المكتب الوطني للدفاع عن الارض ومقاومة الاستيطان منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية
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By: Madeeha Araj,
It is obvious that the Netanyahu’s Gov’t is going ahead with the Judaization of the Palestinian territories that can be felt through the “national priorities project,” and budgets allocated by the occupation government to the settlement and settlers, the last of which was the approval of a “national map of priorities” that were granted to the settlements’ leaders in the occupied West Bank to get loans from the “State” to live in the settlements, and promote Israeli immigration, so giving them larger budgets to enhance their Jewish character. The targeted settlements are, Magron, Shvut-Rahal and Kerem-Re’em, usually called “isolated settlements” because they are built outside of the major settlement blocs.
Within the context, the Israeli Ministry of Housing decided to get the settlement of Ariel back to the map, after being removed from it in the past. Last year, the Marker Paper revealed that 30% of the tax-free Israeli towns having the status of “national priority” areas are settlements in the occupied West Bank. The number of “national priorities” towns is 407, including more than 130 settlements. The size of exemptions of taxes was NIS 350,000,000.
On the other hand, a week passed to reject the so-called Israeli Supreme Court appeal filed by the families of Sabbagh and Hammad in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood against the Israeli Central Court’s decision in Jerusalem, which refused to consider ownership of the land “Karam-Ja’ouni” due to outdate, and resorted to the law “Absentee Property” which states that the property belonging to the Palestinians before 1948 was taken away from them forever, until the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the Jewish National Fund, through its subsidiary Himnuta, confiscated 522 dunums of Palestinian land in Gush Etzion settlement south of Bethlehem, where the settlement “Rosh Tsoreim” and offices of the settlement council of Gush Etzion settlement, and 100s of new housing units in one of the most desirable areas in the so-called “Judea and Samaria” were constructed. The decision includes the seizure of more than 500 dunums in areas located in the eastern villages of Sawahra and Abu-Deis. .
The so-called new mayor of the Zionist occupation municipality in Jerusalem, “Moshe Li’un,” a close friend to Lieberman, has decided to cancel the project of the establishing of 2 industrial zones for the Palestinians, one is adjacent to the settlement of “Pisgat Zeev” on the lands of Hizma village, the other at the entrance to Anata on the Shoafat and Anata lands. The industrial zone on Hizma lands was approved in 1999 by the former mayor of Jerusalem, Olmert, on an area of 54 dunums of them 200 dunums confiscated by the occupation authorities from the lands of Hazma village, which includes commercial and industrial zones. It appears from the directions of the committee overseeing the project that there is a new plan being made to expand the settlement of “Pisgat Zeev” to include 300 settlement units and expand settlement on the lands of villages north-east of occupied Jerusalem.
In Jerusalem, the Israeli occupation authorities and the municipality of Li’un sought to clamp down on the citizens, distributing demolition notices in the town of Al-Isawiya in Jerusalem and put demolition notices on the walls on houses under construction. It also handed over demolition orders at the Jabal Mukabir East of occupied Jerusalem under the pretext of building without a permit. The Israeli occupation forces also surrounded a commercial office in the Shu’fat neighborhood, and completely emptied their contents from computers and offices and then demolished it under the pretext of building without a permit.
In addition, the Israeli occupation authorities continued to excavate infrastructure to build a settlement in Wadi al-Rababah, in the town of Silwan, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque, seized large areas of land in the area to erect a settlement.
For its part, the EU, it condemned the demolition of Palestinian homes in Jerusalem, including the Shu’fat Refugee Camp last week, the EU’s spokeswoman has said that the Israeli authorities demolished about 20 houses, she stressed that the EU strongly opposed the policy of illegal Israeli settlement under the law And the measures taken in this context, such as forced transfer, evictions and demolitions, because it undermines the possibility of a viable two-state solution. “The European Union also condemned the Jerusalem municipality’s plans to establish some 800 housing units in the settlements of Ramat Shlomo and Ramot in East Jerusalem, and the measures of the occupation authorities and the municipality of Li’un in the neighborhood of Silwan, threatening nearly 700 Palestinians living in the place.
In the Tubas and the northern Jordan Valley Governorate, the Israeli occupation forces seized 267 dunums of land from the villages of Bardala and Tayasir being part of the Latin Church in occupied Jerusalem to expand its settlement in violation of international laws. The occupation, has recently worked to rebuild it and provide it with rooms and services inside and around it. The decision constitutes a real threat to a number of Palestinian families living in the area. Those families fear that this decision will be as an introduction to deporting them from their homes under security pretexts.
A list of Israeli Occupation and Settlers’ Assaults over the Last Week, Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
- Forcing citizen, Maqdah Maqdisi, a resident of Ras al-Amud, to demolish his 130-meter-old house upon the pretext of being built without a license. The Occupation Municipality in Jeruaem told him to pay the sum of 60,000 shekels for demolition and two months sentence if he refuses.
- Erecting a big candelabrum in the Al-Buraq Square in preparation for the so-called “Hanukkah Day”. They declared that it would be lit every night from starting Sunday for 8 days with calls by the alleged temple groups to storm the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and perform rituals.
- Installing and repairing in the vicinity of the Old City of Jerusalem aiming to monitor the movements of the Palestinians in the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Hebron:
- Orders to demolish 3 houses and Barak in the area of Khalidiya southeast of the town of Yatta, another order was issued to demolish a 170m. house in the same area under the pretext of building without a license.
Bethlehem:
- Puncturing a number of vehicles’ tires in the village of al-Jab’a west of Bethlehem, and writing racist slogans on the walls of some houses and mosques, such as, “revenge” and “leave.”
Nablus:
- Confiscating a plot of 10 donums land in the village of Jalud south of Nablus, and began planting trees in it, declaring it as a closed military area
Jenin:
- Storming the archaeological area in the town of Sebastia northwest of Nablus. Mayor of Sebastia, Moh’d Azim said that about 50 settlers, broke into the archaeological site, under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces.
Jordan Valley:
- Demolishing a agricultural facility in the Jiftlik village, north of Jericho, under the pretext of building without a license.
- Attacking shepherds in the Farseieh area northern Jordan valley and detaining a number of them.
