The Israeli Jerusalem District Court a few days ago approved a deal providing for the sale of three buildings belonging to the Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem to the Jewish Ateret Cohanim organization.
The sale of two of the largest hotels in the Old City of Jerusalem Imperial and Petra hotels as well as a third strategic building will pave the way for the settlement organization to expand its activities posing a great threat to the Christian Quarter in the city.
Seizing property
Petra and Imperial hotels consist of four and two floors respectively while the third building is a house inhabited by a Palestinian family and located in al-Mu’adhamiya street in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City.
Despite the fact that the two hotels’ administrations and the Palestinian family are protected tenants Ateret Cohanim will soon start eviction proceedings against them within a conspiracy in which the Israeli government and Jerusalem municipality are involved.
Head of the Mapping Department at the Arab Studies Society in Occupied Jerusalem Khalil al-Tafakji warned of an Israeli scheme aimed primarily at taking over buildings adjacent to the entrances of the Old City with a focus on churches’ property in the vicinity of al-Aqsa Mosque.
Tafakji told the PIC that Jerusalem churches own nearly 24% of the Old City and said that several settlement associations were able to hold many deals and purchase a number of properties surrounding important sites in Jerusalem especially al-Aqsa Mosque.
He added that the Orthodox Church alone owns 33% of the total Christian endowment in Jerusalem and stressed that selling al-Mu’adhamiya house which is located on a major crossroad linking between al-Asbat gate Hitta gate al-Aqsa Mosque and al-Wad road will be one of the most dangerous deals in the area.
Systematic plan
Tafakji pointed out that most of the Orthodox Church’s property in particular are located in the most important sites of the Muslim Quarter of the Old City.
He said that al-Mu’adhamiya house was set to be sold illegally to Ateret Cohanim in 2004 and the deal was approved last week noting that closing al-Aqsa Mosque for two consecutive days preventing worshipers from entering the Mosque through Hitta gate and attempting to seize its keys fall in line with an Israeli systematic plan targeting the site.
The Palestinian expert explained that the house has been inhabited by a Palestinian family since the West Bank was under the Jordanian rule adding that Ateret Cohanim is known for its involvement in several displacement schemes waged against Jerusalemites.
Settlement expansion
Tafakji said that settlement expansion plans were started in the early 1980s following the “reunification of Jerusalem” resolution to seize houses near Bab al-Sahera and Bab al-Khalil and in al-Wad area under the pretext that they were “absentee property” in preparation for controlling the main entrances and exits of the Old City of Jerusalem.
He continued that the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate allowed many settlement associations to rent properties for long periods of up to 99 years and then it went so far as to officially sell properties and Christian endowments to Jewish groups under the allegation that the Orthodox Patriarchate is suffering from a financial crisis.
Tafakji affirmed that such suspicious deals were not limited to the Old City and West Jerusalem but also included Jaffa Rehavia and Qaysariya and that the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate selfishly does not care about the Palestinian struggle wondering “Where does all the money go?”
