Israel to erase all trace of Palestinian existence in Jerusalem City

Throughout the 42 years of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory, the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem has carried out a systematic campaign against Palestinian houses in the occupied city under the pretext of lacking valid building permits. The Jerusalem municipality continues to show determination in advancing in its policy of demolishing homes, despite the international opposition as declared by Nir Barakat, the newly elected Mayor of Jerusalem Municipality that “it is an uncompromising war against the phenomenon.”

Since the beginning of year 2009 until the end of March 2009, the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem had issued 349 house demolition orders for Palestinian houses in Jerusalem city. Furthermore, the municipality has executed 45 demolition orders, of which, 25 were residential houses, 13 were Bedouin barracks and tents, 2 walls, 1 garage, 1 warehouse, and 2 offices and a Gas station.

It is worth mentioning that the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem had allocated 1.2 million shekels for monitoring the development of Palestinian structures in Jerusalem using Arial photos, which will dramatically lead to a drastic increase in the number of demolition orders that target Palestinian houses in the occupied city. Table 1 below shows the details of the demolished Palestinian houses in Jerusalem from January 1, until March 31, 2009:

Other Israeli Colonial activities in Jerusalem city

• On January 10, 2009, the Israeli Committee for planning and construction announced about a new plan to build a Jewish housing complex on lands of Beit Hanina town, north of Jerusalem city. The neighborhood will be composed of 200 new housing units and will be constructed on 16 dunums of land. According to the plan, each dunum of land will have 22 housing units built on it. The complex will be composed of a six floors buildings and a parking lot.

•  On January 13, 2009, the Israeli Occupation Authorities issued a new military order number 09/01/T to confiscate 506 dunums of lands of Abu Dis city east of Jerusalem to build a new section of the Israeli segregation wall east of Ma'ale Adumim settlement bloc.

•  On January 13, 2009, the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem published an announcement declaring its ownership of 15 dunums of land under the law of Land expropriation in Al Ghars area in At Tur neighborhood east of Jerusalem and planted with hundreds of Olive trees owned by Al Hidra family.

• On January 28, 2009, the Israeli Occupation bulldozers uprooted 30 fruitful trees owned by Citizen Fawzi Issa with the aim of expanding the area of the confiscated land for the establishment of a new border crossing at Shu'fat's refugee camp in Jerusalem city.

• On February 1, the commander of the Israeli occupation forces in the West Bank issued a new military order number S/02/09 in accordance with the 1970 military order number 378. The new order called for the declaration of a “seam zone” in Jabal Al Soumod (Al Soumod Mountain) Area in Ar Ram Town. According to the new order, Palestinian citizens and owners of lands located beyond the Wall must apply to the occupation forces to get a special permit to access their land. Also, accessing the land will only be permitted through specific crossing points.

•  On February 1, 2009, the Israeli army had bulldozed four dunums of land belonging to Al-'Abbasi family in Al-Bustan neighborhood of Silwan, near the Al-Aqsa Mosque-area illegal settlement of David City, itself adjacent to Al-Mughrabi Gate into East Jerusalem’s Old City to establish a parking lot for visitors to the 'City of David,' located near the Dung Gate in Jerusalem city.

• On February 3, 2009, the Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has agreed to approve the establishment of a new settlement in the Binyamin region in return for settlers' agreement to evacuate the illegal outpost of Migron. The Migron settlers will move into the new 250-house settlement after leaving the illegal one they built on private Palestinian land.The first stage of construction of the new West Bank community will incorporate 50 houses until permission is received for further construction. In order to build the settlement, a detailed construction plan incorporating 1,400 housing units will have to be approved. The new site is a kilometer away from the built-up section of the Adam settlement, located east of the separation fence.

•  On February 12, 2009, the Israeli authorities have declared the confiscation of two plots of land for “public use” in the At Tur neighborhood of Mount of Olives. One plot is 7.5 dunums and the other is 9 dunums. According to signs posted at the sites, anyone able to prove ownership of the land can contact the Jerusalem Municipality within two months of the announcement of confiscation in order to receive compensation. Located on the two plots are an estimated 45 housing units (in structures ranging between one and three stories), most of which are inhabited. 

• On February 20, 2009, the Israeli Jerusalem Municipality offers to voluntarily relocate 1,500 Palestinian residents from Silwan city. Two alternative locations were proposed, one on a different hill in Silwan, and the other in the neighborhood of Beit Hanina, in the northeast of the city.

•  On March 7, 2009, the Israeli Government is planning to invest NIS 600 Million to carry out a plan to Reconstruct Jerusalem city Gates, walls and some neighborhoods and archaeological sites. The Israeli Government is planning to build a huge project in Gilo settlement that will include 2570 housing units. The first stage of the project will include the construction of 860 new housing units.

•  On March 7, 2009, the Israeli regional committee for building and construction ratified the construction of a Police Station in the Western Wall plaza area in Jerusalem city for security reasons. The station will be built on 140 meters square area.

To Conclude

The Israeli policy in Jerusalem city throughout the 42 years of occupation aimed at keeping the demographic supremacy to their favor, thus achieving the Jewish dream of Jerusalem city as the 'eternal unified capital' of Israel. Since its establishment as a state, Israel has heavily relied on coercing facts on the ground through its colonial activities in the city which has severely affected the urban development of Palestinian communities in east Jerusalem with the aim of facilitating the 'voluntary transfer of Palestinians' from the occupied city.

Prepared by:
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem