After her return from the UAE, Deputy Mayor of Occupied Jerusalem, Fleur Hassan Nahum, confirmed that she had succeeded in mobilizing Emirati investments in the "Silicon Valley" settlement project in East Jerusalem, which would be built on the ruins of 200 commercial establishments in Jerusalem, starting from the Al-Misrara neighborhood through the Wadi Al-Jouz and ending with Sheikh Jarrah.
She quoted in an interview on the Israeli website "Makor Rishon" the UAE's strong support for the project, claiming that this step "will help connect Israel with the Emirates on one side and the residents of East Jerusalem with the Jerusalem municipality and the Emirates on the other hand."
Nahum confirmed in the interview that when she presented the volume of Turkish activity in Jerusalem to those she met in the Emirates, they were extremely angry and excited to "strengthen relations with Israel and invest in Jerusalem."
"Their (Emirati) investment in the project shows that they are doing the right thing for the residents of Jerusalem and are strengthening Arab-Jewish relations, in contrast to what is propagated by the Palestinian media," she added.
The municipality of the occupation in Jerusalem announced the planning of a modern industrial zone in east occupied Jerusalem, which includes 250 thousand square meters to establish operating places in the field of "high-tech", claiming that it will help Jerusalemites and provide job opportunities for graduates of colleges and universities that speak the Arabic language.
Flor Hassan Taum (third from the right) during a meeting in the Emirates (communication sites)
Investment in a settlement project
Regarding the size and type of Emirati investment in the project, political analyst Rasem Obeidat confirms to Al Jazeera Net that all the information comes from the Israeli side until the moment, which indicates an Emirati financial contribution of up to $ 600 million.
Obeidat says that Jerusalemites are indignant about the settlement project and the UAE's investment in it, because this project is an integral part of strengthening Israeli-Emirati relations, especially after the recent normalization agreement between them, and it is also a step on the way to strengthening the Emirati influence in Jerusalem to spite the Turkish influence in the city.
Obeidat added, "This is a natural investment and not to serve Jerusalem and its people. Whoever wants to serve Jerusalem, the addresses are clear," indicating that the (Silicon Valley) settlement project aims to link the occupied eastern section of Jerusalem in 1967 with the occupied western section in 1948, and that is to consecrate the idea of (united Jerusalem) as the capital Of the State of Israel approved by US President Donald Trump in his 2017 declaration.
Arab mediator and dissolution goal
Al-Maqdisi lawyer Medhat Diba told Al-Jazeera Net that Emirati investment will open the door for Israeli settlers to acquire the bulk of these projects, through companies that may be established in the Gulf under national names or through the establishment of Israeli companies with Gulf capital and an Israeli shareholding.
Diba added that the aim of these projects is to control what remains of Palestinian lands in Jerusalem, and to entice their owners with money in order to prevent the natural growth of the Palestinians, and to ensure the demographic supremacy of the Jews on the one hand, and to prevent the Arab regions from communicating with each other on the other hand.
In addition to the violation of this settlement project against international law and its principles that prohibit the confiscation of occupied lands and change the status quo in them - considering that East Jerusalem is an occupied area according to the law - Diba confirms that the Emirati presence in Jerusalem has become suspicious for Jerusalemites, after the UAE's involvement in dozens of diversions. Real estate in the old city and Silwan for settlers.
An imminent Emirati visit
In the same context, the Secretary of Fatah Movement in Jerusalem, Shadi Mutour, announced that an Emirati government delegation will visit Jerusalem next Tuesday, headed by the Emirati Minister of Economy and Finance, warning through a statement today, Sunday, what he described as “Emirati money dipped in Palestinian blood, which comes through the gate of the occupation at a time when it is closed. The doors to the Palestinian leadership, and Palestinian activity in Jerusalem is prohibited. "
The statement added, "These suspicious visits from Arab delegations, led by the Emirati delegations, are considered a dagger in the Palestinian heart, and confronting them is a national and religious duty, in light of the partnership agreements between the occupation municipality and the UAE government for settlement projects that the Jerusalemites have faced relentlessly, and here they are passing today from a portal that is supposed to be Arab. .
The site in which the occupation municipality announced that it plans to establish a modern industrial zone in occupied east Jerusalem (Al-Jazeera Net)
A visit or a storm?
This Jerusalemite dissatisfaction comes after an Emirati delegation visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque last Thursday afternoon, after the delegation entered the mosque through the Mughrabi Gate - which is designated for the settler incursions - under the protection of the occupation, which prompted the Jerusalemites to call it a storming rather than a visit.
Ziad Abhais, a researcher specializing in Jerusalem affairs, commented on that: “Whoever enters Al-Aqsa recognized as an Islamic sanctuary, he has no claim in it, and without acknowledging or reinforcing the legitimacy of the occupation in it, he is a visitor. He does not have the right to enter it even if he is a Muslim. "
He added, "What happened is not a (normalization visit). What the Jordanian and Palestinian Endowments used to organize in terms of visits to Arabs and Muslims through its portal during the past years is what could be called a (normalization visit), as for what happened under the protection of the Israeli intelligence service (the Shin Bet), it is an intrusion by the Likud. Al-Arabi mosque of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and these black cars in which they parked at Al-Buraq Square bear witness to that. "