The stench rising from the trash mountain in Jabal Mukaber, a neighborhood in east Jerusalem, cannot be conveyed through photos or words. “People here have not opened a window in their homes for five years. The smell sticks to everything,” said Motassem Aweisat, 34, a local resident who has been fighting the growing mound outside his balcony for six years.
Now, together with other Jerusalem residents, religious and secular Jews and Arabs alike, he is trying to turn the mountain into a green park modeled after the Hiriya site, now Ariel Sharon Park. “This needs to be a place of hope,” said Dror Amedi, 38, from the Kolna Jerusalem nonprofit. “We have had many waste struggles in Jerusalem in recent years and we succeeded in all of them. We will succeed here too. Arabs and Jews.”
The trash mountain in Jabal Mukaber
The problem began in 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, when construction contractors started dumping waste in the village of Arab a-Sawahra, in the heart of Jabal Mukaber. It started with construction debris and later expanded to crushed waste, poultry waste, medical waste and asbestos.
The pile of garbage grew into a mountain that causes pollution, emits smoke and severely disrupts daily life for residents.
About a year and a half ago, Yedioth Ahronoth and ynet reported on the environmental hazard after the Regavim movement brought the issue to public attention. The municipality then covered the waste with soil, but that step did not solve the problem. Today, the same activists are working to turn the environmental failure into a green community space for east Jerusalem.
“I got involved seven days after they started dumping trash here,” Aweisat said. “I approached the contractor and he told me it was just a few loads of soil and that was it. Of course, he kept going. I went to the municipality and they said they were handling it. This would never have happened in Rehavia. I can get fined if a cigarette butt falls on the street, but here they dump trash and nothing happens. I am now 100 percent convinced we are not even the backyard. We are the bottom yard.”
Because of the pollution and the buildup of gases inside the mound, fires frequently break out and smoke rises for much of the day. According to Dr. Mahmoud Asbih from the Clalit clinic in the neighborhood, there has been an increase in illnesses among residents, including shortness of breath, bronchitis and asthma.
Aweisat, himself a renovation contractor, said he is not afraid of the criminal elements behind the illegal dumping site. “I have received threats. Some from blocked numbers, some in Hebrew, some in Arabic. I am not afraid because there is law. If I stay silent, I become a partner to this crime.”
The idea of turning the site into a green public space gained momentum after connections formed between Kolna Jerusalem, an organization that works to bring Jews and Arabs together in the city, and students from the art and activism track at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design.
The Jerusalem Municipality also joined the effort, realizing that dumping more soil without addressing what lies underground would not solve the problem. In recent months, the Eden municipal development company was instructed by Mayor Moshe Lion to develop a comprehensive and rapid solution.
The first stage includes an in-depth survey of underground conditions and a complete halt to illegal activity at the site. The entire area has been fenced off, warning signs were posted and enforcement cameras were installed to prevent further dumping. The city’s legal department also declared the area a dangerous structure, banning entry altogether. The issue is now on Lion’s desk, with monthly meetings held on the matter.
“I believe this can be turned into a green park,” said Efrat Givati, 48, a Jerusalem environmental activist. “It is a matter of budget and management. Many people want this. If there is a garden here, it will be good for everyone. There is enormous potential.”
“I think all the ingredients for success are here,” Amedi said. “A very diverse group of Arabs and Jews working together. In the end, the neighborhood residents will benefit. The children who play here one day will say that this used to be trash and now it is green. That could be incredible.”
The Jerusalem Municipality said in a statement that the site is an illegal waste dump created by years of criminal activity. “Several years ago, Israel Police and the Green Police carried out extensive enforcement operations at the site in order to stop the phenomenon.
“Due to new findings, the Jerusalem Municipality, together with the Ministry of Environmental Protection, is conducting a detailed investigation of the site and examining ground stability, including installing cameras and fencing the area. The goal is to formulate an action plan that will remove the hazards and completely stop illegal dumping at the site.”