Dangerous Collapse at the City of David

26/12/11

The Jerusalem Municipality closed the Mosque in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan today. No, it is not because of political reasons; it is because of a serious concerned to the public’s safety. There was a dangerous collapse at an archeological site underneath the building, and the Municipality wanted to make sure that nobody would get hurt. The works surrounding the collapse might take a few days before the mosque and the kindergarten (in it) will be reopened.

The Israeli Antiquities Authority has been conducting large scale excavations in Silwan, and has opened tunnels underneath the houses and the roads of Silwan. Hundreds of visitors walk through those tunnels every day to see the archeological site of the City of David, while above their heads thousands of Palestinians live their day to day lives.

It is not the first time that there has been a collapse in Silwan, at the Antiquities Authority’s excavations. On March 2010, at the same tunnel, another collapse occurred and the “Dangerous Buildings Department” of the Jerusalem Municipality opened an investigation. Around May 2009 there was also a collapse at a plaza near a school in Silwan under which there was an intensive excavation. The Municipality, again, opened an investigation. Also earlier in 2009 the stairs leading up the hill in Silwan collapsed, after a new excavation started under it.

The Jerusalem Municipality always acts after a collapse occurs. When we inquired whether the excavations had a construction permit, the Municipality explained that archeological excavations does not require any such permit. The meaning is that there is no inspection by the Municipality over the works that are done underneath the homes of hundreds of residents in Silwan. The Antiquities Authority, together with Elad Association (which is funding and initiating most of the excavations in Silwan) and the National Parks Authority are the ones in charge of the diggings.

Luckily today nobody was harmed at the City of David site. When I arrived, I saw a group of children and adults at the entrance to the compound. Usually, the route of their tour would go through the tunnel. Had they passed there few minutes before, at the moment of the collapse – there might have been a disaster. Had the collapse led to the collapse of the kindergarten in the Mosque on top of the tunnel, there might also have been a tragedy. In this, perhaps there is equality.

A group at the entrance to the compound not far from the tunnel

The Government issued tenders for a new neighborhood north of Efrat and for 277 housing units in Ariel

New tenders for the construction of a new neighborhood of 40 housing units in Givat Hadagan near the settlement of Efrat were issued last Thursday. Another tender for the construction of 277 units in the settlement of Ariel was issued at the same day. Last month the Ministry of Housing published a list of some 2,230 tenders that are planed to be issued in the near future. The 277 units in Ariel were on the list; however the 40 units in Givat Hadagan seem to be additional tenders that have not been on the announcement of the Ministry of Housing.

At the site of the new neighborhood near the Efrat settlement, called Givat Hadagan, the settlers have put up 40 caravans illegally in early 2000’s. The new tender will allow them to build, legally, permanent homes and to officially establish a new neighborhood.
The 40 housing units are part of a larger plan for approximately 500 units which is awaiting the approval of the Minister of Defense for marketing and construction.

Giva’at Dagan is located in a very sensitive area, one kilometer north of the built-up area of the settlement of Efrat. The establishment of the neighborhood will significantly expand the area which the settlement controls, and will bloc any potential development of the Palestinian town of Elhader, south of Bethlehem.

The new tender near Efrat is part of many efforts by the government to expand the settlement. In the list of planed tenders of the Ministry of Housing there is a tender for another 277 units in Givat Hazayit neighborhood in Efrat that should be issued soon.  In addition, it was reported that the Ministry of Defense have approved the establishment of an agricultural farm at Giva’at Eitam, East of Giva’at Dagan, where there are plans for future construction of 2,500 units.

The developments in Efrat are a serious threat to the two states solution. Efrat is located east of the main road leading south of Bethlehem. Annexation of the settlement toIsraelwill cut off between the southern areas of the West Bank and Bethlehem and will bloc the potential development of Bethlehem to the south.

Givat Hadagan Caravans with the Palestinian suburbs of Bethlehem at the backround

Watch how the settlers take over houses in Silwan

The following short video is maybe the best summary of the story of the settlement in Silwan. Watch how the settlers managed to get hold of properties, house by house, through various ways. The result is a Palestinian neighborhood living in constant tension, with enclaves of settler houses fenced and secured by armed guards.

The JNF (Keren Kayemet Leyisrael) is playing a central role in the displacement of the Palestinian families. On December 18, JNF should submit to court the reply to the Sumarin family request to cancel their eviction. Rabbis for Human Rights, Solidarity and other groups have already called JNF to stop the evictions – please spread and join the call.

The Court Freezes the Eviction of the Sumarin Family

Following the request submitted to the local court by Adv. Muhammad Dahleh, who represents the Sumarin Family, the court ordered to freeze the eviction procedures against the family.

The main request submitted by Dahleh was to cancel the previous ruling of the court, from 2005, which ordered the eviction of the Sumarin family without any response or defense by the family. Today, the court gave Himnuta, who is demanding the eviction, a chance to respond to the request until the 18th of December 2012. After that, the court will decide whether to cancel the eviction ruling or not. The court ordered that until the decision is made, the eviction procedures will be frozen.

It is yet another opportunity for the JNF to withdraw from evicting the Palestinian family from its home in East Jerusalem. The JNF can easily decide not to object the cancellation of the previous ruling and avoid another political crisis in East Jerusalem.

The court decision:
[...] 2. I hereby give order for the delay the eviction procedures until a decision is issued regarding the cancellation of the court order. 3. The respondent will present a reply to the request for cancellation until 18.12.2011. 

Facts show JNF behind eviction of Palestinian family in Silwan, East Jerusalem, despite denial

Following the Rabbis for Human Rights’ action alert, calling the JNF not to evict the Sumarin Palestinian family in Silwan, JNF published a response basically claiming: “It’s Not Us! It’s the Settlers!” Meanwhile, the Jewish group Yachad in the UK published a similar call.

According to JNF’s response, “KKL-JNF leased the land to Elad in the early ‘90’s … KKL-JNF has no rights, control, or responsibility in this issue at all”. In fact, as the Eviction Order proves, all legal action against the Sumarin family has been taken by Himnuta (which is wholly owned by JNF). The Elad settlers were never mentioned in any of the lengthy legal proceedings against the Sumarin family. So even if Himnuta did lease the property to Elad in the 90′s, the eviction process is being done in Himnuta’s name.

The Announcement of Eviction that the family received from October 2nd, ordering the eviction of the Sumarin family is explicitly states that the eviction is “for the benefit of Himnuta, Located in the KKL-JNF building in Jerusalem”:

for the full document click here

Worse still, if JNF honestly believes that nothing has been done in their name, they have in effect decided to let the settlers use their name and given up all responsibility for the public they represent.  What would JNF say about all the other properties they gave to the settlers in Silwan: that they didn’t know?
There are other families in Silwan that are still under threat of eviction by Himnuta, fighting in courts against the well-funded lawyers working in JNF’s name. JNF can no longer say “we didn’t know”. JNF must take action and withdraw any legal action to evict Palestinians from their homes. I call on the JNF: Don’t let the settlers use your name against families to create facts on the ground that are morally wrong and could be politically disastrous for Israel. 

A Plan for a New National Park in East Jerusalem is Deposited for Public Review

On November 15^th, plan no. 11092A for the Mount Scopus Slopes National Park was deposited for public review, granting the public 60 days to put forward any objections. The planned park is located between the Palestinian neighborhoods of Isawiyya and A-Tur in East Jerusalem. According to press reports, the Minister of Environment recommended the park after consulting with settler leaders, in opposition to the position of the professional echelon in the Ministry. The planned park does not seam to have any special archeological, historical or of nature significance. The main goal of the planned park, as described by Jerusalem expert Danny Seidemann is “to link between the inner encirclement of the Old City and its visual basin, as designated by the governmental Old City Basin Project, and the outer encirclement in Greater Jerusalem, as disclosed by the E-1 plan between Ma’ale Adumim and East Jerusalem. The new national park will be a bridge, creating forging a geographical link between the Old City basin and E-1.”

The planned park will cut between the Palestinian neighborhoods of Issawiyya and A-Tur and will prevent their potential development.

There are now 60 days for the public to submit objections to the plan, after which the Regional Planning Committee will discuss the objections and will decide whether to approve the plan. After the approval the Minister of Environment will be able to declare the new National Park.

Palestinian Family at Immediate Risk of Eviction in Silwan

August 2nd, 2009. The Ghawi and Hannun families of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem are waking to the sounds of police and trucks and movers. In a few hours, their houses will have become the home to settler families, and they will be kicked out to the street.

Those images are flashing back to me as I think of what could happen in two weeks in Silwan. We’ve seen those pictures in the past: Palestinian family – out, Israeli settlers – in. Sometimes the house is legally bought by the settlers; sometimes it is the implementation of the “right of return” to properties that belonged to Jews before 1948 (like in the case of Ghawi and Hannun); and sometimes it is because the Israeli Authorities decided to use the Absentee Property Law in order to take over the Palestinian house and give it to the settlers.

The Sumarin family has been living for decades at the entrance to the Wadi Hilweh neighborhood of Silwan, not far from Al-Aqsa Mosque. Two months ago, the court scheduled their eviction for November 28, 2011 in a ruling handed down in the absence of defense by the Sumarins. Their house is considered by the authorities as a property of an absentee, and therefore, it was transferred to the hands of the Himanuta company which requested the eviction.

For the last 20 years the Jewish National Fund has been acting to transfer Palestinian property in East Jerusalem to the settlers. Tens of dunams of land and homes housing dozens of Palestinians in Silwan were evacuated by the JNF through various legal proceedings and transferred to settlers from the Elad organization; In many cases the JNF does this through its subsidiary Himnuta, whose shares are held by the JNF.

The barter deal in Silwan: absentee land turns into JNF land in order to give it to settlers

In the 1980s and early 1990s, dozens of properties in Silwan were declared absentee properties and sold to the Development Authority. According to the law, the Development Authority and the Israel Land Administration are required to administer their assets equally without discrimination based on nationality. Conversely, the JNF and Himnuta operate according to a JNF memo that provides that its assets be leased or transferred to the possession of Jews only. In order to bypass the requirement of equality, the authorities in the early 1990s used the JNF and Himnuta to transfer property in Silwan to the settlers.

On May 23, 1991, a barter deal was signed between the Development Authority and Himnuta, according to which the Development Authority was to transfer 30 dunams of absentee property in Silwan to Himnuta in exchange for land it owns in the Wadi Ara area. The purpose of the deal, as defined by the director of the land Department in the JNF and Himnuta, was “for those properties to be under Jewish ownership.” Later some of the properties were leased to the Elad settler organization without a tender.

Most of the properties were inhabited by Palestinian families that did not even know that their homes were declared absentee property, sold in a barter deal to Himnuta and leased to settlers. Himnuta began demanding the Palestinian tenants be evicted from their homes through legal actions. Among the properties transferred in this way to Elad are Beit Hamaayan (“the well house”), which serves as a tourist and archaeological excavation site, and Beit Hatzofeh (“the lookout house”), which serves the organization as part of its tourist site and visitors center as well as serving as a settler residence.

“The Klugman Report” – The machine was stopped, but never killed

Following the election of the Rabin Government in 1992, a special investigation committee, “the Klugman Committee”, was assigned to investigate the conduct of the authorities with regards to East Jerusalem properties that were given to the settlers. The committee described how the Ministry of Housing (under Ariel Sharon as a Minister) facilitated and funded the transfer of Palestinian properties in the Old City and Silwan into the hands of settler organizations. One of the methods to take over properties was the use of the Absentee Property Law. Among the Committee’s key findings were:

• Properties had been systematically allocated based on criteria that violated the principles of equality, and contrary to rudimentary procedures.
• The settler organizations located the properties they were subsequently to receive from the State, based on affidavits which they themselves arranged and confirmed.
• The Custodian of Absentee Property failed to exercise even minimal discretion.
• No tenders had been issued, and it was the political echelon of the Ministry of Housing which instructed which organization would receive which asset.

Following the Klugman Report, the machine that was established in order to assist the settlement at the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem was stopped. However, some of the procedures that started at the early 90′s, continued. To this day, Himnuta continues pursuing legal claims against Palestinian residents based on the barter deal from 1991. At least three families in Silwan are at risk of eviction after years of long and expensive legal proceedings that have not yet ended. The Sumarin family is one of them.

The settlers built the visitors center of the “City of David” tourism site next to the Sumarin family’s house. Therefore, the house is a strategic site for the settlers that would give them a large contiguous area at the entrance to Silwan and dramatically change the neighborhood.

For me as a Jew, I feel ashamed that Himnuta and the JNF, that are claiming to act in the name of the Jewish people, are continuing to this day to use their organization in order to kick out Palestinian families from their homes and to bring in Jewish families instead. This is not only politically wrong and dangerous, but it is also immoral.

The eviction can be stopped:

1. Himnuta can decide, instead of giving the property to settlers, to give it to the Palestinian family that has lived in it for years.
2. The Israel Police can decide not to assist in the eviction of the family and to prevent it. The police has avoided evicting settlers from Beit Yehonatan in Silwan for more than three years, even though the court has repeatedly ordered it to evict them. The attorney general has asserted on different occasions that if the police believe there is a threat to public security it must prevent right holders from realizing their rights at that time.

It is now our role to try to put pressure on the JNF to stop the procedures against the Sumarins, and on the Israeli government to prevent the provocation in Silwan.

A New Israeli Neighborhood in East Jerusalem is Threatening the Two State Solution

For the first time since the establishment of Har Homa -
New Israeli Neighborhood in East Jerusalem is threatening the Two State solution

On October 11, Plan no. 14295 was deposited for public review, for the construction of 2,610 housing units in a new neighborhood in East Jerusalem called “Givat Hamatos” East of Beit Safafa. This plan is the reparcellation scheme that enables the implementation of plan no. 5834A which was deposited three years ago and caused controversy.

• The first new Israeli neighborhood in East Jerusalem since Har Homa – Unlike recent plans that caused controversy in Gilo and Pisgat Ze’ev which expanded the footprint of existing neighborhoods, the new plan creates an entirely new footprint of a new Israeli neighborhood in East Jerusalem, for the first time since the establishment of Har Homa in 1997 by the first Netanyahu Government.
• “A mini-E-1” - a game changer that significantly changes the possible border between Israel and Palestine – The new neighborhood will complete the isolation between Bethlehem and East Jerusalem, and will destroy any possibility of a territorial solution in Beit Safafa and Shurafat. The Geneva Initiative proposed border will not be possible without dismantling the new Israeli neighborhood.

• The plan is for immediate implementation – the plan for the establishment of Givat Hamatos neighborhood was firstly exposed when plan no. 5834A was deposited for public review under Olmert Govenement on January 2008. This plan was for the construction of 2,337 housing units and it completed the approval process in recent months. However, this plan was a general plan that couldn’t be implemented without further detailed planning called “reparcellation”. Today the reparcellation plan is ready, and it is deposited for public review. The detailed plan increases the capacity from 2,337 units to 2,610 units and once it is approved the construction can begin.
• These are the Final planning phases – the detailed plan (no. 14295) was deposited for public review on October 11^th, 2011. The 60-day objection period for the plan has now begun.  At the end of that period, and after hearing the objections, the plan can be approved. Following the approval there might be appeals to court that could take another few months but eventually, if the plan is not withdrawn by the government, the plan will receive the final approval in a few months to a year. Once Plan 14295 is approved, construction can commence.
  It is important to mention that the plan is under the authority of the Local Planning Committee at the Jerusalem Municipality. Unlike the Regional Planning Committee which is made up of civil servants, the Local Committee is made up of elected city council members, which are politically motivated and might want to approve the plan as quickly as possible.

• The plan is initiated by the Israeli Land Authority (ILA) and is under the full control of the Israeli Government - the initiator of the plan is the Israel Lands Authority (ILA), a quasi-governmental agency that owns much of the land in the area (there are also areas of private ownership, both Israeli and Palestinian). This means that the plan can still be frozen at any time by the ILA (i.e., by a decision of the Israeli government), even if the Municipality is eager to move forward.
• Parts of the plan for Palestinian construction? -there will probably be those in the Israeli government who will argue that the new neighborhood will not necessarily be only for Jews. Similar protestations were voiced in defense of the construction of the settlement of Har Homa, and eventually there wasn’t even one unit built for Palestinians in Har Homa. It does appear that the Givat Hamatos plan may allow some expansion of the existing Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa on the lands that are privately owned by Palestinians. However, at least 1,700 units will be constructed for a new Israeli neighborhood.
• Givat Hamatos Today –in the 1990’s the Israeli government used parts of the land of the new plan for a temporary residential site for new immigrants. Today there are some 25 trailer homes still not evicted from the site.

The attack of the settlers on the activists in Anatot

The Story of the Land Grab

The violence of settlers is again striking the headlines. The following video, made by Solidarity, tells the whole story of what happened last week in the settlement of Anatot (AKA Almon).

I was lucky, unlike many of my friends, activists in Solidarity and Ta’ayush and in other groups, i wasn’t injured and even my car is now back, fixed, from the garage. I don’t want to add more words on what happened (i urge you to watch the video, and to read some of the descriptions here and here), but i thought it was important to bring the story of the land grab that was in the background of this incident. It is an example of how the settlements take over Palestinian lands, even when officially the Palestinian owners are still “allowed” to access them. See the details in the following presentation:

Anatot is only one of many other settlements that took over Palestinian lands. Few months ago, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected a petition by Palestinians from the village of Jaba’ together with Bimkom and Yesh Din that asked to cancel a construction plan of a settlement because it crated enclaves of private Palestinian lands within the fenced area of the settlement. The Supreme Court approved the plan, and ruled that because officially the owners of the lands will be allowed in their lands, there should not be a problem to surround their lands with houses of settlements. Unfortunately, in too many cases where the Palestinians should be able to have access to lands that are trapped within settlements, eventually they are not allowed in, or they can only enter with coordination with the Israeli army which is limited, and with permits. Usually it means that it is very very hard, if not impossible, for the Palestinians to make free use  of their legally owned property. Many times, the fight to access one’s property has to include going to the courts (see here) or, like in Anatot, a long and hard political struggle, and the chances to succeed are not so high. Unfortunately, many Palestinians give up.

Read more about private lands in settlements in Peace Now’s report.

After Construction – the Permit is Issued

The construction of 17 settlement units in the old police station in Ras Elamud is almost completed. One year ago the settlers, who made a deal with the Police (according to which the settlers funded the construction of a new station for the police (in E1 area) and in return received the rights to use the old station buildings in Ras Elamud), started to renovate the two buildings in Ras Elamud into 17 housing units. Few weeks ago, they even started to market the homes for potential settler families.  There was one thing they didn’t take care of – a construction permit. We have been writing to the Jerusalem Municipality about the illegal construction without a permit, but unlike in many cases of Palestinian construction without permits, there was no action to stop the construction. Last Monday, the settlers finally published an ad in the newspaper allowing the public 14 days to object the upcoming permit, as required by the law.

The Ad that was published for public review before granting the permit.

According to the law, any construction needs a permit. Usually changes within an existing building do not require a permit however, any change outside of a building must go through the procedure of a construction permit at the Municipality. In the case of the Ras Elamud police station, not only that the settlers made dramatic changes outside of the building that require a permit and even a publication for public review, they also changed the use of the building – from a police station to housing. The Municipality accepted the settlers’ opinion that according to the existing city plan in the area,  the house can be used for housing and there’s no need for a new city plan.

The settlers know that the procedure of a construction permit takes time, and that maybe some of the changes they want to make might not be approved, so they decided not to wait for the permit, knowing that the Municipality will not touch them. Today, after they already completed the works, and following many complaints by us and by Pepe Alalu, a member of  the Jerusalem Municipality from Meretz party, the Municipality is about to grant the settlers a permit for the construction they have already made.
There are now 14 days for the public to file objections to the permits.

The New Settlement, “Ma’ale David”, at the Old Police Station in Ras El-Amud