New Wave of Settlements Activities Targets Jerusalem, Turning the Occupied City into a Racial Paradigm

By: Madeeha Al-A’raj
The National Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements ( nbprs ) stated in its latest weekly report , that two months before the transfer of Power to the newly elected democratic administration in the United States of America headed by Joe Biden, the Israel’s Ministry of Construction and Housing, and the Land Authority issued a tender for the construction of 1,257 settlement units in the Givat Hamatos settlement on the lands of the Beit Safafa town so as to isolating Bethlehem from the occupied East Jerusalem, and continuing the policy of Judaizing and besieging Jerusalem, whereas Israel has built since 197 till now a number of settlements in and around Jerusalem, such as, the settlements of Ramat Eshkol, Givat Hamiftar, Ramot Shlomo, French Hill, Neve Yacoub, Bsgat Zeev, East Talbot, Gilo, and Har Homa, where about 250,000 Jews living in.

The new in the tenders is that a decision was taken by the Israeli Occupation Authorities to build a new neighborhood in Jerusalem on the borders of the Green Line. The decision to issue new tenders is not only a slap in the face of President-elect Joe Biden, who suffered from Israeli hubris in 2010, when the Israeli government announced during his visit to Israel the construction of hundreds of new units behind the Green Line in Jerusalem.

The new decision appears to have been adopted to exploit the recent days of Trump in office´-or-to take action in anticipation of Biden placing restrictions on the Israeli Government with regard to settlement construction. This Israeli policy emphasized that there is no longer Palestinian Jerusalem, as Israel distinguishes between East Jerusalem and West Jerusalem, it deprives the East Jerusalem, as it faces poverty and faces the continuous danger of destroying its houses. The Givat Hamatos Settlement is completing a circle that stifles any possibility for Palestinian East Jerusalem from expansion´-or-from being a Palestinian capital. In any case, the Israelis in general, and the Israelis in Jerusalem in particular, ignoring the fact that there are about 350,000 Palestinians in the city.

The Palestinians in Jerusalem fear that the Occupation Authorities may push new plans to build more than 13,000 settlement units in East Jerusalem city before the elected US president, Joe Biden s administration takes office next January 20th. There is a talk on a plan to build 9,000 settlement units on the land of Qalandia Airport, 1,530 settlement units in the Ramat Shlomo settlement near Shafat, 570 settlement units in the Har Homah settlement on the Jabal Abu Ghneim, and in the Givat Hamtos settlement on the Beit Safafa’s land as well as thousands of other settlement units in Ma aleh Adumim under the I-1 settlement plan.

The US Administration seems to be giving the green light to the occupation state to include the 60% areas C of the West Bank, and to devote separation between the West Bank and Gaza Strip, considering that Gaza Strip and the West Bank are politically and administratively separated and should be treated accordingly contrary to the attitudes of the previous US Administrations. In addition, Pompio called for the treatment of settlement products as Israeli-origin products. “the labeling of State origin. The producers in Area C operate within the Israeli economic and administrative framework, and their goods must be dealt with accordingly.

According to the sources, during closed talks with the American visitor, Netanyahu tried to obtain the approval of US President Trump s administration to give the green light to build thousands of settlement units in Atarot, north of the occupied Jerusalem. It comprises 9,000 apartments adjacent to the Qalandia Checkpoint on the lands between Ramallah, Kafr Aqab and Beit Hanina.

Within the context of the systematic Judaization of Hebron, the so-called Sub-committee concerned with the objections at the Civil Administration rejected petitions filed by an Israeli leftist organization, and the Palestinian municipality of Hebron against issuing a building license for a settlement project aiming at controlling the Ibrahimi Mosque through confiscating some areas in it for the benefit of settlers in order to facilitate their access to it. The construction of a settler Elevator and a corridor along the mosque was discussed to facilitate the storming of the mosque, NIS 2 million was allocated so far to finance the Jewish project.

Moreover, settlers managed to collect more than NIS 3 million with the aim of doubling the number of settlers in Hebron, and the campaign of collecting donations called for by settlers continued in Sabat Sara for 100 hours. The settlers will start building new settlement blocs On the old bus-station area and the closed vegetable market in the middle of Al-Shuhada Street, and increase their number from 800 settlers to 1600 settlers.

List of Israeli Assaults over the Last Week Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
• Handing an eviction order to AlSabagh family at the Sheikh Jarrah Neighborhood in East Jerusalem for the benefit of settlers, and to pay a fine of NIS 7,000 to the lawyer.
• Destroying two commercial stores on the main street as well as a vegetable stands, a wall that surround about two dunums of the land, and a shop belonging to the citizen Mohamed Ibrahim Halawa.
• Forcing the Jerusalemite Ayman Ja abis to demolish his own shop in the Sala’ Neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukaber under the pretext of not having a building permit.
• Calling to seize the eastern square of the Al Aqsa Mosque and turn it into a permanent biblical school.
• Seeking to transfer the Al Aqsa Mosque into a center of “Jewish education, in an attempt to later books, Torah scrolls, chairs, and then plastic umbrellas similar to those in Al-Buraq Square in order to establish a new path for the spatial division of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Bethlehem:
• Demolishing 80 m2 house and bulldozed a land belonging to the citizen Mohammed Roumi, who has its ownership documents in the Khilat Al-Nahlah area in the Artas village, south of Bethlehem, it should be noted that the Israeli forces noticed him 3 times about the demolition of the house, the Khilat Al-Nahla area is targeted for years in order to expand the Efrat settlement and linking it to the Takwa settlement east of Bethlehem,
• Setting up a tent in the Batir town in the Khmar area west of Bethlehem, in order to seize it.
• Notifying to demolish an agricultural facility in the Al-Walja village in the Erouk Zanid area, south of the village, belonging to the citizen Ahmad Awadallah, under the pretext of not having a building permit.
• Bulldozing lands belonging to the Ghazal family, in an attempt to annex it, causing the destruction of a number of trees.
Qalqilya:
• Handing demolition notices over to the owners of two barns at the eastern entrance of Qalqilya belonging to Rafiq Ibrahim Asaad Nazzal and Moh’d Talb Abu Mohammed, to be carried out within 96 hours under the 1997 military resolution, which provides the immediate removal of any targeted facility. It is should be noted that the eastern entrance of Qalqilya is mostly located in the area C.
Jenin:
• Breaking into the Sanur settlement that was evacuated in 2005, accompanied by the Knesset member, Ariel Kellner of the Likud party, and stated that they intend to expand the Israeli settlements in the area. For his part, the President of the Shomron Regional Council settlement, Yossi Dagan, called on the government and the Knesset members to allow the settlement activity in “Homesh”, “Ganim” and “Kadim”, settlements which were evacuated under the disengagement plan in 2005.
• Destroying the house windows and the vehicle’s glass belonging to the citizen Rami Ayed Alwan s Abu Usba in the outskirts of Silat Al-Zahr town, destroyed its tires and the water tank of the town.

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