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Jerusalem: erasure of the Palestinian presence

When Palestinians decided to stay in East Jerusalem rather than flee in 1967, what began was a long war of restrictions, obstructions, seizures and oppression. HUGH HUMPHRIES reports

BY MAY 1949 the nascent state of Israel had ignored both the UN Partition Resolution which gave Jerusalem separate international status from the rest of Palestine and the conditions under which Israel was accorded membership of the UN. It did this by the simple expedient of imposing its sovereignty over West Jerusalem.

At this point it was estimated that, with the owners now refugees escaping the horrors of war, Israel occupied some 10,000 Palestinian homes, mostly fully furnished, in West Jerusalem.

Eighteen years later in June 1967, following the so-called “Six Day War,” the eastern part of the city, East Jerusalem, which includes the Old City, was illegally annexed to Israel by the conquerors. This time there was one significant difference — the Palestinian residents chose to stay rather than flee their homes.

Their fate was, and is, to face a long drawn out struggle against removal from their land, the denial and removal of their heritage and culture. In other words, the complete obliteration of Jerusalem’s Palestinian heritage.

For the Palestinian people, to exist is to resist. Their very presence on their own land is anathema to Israel. Illegally occupied East Jerusalem, itself part of the West Bank and the capital of any future Palestinian state, combines culture, heritage and history with living reality. So on July 22 when Israel’s “security” forces arrested three Palestinian cultural leaders in East Jerusalem, there was widespread scepticism at the charges.

Rania Elias, director of the Yabous Cultural Centre and husband Suhail Khoury, director of the Edward Said National Conservatory for Music were arrested along with Dawoud al-Ghoul, head of the Jerusalem Arts Network on familiar accusations variously reported as money-laundering, tax evasion, fraud and, inevitably, funding terrorism.

The crackdown on Palestinian civil society and institutions in the city takes many forms — from arresting or detaining without charge those targeted because they hold positions of authority, to the demolition or closure of homes and institutions.

Israel denies Palestinian planning applications throughout most of the West Bank. So, in August alone, 51 structures in East Jerusalem were demolished using the pretext of “no permission.” Often the owners will demolish their own homes to avoid the occupation authorities levying a charge.

Last week, on September 15, the al-Qa’qa Mosque in the Silwan neighbourhood of the Old City received, for the second time in five years, an order for its demolition. It is simply a matter of time, while you wait until the threat becomes reality. Psychological terror comes to mind.

In recent years Silwan has been the focus of settler activity with residents and their homes attracting the attention of the well-funded Elad settler organisation.

Over and above the acquisition of Palestinian homes in Silwan the Elad Association co-operates with local archaeologists and public bodies to create tourist attractions such as the City of David. Once entrenched, these outposts of the Israeli state are seed corn for further attacks on the Palestinian presence in the city.

An Elad speciality is financing the construction of tunnels in East Jerusalem, ostensibly to find evidence of Jewish habitation in ancient times. Silwan, in particular, finds itself targeted. Residents hear the underground excavations and find their homes undermined, walls starting to tilt or holes appearing in the roadway. And, of course, once completed and having changed reality on (and under) the ground, these tunnels are the next tourist attraction and permanent Israeli fixture.

The Oslo Accords of 1993 were an agreement which created Palestinian interim self-government and the Palestinian Authority (PA). The latter was supposed to have responsibility for administering the territory over which Israel allowed it to have control.

Despite East Jerusalem being part of the West Bank, this was one Palestinian population centre over which Israel has consistently denied the PA any authority — to the extent that inhumanity and absurdity are to be found hand in hand.

This was the state of affairs when, on the evening of April 15, Israeli soldiers closed down a Covid-19 testing centre in Silwan. The pretext? Apparently, with the Israeli administration of East Jerusalem failing to give any support and with the overcrowded area already home to 40 cases of Covid-19, the PA supplied testing kits to this makeshift clinic.

At the political level, the restrictions placed on the PA are similarly dire. In his two years since being appointed governor of occupied East Jerusalem by the PA, Adnan Ghaith has been arrested 18 times and received dozens of summonses.

However, following a four-hour interrogation session by Israeli intelligence on August 25, unprecedented movement restrictions were imposed on Ghaith. These included a military order preventing him from travelling about the West Bank and a ban on communicating with a number of national figures and leaders. Also forbidden was involvement in social events and humanitarian initiatives. Within the boundary of Jerusalem he was prevented from entering specific neighbourhoods, towns and villages.

With Ghaith being a prominent political activist and having a reputation, since entering office, for pursuing those selling Palestinian real estate and property in Jerusalem to settlement associations, perhaps all this should not come as a surprise.

However when viewed in the light, one year earlier, of Israel banning Palestinian organisations and the PA from holding any cultural or political activities in Jerusalem, considering these as acts of terrorism and of infringement upon Israeli sovereignty, this is the most blatant attempt by the occupation authorities to enforce its control over East Jerusalem while severely diminishing Palestinian representation and the official presence of the PA in the city.

Hugh Humphries is secretary of Scottish Friends of Palestine.

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