Described by the settlement attack .. Reveal three huge projects to change the features of Jerusalem

Mervat Sadeq-Ramallah

The weekly report of the Palestinian National Office for the Defense of Land and Resistance of Settlements monitored three large settlement projects implemented by the Israeli government through which it seeks to tighten control over Jerusalem and separate it from its surroundings in the north and south of the West Bank.

According to the report released on Saturday, the Israeli Ministry of Housing plans to establish a new settlement neighborhood on the territory of the abandoned Qalandiya airport to expand the settlement "Atarot" north of Jerusalem, and includes the construction of 11 thousand housing units stretching about 600 acres confiscated by the occupation since the early seventies.

The plan includes digging a tunnel for the settlers under the Kafr Aqab neighborhood, adjacent to Qalandiya airport, to link the new neighborhood to the settlement bloc east of Jerusalem.

The report considered the implementation of the Israeli settlement plans in the north, south and center of occupied Jerusalem, "a settlement attack seeks to change the civilized and commercial face of the landmarks of the city and suburbs of occupied Jerusalem."

The occupation authorities closed Qalandia airport with the outbreak of the second intifada in 2000, and the former Israeli Minister of Housing Yoav Galant orders to resume work on the settlement project after the election of US President Donald Trump.

On the other hand, the Israeli government has begun in recent weeks to build 176 housing units in the settlement "Nof Tzion" built on the slopes of Mount Scopus south of occupied Jerusalem, and ratified its plan in October 2017, in a field translation of the declaration of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo legitimacy Settlements.

With the completion of construction in the settlement, "Nof Zion" will become the largest outpost in the Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem, and with the completion of the planned construction phases will reach a capacity of 550 housing units.

This settlement was established as a private neighborhood by Jewish investors in the heart of the town of Jabal Mukaber, where they submitted a project to build hundreds of settlement units on an area of ​​114 dunums in the area, was approved in 1993, and postponed until 2002, and began housing by settlers about eight Years.

The current construction is the first phase of the project, and the second phase includes two plans for the construction of 350 housing units, hotels and air train, and in the last phase will be built 550 housing units and a hotel and buildings for public services.

Change the character
In the context of changing the original commercial landscape of shops and markets in Jerusalem, the report cites the disclosure of Jerusalemite lawyer Raed Bashir on the existence of three plans to restructure the area of ​​Almasarah in the heart of Arab Jerusalem.

According to the plan, the Great Square opposite the shops will be transformed into a public park. The Israeli municipality has submitted a project that includes the opening of an underground tunnel starting from Hebron Gate to Al-Masarra neighborhood to convert the open area into a road network.

In this context, the municipality of the occupation is a structural plan starting with Sultan Suleiman Street to the neighborhood of Al-Masarra, which includes neighborhoods and areas of Salah al-Din and Zahra Street, Nablus and St. George and all commercial districts of the city.The project extends over an area of ​​700 dunums, and has received preliminary approvals from the competent authorities.

The report explains that this targeting is linked to the American commercial street project in the Jabal Mukaber area in the south, which includes huge commercial centers that are planned to be an alternative to the traditional traditional commercial centers in occupied Jerusalem.

scam
On the other hand, the cancellation of the Israeli Central Court's decision to approve the sale of the Orthodox Waqf properties in the Old City of Jerusalem to the Ateret Cohanim Settlement Association highlighted the means used by the settlement associations to control fraud and fraud on Palestinian property.

According to the decision, the court accepted the request of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate to reconsider a previous court ruling, because the phantom companies from which settlers claim to buy property did not appear in court and did not submit a defense regulation, especially regarding the purchase of Petra, Imperial and commercial shops at the Gate of Hebron and another building in the Christian Quarter. In the old town.

According to the Patriarchate, these properties were sold by deception to the settlement companies years ago. It is clear from the investigation that the settlement association Ateret Cohanim is carrying out fraud, bribery and forgery of documents and submits them to the court.