OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)
The repetitive incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque by the temple groups and Jewish extremists are not the only Judaization method pursued against occupied Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Indeed, the Israeli occupying state is seeking to strangle Al-Aqsa Mosque through an “ethnic cleansing process targeting entire neighborhoods in the holy city”.
The Al-Bustan neighborhood, whose residents have been threatened with forced displacement, had the lion’s share of Israeli demolition crimes, in its capacity as the first defense line for the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Israeli forces carried out 37 demolition operations in Jerusalem Governorate during the past month, including 10 forced self-demolitions, while in the town of Silwan alone, 14 facilities were demolished.
Strangling the Al-Aqsa Mosque
In this context, the member of the Defense Committee for the Lands of Silwan, Fakhri Abu Diab, warned of the Israeli plan to demolish the Al-Bustan neighborhood and displace its residents for the interest of the settlement expansion project, in order to strangle the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.
He stressed that Israel is determined to carry out ethnic cleansing of entire neighborhoods in the holy city.
“If Israeli occupation forces demolished the Al-Bustan neighborhood, it would lead (in the near future) to erasing entire Jerusalemite neighborhoods,” he said.
Abu Diab cited, in press statements, Israeli attempts to demolish the homes and displace the residents of Al-Bustan, especially after the municipality had carried out, during the past days, demolitions in the neighborhood, and handed other demolition orders to about five Jerusalemite families.
He stressed that the Israeli occupation institutions and their Judaization arms plan, with the support of settlement societies, to resolve the issue of Jerusalem and displace its people for the interest of settlers.
He further explained that the vicinity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque is the main focus of the Israeli targeting, because the town of Silwan is considered the first defense line for the blessed Mosque and its protective shield.
For that reason, the Israeli occupation forces are targeting the south of Al-Aqsa Mosque by several means including home demolition under the pretext of unlicensed construction, despite the fact that those houses were built before the establishment of the Israeli occupation state in addition to the displacement of Jerusalemites, the establishment of parks, Talmudic paths and biblical museums.
Abu Diab elaborated that the Al-Bustan neighborhood is only 300 meters far away from the Al-Aqsa Mosque, adding that the Israeli occupation authorities seek to establish the so-called “biblical garden” in its place.
Warning against demolitions in other neighborhoods
For his part, Abdul Karim Abu Esnina, a member of the Al-Bustan neighborhood committee, warned of extending the danger of demolition and displacement from the Al-Bustan neighborhood to other Jerusalemite neighborhoods.
Abu Esnina called, in press statements, for a serious and decisive stance that would push the Jerusalemites to unite in the face of the Israeli threats.
He stressed that the Al-Bustan neighborhood has been subjected to a fierce Israeli campaign since last week, with six homes in addition to a tent have been knocked down in one day.
He pointed out that the neighborhood has been steadfast since September 2002, after Sharon’s decision which stipulated freezing the demolition decision.
He called on the youth and university students in the Arab and Islamic countries to move to protect Jerusalem, Al-Bustan neighborhood and Silwan town.
Settlement neighborhoods and Talmudic gardens
As for settlement plans, the local committee for planning and construction in the Jerusalem municipality endorsed a plan to build new housing units in the Jabal Abu Ghoneim settlement, south of Jerusalem, on an area of 15 dunums (the dunum equals a thousand square meters).
It also approved the construction of 292 other housing units on the lands of Al-Qatmoun neighborhood, west of Jerusalem, whose people were displaced in 1948.
Furthermore, the municipality proposed a plan to establish a settlement neighborhood on the lands of the town and the refugee camp of Qalandia, north of the city, which includes around 7,000-9,000 housing units.
Since the beginning of the year, the Israeli occupation forces have demolished 15 homes in Al-Bustan, and displaced about 50 Jerusalemites, while 116 homes are threatened with demolition in the neighborhood.
In Silwan, 87 residential and commercial establishments have been demolished since the beginning of the year, while in Jerusalem, 380 structures were knocked down.
The Al-Bustan neighborhood extends over an area of 70 dunums, which Israel claims to represent a “historic civilized legacy for the Jewish people”, to justify judaizing it and converting it into “King David Park”.
Early March, the UN Office for Human Rights called on Israel to immediately stop home demolition and forced displacement of 1,550 Palestinians residing in the Al-Bustan neighborhood in Silwan, in occupied East Jerusalem.
The Israeli authorities threatened to destroy the neighborhood, in violation of international humanitarian law, with the aim of establishing a garden next to an illegal Israeli settlement in the heart of the city, the UN Office said.
