Abbas: Israel wants to expel Palestinians from Jerusalem

“There is no Palestine without Jerusalem no one will accept this. Without Jerusalem there will be no peace,” [Abbas] said. Read more »

21 Israeli left-wing activists arrested in violent East Jerusalem clashes

The demonstrators were protesting the eviction of Palestinian families from their homes. The protesters on Friday marched from the city center to Sheikh Jarrah, where they tried to enter a home that is partly occupied by Jews before being stopped by police. Read more »

Netanyahu making final push to foil Swedish plan to divide Jerusalem

Sweden’s initiative calls for the division of Jerusalem and the recognition of East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. The 27 European foreign ministers are to discuss a draft of the proposal, which is expected to be published on Tuesday. The draft proposal also reportedly hints that the European Union would recognize a unilateral Palestinian declaration of independence. Read more »

Help save the Palestinian village of Lifta from total destruction

Lifta, a most picturesque Palestinian village, lies on the slopes of West Jerusalem below the highway linking it to Tel-Aviv. It has been abandoned since the invading Hagana underground forces backed by the Stern Gang drove the last of its Palestinian inhabitants in 1948 during the ethnic cleansing of Palestine… Now the Jerusalem Municipality has produced plans to turn Lifta into a luxurious and exclusive Jewish development – reinventing its history in the process.

IOA Editor: The Nakba continues: the few recognizable bits of pre-1948 Palestine will be joining their post-1967 counterparts: master-planned for extinction. Read more »

Orly Noy: New Construction in East Jerusalem – What It Really Means

If realized, these plans would connect Israeli Jerusalem to the Gush Etzion settlements. At the same time, the swath of Israeli neighborhoods on the South East would join the neighborhoods that close on Jerusalem from the North and North East, thus cutting a major territorial bridge between the future Palestinian state and East Jerusalem. Read more »

EU envoys: Israel trying to sever East Jerusalem from West Bank

A classified report drafted by European consuls in East Jerusalem and Ramallah slams Israeli policy in East Jerusalem and recommends that the European Union take steps to strengthen the Palestinian Authority’s status in the city. It also advises taking various measures to protest Israeli policy in the city, as well as sanctions against people and groups involved in “settlement activity” in and around it.

IOA Editor: None of this is new, and much of it has been reported on the pages of the IOA before (search “Jerusalem” to find previous coverage). The EU has been issuing these reports annually, but keeping them secret. This year, perhaps in light of Israel’s campaign of death and destruction in Gaza, certain elements within the EU might be willing to challenge Israel on its carefully planned and calculated colonial program in the Occupied Territories. A welcome change, if it were to happen.

See also:
EU foreign ministers likely to call for division of Jerusalem

Israel stripped thousands of Jerusalem Arabs of residency in 2008
UN’s Middle East envoy urges halt to demolitions, evictions in East Jerusalem Read more »

Israel stripped thousands of Jerusalem Arabs of residency in 2008

[A]n all-time record for the number of Arab residents of East Jerusalem who were stripped of residency rights by the [Israeli] Interior Ministry. Altogether, the ministry revoked the residency of 4,577 East Jerusalemites in 2008 – 21 times the average of the previous 40 years… The [effort] was the brainchild of former interior minister Meir Sheetrit (Kadima) and [the head of] the ministry’s Population Administration.

IOA Editor: Depopulating the Palestinians, or ethnic cleansing, is not new for Israel. In addition to the forcible removal of Palestinians during the Nakba, the Israeli government has used a variety of tricks to “redeem” the Land of Israel from its native Arab population. The removal of East Jerusalem Palestinian residents is somewhat similar to a government practice of the early 1950s, targeting the so-called “absent present” residents: those who temporarily left their homes or land during the war, but remained within what later become Israel. They were prevented from reclaiming their property and Israel was thus able to confiscate it for the exclusive use of its Jewish citizens. Read more »

EU foreign ministers likely to call for division of Jerusalem

The draft refers directly to the situation in East Jerusalem, calling on “all parties to refrain from provocative actions” and stating the EU Council “has never recognized the annexation of East Jerusalem. If there is to be a genuine peace, a way must be found to resolve the status of Jerusalem as capital of two states… On the issue of borders, the document states that the EU will not accept any changes made by Israel to the 1967 borders unless they have PA approval.

IOA Editor: Palestinian Authority forces should immediately pull their troops and armored vehicles out of West Jerusalem so as not to unnecessarily provoke its Jewish residents; they should also cease house demolitions which further victimize Jewish folk, inflicting homelessness and disease, especially now that the cold Jerusalem winter is only days away…

Despite the asymmetry between occupier and occupied, which is not properly reflected in this news story, the draft document, as reported, could form a good basis for future decisions by the EU – decisions that are long overdue. Read more »

UN’s Middle East envoy urges halt to demolitions, evictions in East Jerusalem

The top United Nations envoy to the Middle East today reiterated Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s call for an immediate end to demolitions, evictions and the instalment of Israeli settlers in Palestinian neighbourhoods. Read more »

Akiva Eldar: Jerusalem Syndrome

First we shape a new reality for ourselves; then we expect the entire world to adopt it, demand that our neighbors pay the cost, and complain that we have no partner for peace. Read more »