A few meters south of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, the residents of Wadi Hilweh neighborhood in the occupied city of Silwan, Jerusalem, live with determination to preserve and cling to their homes and lands threatened with eviction and confiscation by the Israeli occupation authority (IOA), under the pretext of establishing an “aerial tramway” project.
Recently, the residents were shocked to wake up to scene of the IOA-affiliated Local Committee for Planning and Building hanging large advertisements in the neighborhood, in both Hebrew and Arabic languages, warning of the evacuation of more than 30 Jerusalemite families, under the pretext of “meeting the needs of the public and developing public transportation.”
The advertisements revealed the committee’s intention to obtain full rights to the mentioned Palestinian land and freedom to act on it according to the “Land Law” and the “Planning and Building Law,” adding that the total seized area will be about 8,725 square meters.
This decision comes as part of the aerial tramway project approved by the Israeli occupation government in 2019, and after the Israeli Supreme Court turned down all appeals against the decision in 2022.
With anxiety and tension, the residents of Wadi Hilweh neighborhood await the fate of their homes and lands, living through difficult days and emotions they have not experienced before. The IOA has given them until the end of this month to evacuate, to establish its project on the ruins of Palestinian properties and memories.
The Sanad news agency conveyed this situation through the words of Haj Ziad Abu Sineina, 69 years old, who said: The IOA municipality in Jerusalem had announced the “aerial tramway” project in 2019, and at that time, the residents submitted many appeals against it to the high court. He recounts, “This decision was first published on September 19, and the IOA municipality was supposed to post the advertisements in the neighborhood by October 31, giving us two months from the last day of the eviction warning.”
With a heavy heart, he adds, “The occupation took advantage of the world’s preoccupation with the war on Gaza, and we were shocked on the morning of December 10 by the IOA municipality hanging huge advertisements in the street, warning us of evacuating our homes and giving us until the end of this month. After two-thirds of the period had elapsed!”
He continues, asking, “They demand us to bring ownership papers and negotiate with them… We have not offered our properties for sale, and we do not want to sell anything from our homeland! What are we going to negotiate? Where will we go if we are displaced?”
Resistance against the cancer
Abu Sineina has been living in his house for 49 years; it is the house of a lifetime filled with various details of his life. He grew up, got married, became a father and grandfather, made his most beautiful memories, and is connected to the surroundings of the Prophet’s ascension (Dome of the Rock), only 200 meters away.
With a tone of pain, he says, “I live in my house with my children and grandchildren, and our number is 31 individuals. We will not find a more beautiful place than this… This is our homeland and our hometown. It is difficult for us to leave it and move away from the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.
He goes on to explain that the threatened area with eviction and confiscation is extensive, possessing an important and sensitive location due to its proximity to the walls of Jerusalem, the Moroccan Gate, and the Prophet David Gate. It is an Islamic endowment land, where more than 30 families with their children and grandchildren reside.
He points out with a sigh and sorrow to the difficult living conditions in the city of Jerusalem, under the high taxes imposed by the IOA, and prosecuting those who do not pay of doubling their amount. He mentions that he and his children pay an annual tax ranging from 15 to 20 thousand shekels.
He adds, “This is in addition to the difficulty of obtaining a building permit and its high costs, and the costs of hiring a lawyer and following legal procedures, knowing that the last building permit in Silwan was issued in 1976, 47 years ago.
But these families only know resilience and steadfastness, and Abu Sineina affirms this by saying, “We will not leave our homes except to the grave. We learned the love of our homeland by nature, and we will adhere to our homeland until the last moment.”
After a moment of silence he sighs, then continues, “What is happening is very painful… a great calamity… like a knife piercing the heart… this is a disaster, indeed, a cancer and a grave illness!”
Abu Sineina finally called on the entire world, especially Jerusalemites, and anyone who can help, to act immediately, stand by them, shed light on their cause, and put an end to the IOA violations, its displacement of Palestinian families, and the confiscation of their lands.
Judaization and land confiscation
The aerial tramway project devours the lands of Silwan to connect the Mount of Olives to the Western Wall, within the natural basin of Jerusalem’s Old City called by the occupation the “Sacred Basin,” to reinforce the idea of “annexing Jerusalem and unifying it, and cutting off any Palestinian connection to it.”
The IOA promotes the project under the guise of “tourism and facilitating transportation,” but its real goal is to serve the settlement presence in the city of Jerusalem in general and in the Old City and Wadi Hilweh neighborhood in particular, facilitating Jewish settlers’ access and incursions into the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque in large numbers.
The project also aims to change the identity of the city of Jerusalem and enhance the “Israeli” narrative by creating facts on the ground that support that narrative. It changes the landmarks of the Old City and its history, the general view in the region, and will lead to the confiscation of lands owned by residents and the demolition of their homes, in addition to infringing on the privacy of the residents as trains pass overhead.
The project will also have bad effects on the commercial movement in the Old City and the Bab Al-Amoud area, the main commercial entrance, by connecting those coming to the city to the train line and the Moroccan Gate.
