المكتب الوطني للدفاع عن الارض ومقاومة الاستيطان منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية
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By: Madeeha Al-A’raj
The National Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements ( nbprs ) stated in its latest weekly report , that occupied Jerusalem witnesses continuous Judaization schemes carried out by the Israeli occupation government, the municipality of Moshe Leon and the Settlement Associations, and the complicity of the Israeli judiciary aiming to uproot the Palestinian presence in the city, through settlement plans, waging war on Jerusalemites, and expanding the silent-forced displacement them.
So, it is clear that the new year doesn’t differ from previous years with regard to the plans of Judaization and ethnic cleansing in and around the city of Jerusalem that prompted by the Israeli PM, Naftali Bennett, and Mayor Moshe Leon, to bring about wide changes in the demographic features of the city, thus, they began to step-up drawing parameters of Judaization, as the so-called “Local Planning and Building Committee” of the occupation municipality in Jerusalem approved 5 new plans to build 3,557 settlement units in the occupied city, a step on the way to discuss plans and approve them in the “District Building and Organization Committee” on Jan. 17.
One of the construction plans concerns is to build new settlement units between “Har Homa and Givat Hamatos,” another plan is on the edge of the French Hill. The most dangerous of these plans are concentrated in the southern area of Jerusalem, starting from the Beit Safafa town to the Sur Baher town and Jabal Abu Ghneim; The plans include the establishment of a new settlement neighborhood, which includes the construction of 1,465 settlement units near Givat Hamatos and the Har Homa-Jabal Abu Ghneim Neighborhood south of Jerusalem.
The plans also include the establishment of 2,092 housing units in the French Hill area in the center of Jerusalem in order to cut off the links between the Jerusalemite neighborhoods, specifically the Old City and the south and center of the city with its north, and to create a barrier between them targeting the southern region to seal it completely, as well as cutting communication between Bethlehem and southern Jerusalem, and to keep only narrow corridors and roads, rather than the separation and isolation schemes in the north where there is a comprehensive Israeli plan to establish a settlement belt, starting from the north of Jerusalem “Qalandiya”, all the way to the eastern region E1, and south of Beit Safafa to the Sur Baher town.
At the same time, the Finance Committee of the occupation municipality in Jerusalem approved allocating budgets for the construction of the first basic school in the new Givat Hamtous settlement that is built on the lands of the Beit Safafa town. It also allocated a plot of land to build 6 kindergartens on it. According to the decision of the Finance Committee, NIS 2,000,000 will be allocated for the construction of the school and NIS 781,000 for the construction of kindergartens, and the Moria Company of the occupation municipality in Jerusalem is to carry out those projects. According to the approval of this budget, the company can publish bids for the implementation of new projects, especially after work began to develop the infrastructure for the establishment of the Givat Hamtos settlement, after the so-called Israel Lands published bids and contractors won plots of land to build housing on it.
On the other hand, the occupation authorities continue to provide protection to the settlers and their attacks on the lands of the Palestinian citizens, under the protection of the occupation army, they began building a settlement road in the “Al Sha’af” area in the lands of Ein Qassis in the lands of the Khader town, south of Bethlehem, leading to the settlement outpost “Sidi Boaz”. The settlement street will pass through the middle of the lands estimated at about 40 dunums, which means more lands were stolen, knowing that a few days ago, they seized lands in the same area to erect iron gates that would isolate dozens of dunams and deprive citizens of access to them.
In a remarkable development, settlers are reviewing the forms of targeting Palestinian citizens and their attacks on them. Recent weeks have witnessed organized attacks and collective attacks by settlers in several areas of the West Bank, especially in the north and center of the West Bank, which resulted in many injuries and the death of Mrs. Ghadeer Masalma from Sinjil town north of Ramallah after a settler, ran over her. During the past week, Mustafa Yassin Filna, 25, from the village of Safa, west of Ramallah, was killed after being run over by a settler on his way to work in the 1948 lands. He was subsequently transferred to the hospital and deliberately ran over a flock of sheep on the road, engaged in orgies and persecuted citizens.
As for Itamar Ben Gvir, an Israeli Knesset member from the Religious Zionism Party, called on the occupation forces to shoot Palestinian youths who throw stones at Israeli vehicles and buses. This came during Ben Gvir’s arrival at the Hizma checkpoint in Jerusalem. Ben Gvir said, “We will not accept that, whoever throws a stone, shoot him.”
List of Israeli Assaults over the Last Week Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
- Dismantling a barn and seizing a container and its equipment at the entrance of the Al-Zaeem town, northeast of Jerusalem.
- Demolishing a house in Jabal Al Mukaber, south of occupied Jerusalem, under the pretext of not having a building permit, and a one-storey house in Beit Hanina, north of occupied Jerusalem, under the same pretext as well as the Abdullah Al-Sheikh Health Center, in the Jabal Mukaber town.
- Demolishing a house belonging to the family of Sultan Helisi in the Wadi Hilweh neighborhood in Silwan, under the pretext of not having a building permit.
- Demolishing a room in their home in Silwan to avoid paying high fines.
- Storming the Qattanin Market in the Old City and organizing a provocative Israeli march.
Hebon:
- Attacking the house of Taysir Abu ‘Eisha with stones in the Tel Rumeida Neighborhood in the middle of Hebron, which shattered the windows of the house.
- Demolishing and sabotaging of part of an agricultural room in the Masafer Yatta in the Khallet Daba
- Injuring an elderly Hajj Suleiman Al-Hathlin , after running over him by an Israeli occupation police vehicle in the Um Al-Khair village in the Masafer Yatta.
- Seizing bulldozer, while working in the reclamation of citizens’ lands in the Ein Al-Fares area, south of the Dura town with an area of 70 dunumms in area C in favor of expanding a crusher seized by the Israeli occupation.
Bethlehem:
- Notifying to demolish 8 inhabited houses under construction, a mosque and a facility in the Nahalin town, west of Bethlehem, an inhabited one-story house belonging to Baha Yahya Najajrah, an inhabited two-storey house belonging to Shadi Ahmed Zayed, a three-storey house under construction belonging Ghanem Hassan Najajera, a three-storey house under construction belonging to Raed Yousef Shakarna, and an inhabited two-storey house belonging to Mohammad Hani Awad, an inhabited one-story house belonging to Mohammad Yahya Najajreh, and a two-storey house under construction belonging to Muhammad Youssef Awad, in addition to a mosque that is under construction, and a facility belonging to Sameh Atef Najajreh.
Nablus:
- Smashing the windows of a number of Palestinian vehicles near the village of Naqora after closing the Shavei Shomron road northwest of Nablus.
- Attacking the homes of citizens from the cemetery road in the village of Burqa, smashing a number of banners hanging there, and storming the village’s water spring and agricultural facilities with the aim of sabotaging and polluting them.
- Storming the archaeological site in the Sebastia town.
- Attacking a vehicle repair shop at the entrance to Bazaria.
Salfeet:
- Stealing 80 olive seedlings in the Khallet Al-Qamh area, north of the town of Kafr Ad-Dik.
- Bulldozing hundreds of dunums in the lands of the citizens of the Kafr Dik town in favor of the “Ali Zahav” settlement, which is built on the citizens’ lands.
- Storming the lands of citizen Nelson Salameh which has an area of 10 dunumms and planted with about 150 seedlings in the Khallet Hassan, north of Bidya, west of Salfeet, and breaking the lock of the main gate built around the land.
Jordan Valley:
- Forcing the shepherds to leave their grazing lands north of Khirbet Samra in the Jordan Valley.
- Attacking the shepherds in the Al-Ma’arrajat area, northwest of Jericho, and attempting to steal their sheep.
- Demolishing 2 housing tents, 6 livestock tents, 80 iron cutters, 15 livestock feeders and drinkers, and damaging more than 10 tons of fodder in Khirbet Ibziq, north of Tubas, as well as 2 housing tents, 3 tents for livestock, a water tank, and a number of the incisors, and a store of fodder belonging to the citizen, Adel Nasrallah Harb.
