A petit drama happened today. At the midst of the planning strike on East Jerusalem, in which 6,500 units are approved in four days, the Regional Planning Committee rejected today the plan of Givat Hamatos C – for 813 units. This rejection means that the plan is canceled, and that in case one wants to build, there should be a new plan that will pass through all the planning process.

Unfortunately, we can’t really celebrate the annulment of one of the plans in Givat Hamatos. First of all, because it is only one of the plans that are planned in Givat Hamatos, with less than ¼ of the planned units. The local planning committee will probably approve tomorrow the Givat Hamatos A plan, for 2,610 units, which is large enough to prevent a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem, and thus may prevent the two state solution.

Secondly, the reason behind the rejection of the plan has to do with one of the objections that was filed by an Israeli company that bought a small part of the land at the planned area, and is wishing to suggest an alternative plan where they propose to build 900 units on their part of land alone (in addition to potential construction on the other parts of the area). So eventually we might end up facing a new plan, that will be brought for approval, in which much more construction may be approved…

On Thursday (6.12.12) the Jerusalem District Court rejected the appeal of the Shamasne family against the ruling ordering their eviction from their home.

The house is located in the Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem, in the area called Um Haroun (AKA Nahalat Shimon), and was owned by Jews before 1948. After 1948, Sheikh Jarrah became under the Jordanian control and the Jordanian government became responsible for the Jewish properties. The Jordanian Custodian for Enemy Properties rented the Jewish houses of Sheikh Jarrah to Palestinian families. After 1967, the management of the properties was given to the Israeli General Custodian, who continued the rental agreements with the Palestinian families. Those who had agreements with the Custodian before 1968 got the status of protected tenants.

A view of Um Haroun area in Sheikh Jarrah

On 2011, the Israel General Custodian filed a suit against the Shamasane family, arguing that their rent agreement ended in 2008. The Custodian didn’t mention that there were previous rent agreements with the family, and that they continued to pay the rent even after 2008. The Shamasne family claimed that they live in the house already from 1964, and therefore they have the status of protected tenants. They showed rent agreements from 1977 and proofs that show that they live in the house since 1972, but they didn’t manage to prove, with all the necessary legal evidence, that they were living at the house before 1968, and the court did not accept their status to be of protected tenants. They also claimed that the General Custodian didn’t translate the rent agreements into Arabic and that they were deceived by the representatives of the Custodian, who misinterpreted the agreement and never mentioned that the agreements are at a non-protected status.

On May 2012, the Magistrates Court of Jerusalem rejected the family’s claims and accepted the lawsuit of the General Custodian ordering the family to evict the house by the end of December 2012. Last week, on December 6^th, the District Court rejected the family’s appeal against that ruling, and if the request of the family to appeal to the Supreme Court and to halt the eviction till the appeal is heard would not be accepted, the Shamsane family would have to leave the house by the end of December 2012.

The involvement of the settlers

This is not a regular case between renters and tenants. Surprisingly, the Israeli General Custodian, which is an official governmental body, was not represented in court by the State Attorney office nor by the legal adviser of the custodian office. The lawyers who represented the custodian and led the case were private lawyers that are connected to settlers, who received power of attorney from the custodian office.

Shortly after the court’s ruling, a settlers group twitted: “Good News! On Thursday we won a court case to evict the Shamsane family”. Two days later, according to reports in the media, the head of the settlers group showed up in Sheikh Jarrah in order to hand the family the ruling of the court.

So, if the General Custodian wins a court case against a Palestinian family, why should the settlers claim victory? Or in other words, who is truly behind the fight against the Palestinian family?

According to an Israeli law from 1970, if Jewish owners of properties in East Jerusalem that were under Jordanian control after 1948 request from the Israeli General Custodian their properties, it must release the property to them, and they become the official owners of the property. If the property is occupied by protected tenants, the Jewish owners should continue to rent the property to the tenants and will receive the payments, otherwise, they are free to rent or sell the property to whoever they wish.

According to Adv. Mouhanned Jabara who represents the Shamasne family, the settlers group found the heirs of the original Jews who owned the house before 1948, and made a deal with them. The General Custodian agreed to allow the settlers to represent him in court, in order to evict the Palestinian family, and then, to transfer the ownership of the house to the heirs of the original Jewish owners (who have already made a deal to give the property to the settlers). This way, the Palestinian family would face in court the General Custodian who is an official body representing the public interest, and not just another private owner suing his tenants.

I think that it is a severe case where the authorities are serving the settlers’ interests in order to evict a Palestinian family from its home in East Jerusalem and to give it to settlers. The creation of a settlement at the heart of a Palestinian neighborhood, especially when a Palestinian family is evicted as a result of this, increases the friction and tension in Jerusalem. It additionally creates another obstacle for achieving the Two State Solution that is based on a compromise in Jerusalem.

And finally, if it was right and ethical to return the properties in East Jerusalem to Jews who owned them before 1948, and kick the Palestinians out, then it should equally be right and ethical to return properties in Israel to Palestinians who owned them before 1948. This is a dangerous precedent that would undermine the Israeli rightful claim that the issue of the refugees and pre-1948 claims should be resolved in a compromise and compensation and not by implementation of the right of return kicking Israelis out of their home.

The eviction of the Palestinian family can still be stopped. The General Custodian, who is still the owner of the house, can decide to rent the house to the Shamasne family as protected tenants, and if the original owners request it, they may become the owners and receive the rent from the Shamasne’s. However, it is in the hands of the government to order the Custodian to do so, and within the current political constellation, it likelihood of this to happen seems as far as the moon.

]]> http://settlementwatcheastjerusalem.wordpress.com/2012/12/12/sheikhjarrahhouse/feed/ 0 settlementwatcheastjerusalem Um_Haroun http://settlementwatcheastjerusalem.wordpress.com/2012/12/10/fast-track-plans/ http://settlementwatcheastjerusalem.wordpress.com/2012/12/10/fast-track-plans/#comments Sun, 09 Dec 2012 23:04:43 +0000 settlementwatcheastjerusalem http://settlementwatcheastjerusalem.wordpress.com/?p=970 ]]> Today, 10/12/12, the Jerusalem Regional Committee for Planning and Construction will nominate a representative for a special committee which is called: “a Committee for Completion of Plans”. The committee is comprised of three members: a representative of the Minister of Interior, a representative of the Regional Committee for Planning and a representative of the Local Committee for Planning.  This committee is only established in rare occasions, and it is meant to promote plans that are “stuck” in the pipeline for too long. Specifically the committee that is being nominated today should discuss several of the most politically disputed plans in East Jerusalem, mainly: the Ramat Shlomo plan (for 1,600 units), Givat Hamatos B, C and D, and Hashalom Forest.

A member of the Jerusalem Regional Committee for Planing told me that it is the first time in at least 8 years that a Committee for Completion of Plans is established in the Jerusalem district. It seems to me that there are forces within the Government that are trying to push forward as many plans as possible in East Jerusalem before the election in Israel in order to set as many facts on the ground before any political change takes place, and are using this rare committee in order to do so.

The plans that will move to the authority of the Committee for Completion of Plans (what i call “the fast track committee”) are:

Plan no. 11085 – for 1,600 units in Ramat Shlomo (the famous plan from the Beiden visit)
Plans no. 5834B, 5834C and 5834D – for Givat Hamatos
Plan no. 10188 – for Hashalom forest (where the settlers have a visitors center and makes many controversial touristic activities)
Plan No. 11382 – for 57 units in Gilo
and another two small plans in West Jerusalem.

Last Week, the Ha’aretz newspaper published that the “fast track” committee will convene next week to hear the objections to the plan in Ramat Shlomo and to the Givat Hamatos plan. I don’t know whether there is already a date for the hearings of the other plans. However, it seems that there is a strategic effort by the Netanyahu government to set as many facts on ground as possible (such as the promotion of the E1 plan and the declaration on 3000 tenders) before any change in the political atmosphere takes place. Those facts on the ground might be lethal for the two state solution.

The Agenda for the Planning Committee on 10.12.12 - (in Hebrew)

Two years ago, settlers moved in another house, at the same street, which is being guarded by guards and cameras 24 hours a day.

For me, this new settlement, at the heart of a Palestinian neighborhood is not only a dangerous provocation which is threatening the stability in the fragile situation of Jerusalem, but also a threat to the possibility to get to a two states solution and a compromise in Jerusalem.  It is no accident that the settlers choose to move in now, just after the Government announced 3000 units in settlements. It seems as if the Government has set the norm, and showed that it wishes to establish as many settlements as possible, to prevent the two states solution.

The new house, now settlement, in Jabel Mukaber

The court recently ruled that the apartment belongs to the settlers, who bought it from the Palestinian owner, and today the police ordered the family to move out. The settler moved in, only few minutes after the Palestinian family left.

The settlers, connected to the Elad association, are now controlling the whole building in addition to another apartment in the the house next to it.

The “Beit Hachoshen” settlement in A-Tur. Settlers moved into the first floor

Since almost no Palestinians serve in the Israeli security forces, this decision is clearly intended to prevent from Palestinian families the possibility to buy homes in the new neighborhood, which is located between two Palestinian neighborhoods, Sur Baher and Um Lison.

The plan, number 7977A, is on lands that were confiscated by the Israeli Government back in 1970 as part of the confiscations for the East Talpiyot (AKA Armon Hanatziv) neighborhood. On July 2012, the plan was officially announced valid after the final approval by the regional planning committee.

I think it is a shame that in a city where over 1/3 of the population are Palestinians, the authorities are planning only for Israelis, even near Palestinian areas in East Jerusalem, where such construction is desperately needed. This policy is not only taking us away from the possibility to get to Two States, but is also discriminatory and adds to the instability in Jerusalem.

In the last few days, ads were hung up in Mt. of Olives in East Jerusalem announcing the depositing of plan no. 51870 for the construction of the Israeli Military College. The public is granted 60 days to file any objections or reservations to the plan, after which the Regional Planning Committee can discuss the objections and approve the plan. The planned college would serve as the academy for training senior commanders in the Israeli Military and the Security Forces.

The idea to build the college should not be of any problem, but the location, at one of the most sensitive and disputed areas in Jerusalem,  is a little more than provocative. The plan is to build the Military Academy at the Palestinian neighborhood of A-Suwane, near the Beit Orot Settlement, at the hilltop of Mt. of Olives. The plans call for an 8 story structure, 5 stories of which will be built into the ridge, with 41,480 sq. m. of built up space.

See more at t-j.org.il.

The planed academy – an imaging from the plan documents

I believe that one can’t think of Mount of Olives as real estate. It is important for the three monotheistic religions: the 3,000 years old Jewish cemetery, is on Mt. of Olives, where the resurrection of the dead should begin when the Messiah comes; A thin bridge will connect the Haram A-Sharif and the Mt. of Olives at the end of the days, according to the Islam; and for the Christians, the Mt. of Olives is a site that connected with the life and the death of Christ, where he spent his last days before the crucifixion, and where he ascended.

On top of all this holiness, Mt. of Olives is under dispute between us and the Palestinians, and we will have to solve this dispute only through an agreement. Bringing the Military Academy to this spot is quite insensitive and if I may add, not so smart, of our Government.

There were two plans called Gilo’s Slopes:

• The Southern Slopes of Gilo – Plan no. 13261 – for the construction of 850 units with potential addition of another 300 units. This plan was deposited for public review on May 10th, 2012, and is awaiting discussion of the objections by the district planning committee.
• The Western Slopes of Gilo – Plan no. 13157 – for the construction of 800 units. This plan was deposited for public review already on April 2011 and was approved for validation on 24/6/2012. Today, 18/10/2012, it was published for validation.

The Municipality, together with the National Parks Authority, put a lot of pressure on the Palestinian residents of Silwan by issuing many demolition orders (which usually leads to long legal procedures and hi fines) and by implementing some of the orders.

I’m sure that the Municipality is also taking care of the massive construction done at settlers houses in Wadi Hilweh, not far from the spring (although past experience shows that settlers’ illegal construction is hardly touched), or they probably issued a special permit to do such works.

construction done these days at a settlers’ house at the heart of Silwan

The Hamdallah house and the settlement in Ras El-Amud

The Hamdallah house is a strategic spot for the settlers, it is adjacent to Ma’ale Zeitim A, a settlement of 50 units, that was completed in 2003, and Ma’ale Zeitim B of another 60 units that was completed last year. The third phase of the settlement, Ma’ale Zeitim C, of another 20 units, is planned to replace the Palestinian home. As long as the Hamdallah family stays at home, this plan cannot be implemented.

Tomorrow, The war of attrition against the Hamdallah’s, is about to enter another very hard period for the family. Starting from tomorrow, there are going to be settlers in their house, coming in and out, bringing guards, maybe arranging events or provocations, and the family will need to digest and try to live normal life.

Implementing the “Right of Return” for Jews
The settlers base their claim on the fact the land was owned by Jews before 1948, and now should return to the original Jewish owners. The Palestinian family managed to convince the judge that they have full rights in the house due to the long time that passed since the settlers got the ownership and the date when they first started the eviction procedures in court. However, few years ago, the settlers claimed that one room of the house was built after the limitation time and therefore, should pass to their hands. Two weeks ago the court ruled that the 15 sq.m room and a few meters of the backyard, belongs to the settlers and starting of tomorrow, they are allowed to move in.

To me, it is another example of how the occupation affects our moral judgment and even threatens the very legitimacy of our basic claims. Israel has been rightfully claiming that the solution for the Palestinian refugees issue will not be solved by implementation of the full right of return to the properties they lost in the 1948 war, because this would undermine the right of the Jews for self determination. However, the settlers, with their messianic fight to take over Palestinian properties, are ready to use the “right of return” argument for Jewish properties that were lost during the 1948 war, while prevent such a right from the Palestinians.