In the last few years, the cries for help and assistance from Arabs and Muslims living in occupied Palestine and especially from within Jerusalem (Al-Quds) have be heard echoing repeatedly.
Jerusalem’s scholars, scientists and prominent individuals are leading the way in appealing to the outside world to do something before Zionist Jews establish their firm control and even perhaps demolish the last remaining few Islamic historic sites that exist in the Holy Land.
Recently, a veteran Palestinian academic, researcher and cartographer, who has spent an large part of his life investigating Zionist plans to drastically change the very demographics of Jerusalem, spoke out loud and clear, demanding to be heard. Warning Arabs and Muslims, this academic is calling for help, saying that the treasures and Islamic character of the third holiest site of Islam may be lost forever, resulting in a catastrophe similar to the one experienced with the loss of Andalusia by Arabs in the 13th Century AD.
The Palestinian academic is none other than Khalil Tufagji, who told Al-Hayat newspaper in Ramallah: “Israelis are investing millions of dollars to change Jerusalem’s very outlook. They want to firmly establish their occupation by driving the Arabs out while we, the Arabs and Muslims, remain inactive.”
In a press conference recently, Tufagji spoke about the seriousness and gravity of the situation in Jerusalem and explained that the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had devised a plan in which lay the “dark fate of Jerusalem”.
Tufagji explained, “The problem is that Olmert has been the mayor of Jerusalem since 1994 and knows every brick in the city. In his plan he has dedicated a section of it to devising a way of evicting most of the Arab residents of Jerusalem. In other words forcibly pushing out around 200,000 Palestinians to the West Bank leaving 80,000 Palestinians in the city. Jerusalem would then be filled with a majority Jewish population.”
“This section in Olmert’s plan has been entitled ‘Jerusalem 2020’. This is the Zionist vision of the Jerusalem they want to see in 2020. They want to alter the very demographics of Jerusalem by lessening the number of Arabs that live in the city and increasing the Jewish population there,” said Tufagji.
Tufagji is an expert on issues pertaining to Jerusalem and Zionist settlements post 1967 — a time when Jerusalem was home to 70,000 people, all of whom were Arabs. Since then Israel has been pursuing a draconian policy that aims to increase the Jewish population in Jerusalem and transform and bring an end to the very Arab feel and characteristic of Al-Quds. Today 182,000 Jews live in the city.
In spite of the deportation policies that Israel has been pursuing, the Zionists have come to realize that the Arab population has been increasing faster than the Jewish one. So Israel has now adopted a policy of surgically and forcibly isolating Arab areas in Jerusalem and gradually forcing them to slowly become part of the West Bank.
The Zionists are following a policy of buying up property in Jerusalem, digging tunnels under Bayt Al-Maqdis and deporting Arab residents. In fact, names of places and streets in Jerusalem have been changed from Arabic to Hebrew. Thus, places like Al-Wad Street have now been renamed Bshai Street and Jerusalem is gradually being called Orshalim (the Hebrew name for Al-Quds).
The establishment of Orshalim is every Zionist’s dream. Muslims and Arabs possess the financial capabilities and skill to enable them to outwit and beat the Zionist agenda, but it seems sadly we don’t have the will, unity or intention to defeat them.
Muhammad Salahuddin, Msalahuddin@makpublish.com