Introduction
Since East Jerusalem was annexed in 1967, Israel aimed to alter the demographic and geographic realities to its favor to emphasize its sovereignty over the city. To achieve this goal, the government has been taking actions to increase the number of Jews, and reduce the number of Palestinians, living in the city.
Israel has used various methods to achieve its goal, once by 'physically isolating' East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank, adopting a discriminating policy with regard to land confiscations, planning neighborhoods, building permits, houses demolition policies, revoking residency rights and social benefits of Palestinians who stay abroad for at least seven years, or who are unable to prove that their center of life is Jerusalem. For more info, click here
During the second half of June 2006, various Israeli sources revealed plans of new colonization activities to be carried out in the Old City of Jerusalem, the first new expansion will take place at the Jewish quarter in the Old City as plans as preparations are underway to expand the built up area of a Jewish religious school.
The second Israeli plan in the Old City target the Islamic quarter with plans to construct a tunnel linking 'Suleiman Cave' in Ras Al Amud neighborhood to one of the houses seized by a Jewish extremist group 'Aterat Cohanim' more than 20 years ago in the Old City of Jerusalem. Once completed, the tunnel will fortify Israeli control over Al Sa`deyya sector in the Old City thus building up Israeli control over the entire Islamic Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem. The construction of the tunnel is pending the process of legal procedures at the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem.' more than 20 years ago in the Old City of Jerusalem. Once completed, the tunnel will fortify Israeli control over Al Sa`deyya sector in the Old City thus building up Israeli control over the entire Islamic Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem. The construction of the tunnel is pending the process of legal procedures at the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem.
New underground parking is in planning phase to be located southeast of the Jewish Quarter in the Old City. The planes also indicate that tourism accommodation facilities will top the parking four floors above. Construction work on the parking and the tourists' facilities is expected to proceed once the underway legal and technical procedures are completed.
Finally, Israel has got its meddling with the historic and archeological sites to a new level with its plans to alter one the historic sites in the Old City; 'Al-Magharbeh Gate'. The Israeli Antiquities Authority decided the Ramp of the 'Al-Magharbeh Gate', which represents one of the sacred sites for the Muslims, despite the fact that it may very much draw resentment, anger and possibly eruptions of violence; an opinion that was emphasized by the military secretary of the Israeli Prime Minister and other Israeli security agencies. Moreover; the plan raised strong objections from senior Israeli archaeologists, who said that building the bridge would severely damage the important archaeological site south of the ramp. See Map 1
Conclusion
Israel has a long history of forging and manipulate facts on the ground in the areas it occupied during the 1967, with particular emphasis on Jerusalem; as the consecutive Israeli government worked persistently to tip the demographic balance of the city to its favor; giving free hand to Israeli settlers and Israeli housing organization to build and expand their existence in the city unconditionally.
Moreover, Israel has proven year after year its apathy to all signed peace accords with the Palestinian Liberation Organization which state the invalidity and illegality for any of the conflicted parties to alter the status on the ground at the time the Declaration of principle signed in 1993 pending the initiation and the conclusion of negotiation of the final status issues, which includes Jerusalem.
References:
Prepared by
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem
ARIJ
