“This is the most dangerous decision taken by the Israeli occupation authorities against Al-Khalil since 1967. We will not recognize this decision and we will face it internationally and at the United Nations” said Taysir Abu Snina the mayor of Al-Khalil commenting on the decision of the Israeli occupation authorities to allow settlers in the heart of Al-Khalil to form a municipal council to manage their affairs after these powers were in the hands of the Al-Khalil municipality only.
“The city of Al-Khalil will remain united despite all the unjust racist decisions” he said in an exclusive interview with the Palestinian Information Center. “Al-Khalil is an Arab Islamic city that can not be Judaized and the decision by the Israeli war minister to allow the settlers to form a municipal council is wrong and dangerous and we will never accept it. We will confront this decision at all relevant forums especially the UN which stated that Al-Khalil is a world heritage city. It is an Islamic and Arab city. This means that the United Nations and the world governments should protect the Palestinian people their heritage and their holy places because they are part of the world’s heritage.”
Legalizing settlements
The decision to form a municipal or administrative council for settlers in the heart of Al-Khalil will consolidate and legitimize the existence of Jewish-only settlements in Al-Khalil and will have serious repercussions for some 40000 Palestinians who live in the Old City of Al-Khalil and in the southern region of the West Bank.
This racist decision will provide services to neighborhoods located inside an area which includes 21 Israeli military checkpoints. The services provided by the new council will include Israeli settlers and Palestinians. The number of Palestinians in this area is about 40000 according to the reports published by the Al-Khalil governorate. At the same time some 450 armed settlers 200 religious Jewish settlers and 150 students and schoolchildren live there. The danger of the decision according to many politicians is that it includes the Palestinians there as well.
Violating agreements
Dr. Khaled Fahad Al-Qawasmi a member of the Al-Khalil Municipal Council and the former Minister of Local Government noted that this Israeli decision is a blow to the Al-Khalil agreement signed in 1997 which gives full administrative control for the Palestinians in the city of Al-Khalil and grants absolute powers to the Al-Khalil Municipality which also covers Israeli settlements.
Qawasmi told the PIC reporter that this decision is very dangerous and annuls the agreements stipulated in the Hebron Protocol which refer to three areas:
H1: Security and administration are assigned to the Palestinians.
H2: Joint Palestinian-Israeli security control and administrative Palestinian control.
C: The administrative issues are assigned to the Palestinians while security issues are assigned to Israel.
International forces should monitor this agreement and they should be under Palestinian control and their headquarters should be in areas controlled by the Palestinian security.
Extending influence of settlers
For his part Abduhadi Hantash a specialist in settlement affairs said that many risks are involved in this decision. The most important of which is that the new settlers’ council will extend its influence over the southern area known as Area C including granting construction permits and providing Palestinians with water and electricity. He noted that the records of land in the southern region and the old town would become in the hands of Israeli settlers.
He told the PIC reporter: “The signs of settler hegemony in many Palestinian areas inside the Old City have been seen by changing the names of streets from Arabic to Hebrew and changing the signs on the entrances of streets and neighborhoods.”
Hisham Sharbatati a settlement researcher warned of the dangers of the municipal council project in the heart of Al-Khalil: “What the settlers are seeking after this unjust decision is that their municipality has the power to own or confiscate real estate under the pretext of providing public services in addition to imposing high taxes and issuing demolition notices to buildings that are built without permits”.
Al-Sharbati told the PIC reporter: “According to this decision several areas will be under the control of the settlers: Al-Sahla Al-Haram the old town with its internal lanes Al-Shuhada Street Tel Rumeida Al-Karantina Qubba Jabir Wadi al-Nasara Wadi al-Husayn al-Qasara Jabal Jouhar Bab al-Zawiyah the Beersheba street area the Sultan’s Pool the Ibrahimi School and many others.”
Factions warn
The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas condemned the decision. Its spokesman Abdullatif Al-Qanoua said in a press statement that granting the settlers the right to form a council to manage their affairs and provide municipal services in the city of Al-Khalil is a dangerous decision and crosses all red lines.
Al-Qanoua called on the international community and the UN institutions to bear their responsibilities and to abandon silence and pressure the occupation to stop its crimes and violations. He called on the Palestinian people to confront the occupation’s plans and its decisions with all possible means.
Fatah the Palestinian Initiative and other Palestinian factions also condemned the Israeli government’s decision to grant settlers the right to run their affairs in Al-Khalil as unprecedented and dangerous and a blow to the signed agreements.
