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Many events took place in the occupied city of Jerusalem during 2022, which carried unprecedented Israeli attacks on everything, and witnessed a dangerous escalation in the policy of ethnic cleansing against Jerusalemites, the demolition of homes, and the acceleration of Judaization and settlement operations.
The occupation forces worked and are still working to Judaize the occupied city, change its features and separate it from its past and its ancient Arab and Islamic history, erasing its identity and imposing facts on it, in preparation for converting it into a Jewish city. In order to prove the alleged entitlement by dominating it.
This year has been described as the worst and most difficult for Jerusalem and its people, as a result of the escalation of demolition, attempts of deportation and forced expulsion, the withdrawal of identities, the increase in the approval of Judaization and settlement projects, and the occupation’s complete denial of all Palestinian rights.
Willful Negligence
The year 2022 witnessed a significant intensification and expansion of the construction of settlement units, the making of structural plans and the organization of land areas in Jerusalem; In favor of increasing the number of Jewish settlers, in exchange for deliberately excluding, neglecting and absenting Palestinian neighborhoods, as confirmed by Fakhri Abu Diab, a researcher specializing in Jerusalem affairs.
Abu Diab explained, in an interview with a local news agency, that these plans aim to seize the largest possible area of Jerusalem’s lands, to invest in future settlement projects, and to prevent Jerusalemites from benefiting from their lands and preventing their development, in the absence of any plans that meet their need for housing.
There are 237,729 housing units in the Holy City, of which 57,335 are for Jerusalemites. According to future Israeli occupation plans, 89,000 new settlement units will be added in the coming years, without future planning including any units for Jerusalemites or Palestinian neighborhoods.
Abu Diab states that the occupation is working to reduce the number of Jerusalemites as a systematic and programmed policy, and rejects any structural plans for Palestinian neighborhoods. Claiming that most of the lands are either green lands, archaeological lands, or for public utilities, it is not permissible to build on them, and therefore it does not grant building permits to Jerusalemites.
Numbers and Statistics
The year 2022 witnessed an increase in house demolitions, under the pretext of not having a permit, as the occupation demolished 211 homes and facilities in the occupied city, and delivered demolition orders for entire neighborhoods and multi-storey buildings.
Abu Diab indicates that the Israeli occupation forces handed over a demolition order for a building comprising 12 housing units in Wadi Qaddum in Silwan, which houses about 75 Jerusalemites, while 116 homes in the Al-Bustan neighborhood of the town are under threat of demolition, in order to establish a “biblical garden.”
He added that the occupation municipality delivered demolition orders for 54 homes in the Al-Tur neighborhood, to complete the settlement “American Street”, and demolition orders for 241 homes and commercial establishments in Jabal Al Mukaber town.
He indicates that the total number of demolition orders during the year 2022 amounted to 984, while decisions were issued by the occupation courts against them, and 521 applications for building permits were submitted to the occupation municipality; 509 applications were rejected on purely political grounds.
Abu Diab states that the “Local Affairs Court” of the occupation municipality issued building violations for 810 houses, under the pretext of not obtaining permits, in addition to demolition orders, and imposed financial fines on their owners, amounting to 34 million shekels.
22,389 homes in Jerusalem are threatened with demolition, which means that about 124,000 Jerusalemites are threatened with forced displacement, and 1,380 Jerusalemites in the Sheikh Jarrah and Batn al-Hawa neighborhoods face the threat of ethnic cleansing, after the occupation courts issued decisions to expel them from their homes, in favor of settlement associations.
During the current year, the occupation municipality, the “Israel Lands Department” and settlement associations seized 15,200 dunums of Jerusalem lands, to establish settlement and Judaization projects, and to build roads, bridges and tunnels.
The occupation state approved the establishment of 17,918 settlement units in the city, of which implementation has already begun, and it included (Qalandia Airport, Talat Al Tayara, Beit Safafa, French Hill, Sur Baher, Jabal Al Mukaber, Umm Tuba, Al Walaja, Al Isawiya, Shuafat, Beit Hanina, Mount Scopus Sheikh Jarrah, Karam Al-Mufti, and Silwan).
As for the invasions on neighborhoods and homes, Abu Diab explains that the occupation forces killed 17 Palestinians in Jerusalem, carried out 946 invasions on Jerusalemite homes and neighborhoods, and arrested 3009 Jerusalemites, including 601 minors, and imposed house arrest on 42 children, and removed 13 others from their place of residence.
He indicates that the Israeli tax and seizure authorities carried out 317 invasions on shops, facilities and workshops in Jerusalem, and present and absentee tax violations amounting to 18,360,000 shekels were issued.
The Israeli occupation prevented the holding of 70 concerts, lectures, and seminars in Jerusalem, and closed or renewed 18 cultural and sports institutions and associations during the year 2022, in addition to imposing 14 million shekels in fines, issuing malicious violations, and arrest warrants.
And the occupation forces were not satisfied with that, but carried out 53 invasions on educational institutions, and revoked the licenses of 6 of them, at a time when there are 197 schools in Jerusalem, some of which belong to the Palestinian Authority, and some are private, including Islamic Waqf schools, and others belonging to UNRWA, or to the municipality and the Ministry of Education of the Israeli occupation.
According to the Jerusalemite researcher, this year witnessed 571 attacks on Jerusalemites while they were in western Jerusalem or in other places, and the names of 13 streets and roads in the occupied city were changed and became Hebrew.
The coming year is bleak
It is clear from the aforementioned data, as Abu Diab confirms, that the occupation escalated its attack and pressure on Jerusalem and the Jerusalemites, tightened the screws on them, increased their isolation, and tried to obliterate its Arab and Islamic features and monuments, to empty it of its original inhabitants and replace them with settlers.
And he shows that the occupation is waging a relentless war on the identity of Jerusalem, and is fighting the Arab presence in it, “which indicates that the future will be bleak and more dangerous for the city and its people, in light of the occupation’s exclusivity on it, and the lax Arab and Islamic support for the holy city.”
Regarding his expectations for the next year 2023, the Jerusalemite researcher says that the occupation will continue to single out the city, its people and its sanctities, through further encroachment and imposing complete hegemony and control over it, targeting Jerusalemite symbols and figures, and obliterating landmarks.
He adds, “The occupation is continuing to complete its project to Judaize Jerusalem, strengthen settlements, and deport Jerusalemites, and there are fears of implementing displacement plans in Sheikh Jarrah, Khan al-Ahmar, Silwan, and others during the next year, in light of the continuation of the struggle to liquidate the Arab presence in the city.”
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