East Jerusalem. The petition argued that the deficiencies in postal services cause serious harm to East Jerusalem’s population of more than a quarter of a million individuals.
According to the petitioners’ estimation, most of East Jerusalem’s neighborhoods are served by a lone postman who delivers mail about once a week, and sometimes even less frequently than that. In Jabel Mukaber, al Sawahra and Dahiyat al Salam, neighborhoods with populations of over 15,000 residents each, residents testify to the fact that there is no mail delivery by postal workers at all in their neighborhoods. As a result of the severe lack of postal workers, mail delivery is at best intermittent or severely delayed, and very often the mail is never delivered to its intended destination at all.
In addition to mail delivery problems, there is also a severe shortage of post offices in East Jerusalem. Only eight post offices currently serve East Jerusalem’s population of 303,429 (according to Jerusalem municipality statistics 2009). By way of comparison, western Jerusalem boasts 42 post offices, serving its population of 532,021 people.
Responsibility for the grave deficiencies in mail delivery and provision of postal services in East Jerusalem rests with the Israel Postal Authority. For years it has avoided its obligation, under law and the license through which it operates, to make the necessary investments to ensure satisfactory postal service to all residents.
The Communications Ministry, charged with monitoring the activities of the Postal Authority and taking corrective measures when it fails in its duties, has its hands tied from above with regard to East Jerusalem. The Jerusalem municipality, which could have eased the problem by allocating sites for mail distribution centers, does not even bother responding to inquiries on this matter.
This reality causes great harm to Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem because many of them don’t receive mail at all – including critical documents, bills, and payments – or receive it a great delay. This phenomenon is especially grave when residents are due to receive highly important letters from the State or Municipal authorities including bills for basic services (which they cannot pay) or documents that deal with their civil status or stipends from the National Insurance Institute. Thus, failure to receive these letters in due time can have immediate, negative ramifications on various aspects of East Jerusalem residents’ lives.
ACRI demanded in the petition that the respondents – the Israel Postal Authority, the Communication Ministry, and the Jerusalem Municipality – provide information on their failure to provide adequate service until now, and requested that the Court arrange for a hearing as soon as possible, so that these grave violations can be resolved quickly and effectively.
