Hebrew media sources unveiled on Friday an Israeli scheme to establish a new settlement outpost in the site of Jerusalem airport on the lands of Qalandia village to the north of occupied Jerusalem. The construction will start by building 8 thousand settlement units.
According to the Hebrew newspaper Haaretz Nir Barkat mayor of Jerusalem instructed the planning crews in Jerusalem Municipality to submit a comprehensive plan to establish the new settlement next to an industrial area called “Atarot”.
As directed by Barkat the plan will include the construction of 8 thousand settlement units allocated to Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jewish groups in addition to an industrial and commercial area opposite to the Jewish neighborhood which will occupy a large area of the airport’s site.
The target site of this settlement project is located near Qalandia village in occupied Jerusalem which witnessed large-scale demolitions of Palestinian citizens’ houses in July 2016.
Jerusalem Municipality said that directives were given to the Ministry of Interior to transfer 200 dunums classified as industrial area to residential area. The municipality also issued instructions to draw a plan for the establishment of an industrial and commercial area opposite to the new settlement neighborhood to provide job opportunities for its inhabitants in the future.
Khalil al-Tafakji Director at the Mapping and GIS Department of the Arab Studies Society in Jerusalem said that this project was announced few years ago within the project 2020 for the construction of 58 thousand settlement units.
Al-Tafakji explained in an exclusive statement to the PIC that the project aims to expand the industrial area “Atarot” in Jerusalem Airport and separate the entire city of Jerusalem from Qalandia refugee camp and Ramallah city from Kafr Aqab neighborhood.
He cautioned that the main goal of this settlement scheme is to completely eliminate Jerusalem Airport by building around and on parts of it and engorge large areas north of the holy city and isolate them with large settlement blocs in the next 5 years to build 8 thousand settlement units which will be expanded later by building 3 thousand other units.
The Palestinian Authority was supposed to receive control of Jerusalem Airport (Qalandia) according to the Oslo Agreement but Israel refrained.
Al-Tafakji said that the settlement to be established on the site of Qalandia (Jerusalem) Airport is planned to be linked with Kokhav Ya’akov settlement to the east of Qalandia refugee camp through a tunnel stretching under Qalandia military checkpoint to shorten the distance for the settlers coming from settlements east of Ramallah and connect the bypass streets there with Tel Aviv road without having to enter Jerusalem.
He pointed out that this scheme is huge and dangerous and will lead to the establishment of a large settlement bloc similar to Gush Etzion and Ma’ale Adumim east of Jerusalem.
The Palestinian expert said that the scheme also aims to revitalize the industrial area Atarot after its factories were closed and most of them were moved to the 1948 occupied Palestinian territories during the Intifada by providing facilities and cooperating with senior Israeli investors including Rami Levy who intends to build a massive mall to the southeast of Atarot.
He noted that Atarot and Kokhav Ya’akov which currently witness expansionist activities constitute the northern borders of the so called “Greater Jerusalem” from the Israeli perspective. The new schemes also include Migron settlement where 100 additional settlement units will be constructed he added.
