On the 7th of February 2015, the Israeli weekly newspaper, Kol Hair, reported that the Israeli Civil Administration issued tenders to build 580 hotel rooms on lands of Jabal Al Mukabbir town in occupied east Jerusalem, near Al Qasr Hill (The High Commissioner Palace – the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization HQ (UNTSC)).
According to the newspaper, the project will come on 129 dunums of land (three plots of land) of Jabal Al Mukkabir town, divided into two compounds. The first compound will include a 9-story hotel (180 rooms) and a commercial area; while the second compound will include the construction of a 400-room hotel and a commercial area of 10 stories.
Note that the hotel project in Jerusalem is not the one and only project in the city where during the years of Israeli occupation, the Israeli Government announced about many plans and tenders to build hotel rooms in Israeli settlements and open spaces in the occupied West Bank and most specifically in Jerusalem city. For example, the E1 plan in Ma’ale Adumim settlement includes the building of 3910 housing units west of Ma'ale Adumim settlement in addition to the building of 2152 hotel rooms, an industrial zone and a Police Station (the Police station has already been built in the Ma'ale Adumim area in 2008). The implementation of the E1 plan comes on 13214 dunums of previously confiscated Palestinian lands in East Jerusalem which belong to Al 'Issawiya, At Tur, Al 'Ezariyeh, Abu Dis and 'Anata communities. See Map 1
Additionally, the Giv’at Hamatos settlement plan includes the construction of 3972 new units and 1100 hotel rooms on lands of Beit Safafa town south of Jerusalem city. The new housing units are set to substitute the current caravans of the Giv’at Hamatos settlement which was established in 1991 when the Israeli government installed mobile homes for immigrants from Ethiopia at the site. The Givat Hamatos plan is divided into four plans: Givat Hamatos A, holds No. 14295 – includes the construction of 2610 units; Givat Hamatos B, holds No. 5834B – includes the construction of 549 units; Givat Hamatos C, holds No. 5834C – includes the construction of 813 units; and Givat Hamatos D, holds No. 5834 D – includes the construction of 1100 hotel rooms. See Map 2
The building of the hotel rooms in Jerusalem will undermine the tourism sector in the Palestinian Governorates surrounding the city of Jerusalem such as Bethlehem, Jericho and Ramallah. Additionally, such a project will create employment opportunities in Jerusalem city and will encourage settlers to move and live in Israeli settlements in the city and its surroundings as part of an Israeli plan to alter the demography of the city in favor of Israel.
Israeli tenders to build in Ramot settlement
The Israeli committee for planning and building in the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem approved a new tender in Ramot settlement north of Jerusalem city. The tender includes the construction of 64 new settlement units. It should be noted that the 64 units of Ramot settlements are part of a previously issued tender in Ramot settlement which includes the construction of 294 new settlements units in the southeastern part of the settlement, on lands of Shu’fat town in occupied East Jerusalem. See Table 1 for more details:-
|
BLOCK No. |
Parcel No. |
No. units |
Area of the lot in square meters |
Main area + service (upper and ground) Sq |
Service area for parking Sq |
Total payment office in NIS |
|
22,167 |
1,2 |
166 |
24,172 |
24,900 |
2,400 |
50,573,944 |
|
22171 |
6,7 |
128 |
17,066
|
19,200 |
– |
37,442,424 |
SOURCE: ISRAELI LAND ADMINISTRATION, 2014
Photo 1: The Israeli plan to build 294 units in Ramot settlement
Ramot settlement was established in1973, on lands originally confiscated from Beit Iksa, Shu’fat and Beit Hanina communities in Jerusalem. Today, the settlement occupies a total land area 3408 dunums and is home to more than 47,000 Israeli settlers.
To conclude,
While the Israeli Government is carrying out projects to consolidate settlement expansion all over the West Bank territory and most specifically in occupied East Jerusalem, it doesn't think twice before it issues orders to demolish Palestinian houses built without license in areas that still fall under the Israeli control in the occupied West Bank (Area C, according to OSLO II Interim Agreement of 1995), or in occupied East Jerusalem.
Moreover, the recent Israeli settlement tenders come amid the Israeli elections, as Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to take advantage of the current situation to influence the results of the Israeli elections for his own interest.
Prepared by:
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem
