Two Jerusalemite experts have warned of Israeli plans to grab more Palestinian real estate in Occupied Jerusalem as part of the Judaization campaign aimed at changing the character and identity of the holy city.
This came in a symposium “on the sale of Palestinian properties to Jewish settlers and groups” held on Saturday by the department of political science at al-Quds University in Jerusalem.
Khalil Tafkaji head of the mapping and geographic information department of the Arab Studies Society stated during the meeting that “the Israeli occupation state is racing against time to seize and buy homes in the Old City and nearby areas” warning that Israeli laws were especially enacted to facilitate land grab and settlement activities in Jerusalem.
He also pointed out that Jewish settler societies persist in getting hold of more Jerusalemite real estate by either claiming these properties belonged once to Jews or citing the so-called third generation law and the absentee property law as pretexts to justify such Judaization practices.
The Palestinian official affirmed that many homes and properties in Jerusalem had been seized by Jewish settlers or groups through direct sale or straw buyers adding that most of the sellers claimed they had sold their real estate to Palestinian citizens or Arab individuals without knowing there were settler societies behind the deals.
For his part Rasem Obeidat a specialist in Jerusalem affairs and political analyst said that the settler societies and those behind them have a comprehensive strategy to control more Palestinian properties and lands in the holy city or what they call the holy basin and its vicinity.
Obeidat warned that these Jewish societies seek to change the Arab identity of Jerusalem its landscape and its demographic reality and to falsify its civilization and history.
He called for necessarily launching a campaign to raise the awareness of Palestinian citizens in Jerusalem about the gravity of selling their homes and properties to suspicious parties.
The specialist also stressed the need to hold all straw buyers accountable for facilitating and brokering deals with settler groups.
