The town of Issawiya located to the east of the occupied city of Jerusalem continues to be subject to a fierce Israeli campaign aimed at breaking the steadfastness of the town’s inhabitants as it has a glorious history of resisting the terror of the occupation and its settlers throughout the history of the occupation of Jerusalem.
The town which is located to the east of the occupied city of Jerusalem and has a population of about 20000 people was attacked by Israeli police forces early Monday (23/10/2017) during which 45 Palestinians were arrested while dozens were served summonses and national slogans written on the walls of the town were erased.
Foundation and origin
The town was founded 900 years ago and some sources attributed its name to Jesus Christ and other sources to King Issa al-Ayyubi.
Its people originate from the Arabian Peninsula Syria and Kurdistan according to historical sources.
The town during the Jerusalem uprising
The town which had a prominent role in the events of the Jerusalem uprising which broke out in early October 2015 is established over an area of about 16000 dunums.
The town has come under repeated Israeli raids over the past two years the duration of the Jerusalem uprising and was subjected to large-scale incursions and harassment including arrests and abuse in addition to imposing a tight siege on the town since 14 October 2015.
As reported in previous PIC coverage of the town’s events its inhabitants suffer most from the Israeli police’s heavy firing of teargas which penetrates houses causing suffocation and breathing problems among the citizens.
Samer Al-Issawi’s hunger strike
In recent years the town of Issawiya has gained a large media coverage following the hunger strike of Samer al-Issawi as the town participated in demonstrations in support of the 270-day hunger strike.
The Israeli reaction to the town’s solidarity campaign was violent and included a large-scale campaign of arrests and incursions. The Israeli forces removed the sit-in tent pitched in the town in solidarity with Issawi more than sixty times.
Carob tree
The town has active civil society institutions such as the Issawiya Community Center Issawiya Youth Forum and the Women’s Center.
The town of Issawiya is famous for its old Carob Tree which overlooks the town from the south and is believed to be up to 700 years old.
Settlements
Since the occupation of eastern Jerusalem in 1967 the Israeli occupation authority expropriated large areas of the town in favor of settlement projects building bypass roads and military bases. The Separation Wall isolated about 7000 dunums of the town’s land and there is an Israeli plan to build a national park on its land which will swallow 450 dunums of the town’s lands.
The implementation of such a plan which was temporarily frozen in October 2013 due to international pressure will lead to the seizure of the only available and remaining available areas for the benefit of the residents of Al-Tur and Al-Issawiya. Hundreds of dunums of Al-Issawiya have been seized to build this park and to build a solid waste dump.
This settlement project aspires to connect the “E1” area and the settlement of Ma’aleh Adumim with Jerusalem. In return Jerusalem will be isolated from the rest of the West Bank and the Palestinian territorial contiguity will be cut off and Issawiya will be cut off from Shu’fat and Enata.
