Israel to relocate 1500 Palestinians from Silwan

RAMALLAH: As part of Israeli attempts to Judize the disputed city of Jerusalem, the Jewish-dominated Jerusalem Municipality may offer to voluntarily relocate some 1,500 Palestinian residents of the city’s Silwan neighborhood to alternative lots in East Jerusalem, Arab residents said.

The daily Haaretz said that the option was brought up by city council and East Jerusalem portfolio holder Yakir Segev, in meetings with the Arab residents. The 88 houses at issue were allegedly constructed without permits in the Al-Bustan area of Silwan and are slated for demolition by Israeli authorities. They stand in an area known as the King’s Garden, defined as being of great archaeological importance by the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Silwan, a Palestinian neighborhood of 10,000 people, is set in a beautiful valley just outside the Old City walls, Jews claim it to be there ancient city. Therefore, according to the Jewish National Fund, it is “historical justice� that only Jews should live on this land.

The nasty and obviously racist battle to cleanse Silwan of non-Jews is under way with a vengeance. Palestinian residents call it “house-to-house combat.� According to attorney Ziad Qa’awar, the last meeting took place in early February and saw Segev proposing two alternative locations, one on a different hill in Silwan, and the other in the neighborhood of Beit Hanina, in the northeast of the city. The proposition was unanimously rejected by the residents.

Fathi Abu Diab, a member of the residents’ committee, said that they “told him (Segev) that these were lands we inherited from our parents, and we were not going to give them up.� “We were born here, and our children were born here too.�

Abu Diab added the families would be happy to cooperate with any development of the area that does not harm the houses. “But forcing us to evict will never work,� he said. Haaretz quoted Segev as saying that no compensation plans was in place.

“These houses have been issued with demolition orders, to which we have to comply,� he said. “This was just an idea that came up in the talks.� However, Palestinian participants in the meeting said most of it focused on the voluntary evacuation issue.

The demolition orders have been in place for several years, but have yet to be carried out, with international pressures running high. An alternative plan proposed by the residents was rejected by the city’s planning committee.

Israeli left-wing activists said the demolition orders were fueled by settler activists seeking to take over the land, in particular by the Elad association, which promotes the “Judaization� of East Jerusalem by settling of Jews in Silwan.

Elad has been operating in East Jerusalem for about 20 years. It has acquired and received many properties belonging to Palestinians in Silwan and manages the national park on behalf of Israeli government.

The policy of house demolitions and settlement building in East Jerusalem are being used by the Israeli authorities and Jerusalem municipality to increase Jewish presence and manipulate the composition of the population in order to gain more control over the city prior to final status talks with the Palestinian Authority.

In those talks, the issue of Jerusalem looms as the stumbling block of all stumbling blocks. More than 2,000 houses in East Jerusalem have been demolished since its occupation by Israel in 1967, and several hundreds are slated for demolition to Judize the city.