The Palestinian town of “Shuafat” in the midst of the deal of the century .. ancient origins and present distorted

Juman Abu Arafa - Occupied Jerusalem

Every day from the old house in the town of Shuafat (north of occupied Jerusalem), towards the Ali Bin Abi Talib Mosque (the largest mosque in the town), who takes over his imamate since his youth, he inherits this from his father, Sheikh Falah, who died Two years ago, he was over a hundred years old, as the oldest caller of Jerusalem.

Abu Falah not only inherited his father’s profession, but also inherited many lands in the town of Shuafat, like the rest of the members of the tribes (clans) of the Arab town in which she lived three hundred years ago, which is a fifth of the largest number of the load of Jesus, followed by Abu Khudair. Al-Mishni is the return of God.

In addition to the indigenous Shuafat clans, Palestinians from various places settled in the town, until today its population reached more than 25,000 people.

Like any Shuafati Palestinian, the name of his hometown was repeated in the midst of the deal of the century announced by US President Donald Trump on Tuesday evening, and he did not comment on that, and he laughed with mockery before placing his palms on his ears to raise the call to prayer, or we did not know whether he closed his ears to raise his voice, or to stop Sounds about the deal?

Sour calm
Shuafat is five kilometers west of Bab al-Amud (one of the gates of the Jerusalem Wall), and it appears in the minds of Jerusalemites as a town of low-cost, low-cost, low-living neighborhoods, close to the Old City and Al-Aqsa Mosque, but the rents of the homes are high due to the high price of the building permit imposed by the municipality of occupation, which approximates Three hundred thousand dollars, otherwise the house will be destroyed if it is not obtained.

Abu Khudair says that the inhabitant of Shuafat does not choose to move to others, but its depleted environment is clouded by the attacks of settlers coming from the settlements located on the stolen Shuafat lands, so they would uproot crops, burn vehicles, and damage them, and write racist slogans on their walls, and the incident of burning a child Muhammad Abu Khudair to death is considered a year 2014 One of the most prominent violations, after being kidnapped by settlers in front of the main Shuafat Mosque.

Occupation and land plunder
After its occupation in 1967, the occupation confiscated the lands of Shuafat and built the settlements of "Ramat Shlomo" and "Ramot" in the west, and "Pisgat Zeev" in the east, and the French Hill and "Givat Hamftar" from the southeast side.

The settlement expert, Khalil Tafakji, told Al Jazeera Net that the original area of ​​Shuafat amounted to 5274 dunums, of which 1928 dunums were confiscated, which is equivalent to 37% of its area, adding that the area of ​​the structural plan for the town and approved by the municipality of the occupation amounted to 2011 dunums, of which 600 are for green areas that prevent Build on it.

In 1948, the Zionist gangs attempted to occupy Shuafat, which is strategically located, as it is the northern gate to Jerusalem, but its efforts were unsuccessful after the Shafafat were able to defend their town. Without her family migrating or leaving their homes.

Tafkaji asserts that before the occupation of Shuafat, it was not within the borders of the Jordanian municipality, as was East Jerusalem, but rather was independent through a village council that continues to this day.

Ancient origins
The name of Shuafat means the high hill. Its ancient town lies on a rocky elevation above it, and some historians attribute the name of the town to "Yahushvat", one of the leaders of the army of the Prophet David, peace be upon him, who entered Jerusalem, and its leaders settled there.

In addition to the high hill, a plot of land is spread from the eastern and southern sides of Shuafat, which distinguishes it from other rugged Jerusalem towns. Shuafat is adjacent to the villages of Beit Hanina and Beit Iksa, and the exile is separated by valleys.

Professor of Geography and one of the faces of Shuafat Nazmi Abdel-Al Issa confirms to Al-Jazeera Net that the human beginnings in the town date back to the Byzantine era before the Islamic conquest, where they discovered the terraces of decorated Byzantine palaces, and other ancient monuments in the Al-Ras area in the west and Al-Gqma in the east.

Distorted reality
Professor Issa adds that the people of Shuafat are distinguished by their kindness, flexibility and good neighborhood, and they speak the Palestinian agricultural dialect, as they worked in the past in agriculture and livestock, and their town was famous for the crops of olives, figs and grapes, along with cucumbers and legumes, most of which ended today due to the confiscation of lands and the sabotage of settlers.

There are two main mosques in Shuafat today: the Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque and the Ibrahim Bin Adham shrine, which was rebuilt after the Zionist gangs were blown up to it during the Nakba. It also contains four medical centers, and three existing preparatory and secondary schools.

About six years ago, the occupation set up a light train that passes from the town of Shuafat, with a 14 km route, from the "Pisgat Zeev" settlement to the "Mount Herzl" area. Also, a tunnel in the Shuafat town under construction seeks to connect the settlements of Ma’aleh Adumim and Ramat Shlomi to facilitate their connection without the need to pass through Shuafat.

Shuafat refugee camp
After the occupation of Shuafat, the Shuafat Palestinian refugee camp was established on its lands that were separated by the separation wall in 2004, and it cut into part of a hill in the east of the town called Ras Anatiyah or Ras Shehada, and cut a large part of the southern eastern Shuafat lands and took it out of the wall. The Shuafat camp is the only camp located within the borders of the so-called "Jerusalem municipality."

On an area of ​​about 203 dunums, thousands of Jerusalemites are distributed in the Shuafat camp, which suffers from a heavy population congestion, lacks peaceful infrastructure, and a military roadblock separating the camp from Jerusalem is occupied on its lands.

And within what is called the "Greater Jerusalem Plan", the occupation strangled Shuafat camp with a group of settlements. The settlement of "Anatot" stands in the east of the camp, and "Pisgat Zeev" in the north, the "French Hill" in the south, and "Reichs Shuafat" in the western side.