31 jan 2014
Founder of the temple institute and rabbi Yisrael Ariel have called upon MKs and Israeli police to organize systematic and weekly break-ins at the Aqsa Mosque compound, especially the Dome of the Rock Mosque.
Ariel confirmed that these break-ins aim to check on what he labeled as acts of sabotage (restoration works) being made by the Islamic Waqf authority at the Dome of the Rock Mosque.
He also called on Jews to carry out similar break-ins on a daily basis into the Dome of the in order to impose Israel's sovereignty over the Dome of the Rock.
Ariel's calls came in support of Rabbi Moshe Tzuriel's statement in which he called for breaking into the Dome of the Rock and to expel Muslims from the holy site, according to his claims.
For their part, temple mount groups have supported Ariel's statement and called to intensify Jewish break-ins into the Dome of the Rock in coordination with Ariel or other senior rabbis.
In a related context, temple groups have organized a march on Thursday evening known as "the March of Doors" in order to celebrate March month in the Hebrew Year which is linked to their alleged Temple.
The march started from Buraq Square along with Al-Aqsa Mosque gates amid Talmudic chants and slogans calling for accelerating the building of the alleged temple on the ruins of the Aqsa Mosque.
Ariel confirmed that these break-ins aim to check on what he labeled as acts of sabotage (restoration works) being made by the Islamic Waqf authority at the Dome of the Rock Mosque.
He also called on Jews to carry out similar break-ins on a daily basis into the Dome of the in order to impose Israel's sovereignty over the Dome of the Rock.
Ariel's calls came in support of Rabbi Moshe Tzuriel's statement in which he called for breaking into the Dome of the Rock and to expel Muslims from the holy site, according to his claims.
For their part, temple mount groups have supported Ariel's statement and called to intensify Jewish break-ins into the Dome of the Rock in coordination with Ariel or other senior rabbis.
In a related context, temple groups have organized a march on Thursday evening known as "the March of Doors" in order to celebrate March month in the Hebrew Year which is linked to their alleged Temple.
The march started from Buraq Square along with Al-Aqsa Mosque gates amid Talmudic chants and slogans calling for accelerating the building of the alleged temple on the ruins of the Aqsa Mosque.
The threatened demolition of apartment blocks in East Jerusalem is adding new pressure to the city's housing crisis, with hundreds facing the prospect of losing their homes and Palestinian residents saying they face discrimination in city planning.
Since the start of construction of the separation barrier a decade ago, poorer Palestinian East Jerusalemites have often chosen to move to the West Bank side of the wall.
In late 2013, Israeli authorities issued court orders announcing that a number of buildings in Ras Shehada and Ras Khamis -- Palestinian neighborhoods inside Jerusalem's municipal boundary but cut off by the separation barrier -- are slated for demolition because they were built without permits.
"With everything that's going on here, I'm trying to sell the house," said Shadi, 26, who owns an apartment in Ras Khamis threatened with demolition. "If someone comes now with, say, 150,000 NIS ($43,000) cash, I'm out of here."
Economic pressure
Because many Palestinian East Jerusalemites prefer to live on the Israeli side of the wall -- mostly for access to education, healthcare and jobs -- demand for housing there is high. But severe building restrictions on Palestinian neighborhoods inside the wall, imposed by the Jerusalem municipality, have created a housing shortage, causing prices to skyrocket in East Jerusalem.
For a long time, the Israeli authorities turned a blind eye to building in the neighborhoods of East Jerusalem that lie beyond the separation barrier. These areas are unplanned and suffer from a lack of infrastructure, lack of services, inadequate garbage collection, and water and electricity shortages.
But they have one major advantage that attracts residents: homes are cheaper than those on the Israeli side of the wall. And because they are still within the city's border, these Jerusalem residents can also hold on to their Israeli IDs, without which they would be stateless.
Shadi explains that while homes cost about 500,000 to 600,000 NIS ($143,000 to 172,000) in Shuafat and Beit Hanina, two of the most desirable neighborhoods of East Jerusalem on the western side of the barrier, his apartment in Ras Khamis cost only 120,000 NIS ($34,000).
Towers of inexpensive apartments have mushroomed in all of the Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhoods outside of the wall.
"Here, you'll pay 50,000 (NIS) cash and then 2,000 (NIS) each month for four years, not like there (on the Israeli side of the wall), where someone might pay 6,000, 7,000 (NIS) a month (rent)." Shadi, who is currently unemployed, says that when he is working he brings home about 5,000 NIS a month, just over Israel's minimum wage.
Planning policies
A local activist said as many as 15,000 people could lose their homes if Israel follows through with its planned demolitions in Ras Khamis and Ras Shehada. Most NGOs put the number much lower; Sari Kronish of the Israeli NGO Bimkom-Planners for Planning Rights estimates that anywhere from hundreds to 1,500 face displacement.
However, Kronish says, "There are many more units without permits than (those that) received demolition orders so far," making it difficult to know how many could eventually be effected.
The demolition orders -- as well as the policies that prevent Palestinians from obtaining permits in the first place -- stem from Israeli attempts to maintain particular demographics in Jerusalem, say activists. Kronish says that after Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967, it redrew the municipal boundaries.
The guiding principle of the new borders, she says, was "to add as much land and as few (Palestinians)"; leaving the new ratio of Jewish Israelis to Palestinians in Jerusalem at 70:30.
"Ever since then, the various governments of Israel have made decisions that planning needs to maintain that balance," said Kronish. That translates into policies that encourage the expansion of Jewish neighborhoods but stunt growth in Palestinian areas.
Kronish explains, "It's like passive displacement. The Palestinian neighborhoods have never been planned adequately. Some of them have been planned, but it's restrictive planning." For example, Israeli plans for Palestinian neighborhoods often designate for housing land that already has homes and other buildings.
Kronish adds that, paradoxically, "sometimes even existing homes are left outside the plan for designation for housing."
Israeli plans often emphasize green spaces in Palestinian areas, regardless of residents' needs or how they are using the land.
The Israelis also treat the Palestinian neighborhoods as "rural" although the areas are increasingly urban. Building rights for rural areas are limited and include restrictions on both the width and height of structures. Plans for these areas do not keep pace with Palestinian population growth.
Combined, these policies keep the number of building permits very low for Palestinian neighborhoods. The few who do manage to obtain permission to build find enormous taxes and municipal fees associated with those permits -- expenses that are far beyond what most East Jerusalemites can afford -- contributing to the steady stream of people to the areas outside the wall.
The Jerusalem municipality told IRIN that Palestinian areas of the city had historically been neglected, but said that it had invested 3 million NIS in the re-zoning of East Jerusalem neighborhoods in 2011 alone.
"Under Mayor Nir Barkat, the Municipality of Jerusalem has focused considerable effort in upgrading the quality of life for the city's Arab residents. Mayor Barkat's objective is to close the gap that has deepened due to the decades of neglect in parts of the city," a spokesperson said in a written statement.
Although Israeli policies are pushing Palestinians to the West Bank side of the separation barrier, the movement does not change the overall demographic balance of the city. But some residents of Ras Khamis believe that the areas of Jerusalem that lie beyond the wall will eventually be handed over to the Palestinian Authority.
Security concerns
Jerusalem's housing crisis and Israeli threats to demolish buildings in Ras Khamis are "politics", according to Riad Julani, 40, another resident facing the prospect of demolition.
"(The Israelis) have turned this place into a jungle. There is no security here," said Julani. He and other residents say that drug dealing and use is rampant in the neighborhood and that the Israeli authorities choose not to intervene.
"We have kids here, 14, 15, using drugs, and it's really right in front of the police. We could do an experiment. We could put something that looks like drugs in bags and go to (the Shuafat) checkpoint, and you could take money out in front of the soldiers, and will they come to me or you? No. They don't care. They don't care about Arabs."
Residents also report that houses and business are frequently robbed but say that the Israeli police do not come to help.
Saed Abu Asab, 58, lives in the same building as Julani. He says he prefers Ras Khamis to the apartment that he used to rent in Jerusalem's Old City, where he, his wife and their five children crowded into one room.
"It would be like, 'Do me a favor, I want to come in, move a little, I have to go to the bathroom,'" he recalls. Reflecting on his current situation, he adds, "Now, (the Israelis) are talking about making a demolition here, but why do they let (Jewish Israelis) build in Pisgaat Zeev (an Israeli settlement) and not (us) here?"
Still, even under the looming threat of demolition, the housing boom outside the separation barrier continues.
Since the start of construction of the separation barrier a decade ago, poorer Palestinian East Jerusalemites have often chosen to move to the West Bank side of the wall.
In late 2013, Israeli authorities issued court orders announcing that a number of buildings in Ras Shehada and Ras Khamis -- Palestinian neighborhoods inside Jerusalem's municipal boundary but cut off by the separation barrier -- are slated for demolition because they were built without permits.
"With everything that's going on here, I'm trying to sell the house," said Shadi, 26, who owns an apartment in Ras Khamis threatened with demolition. "If someone comes now with, say, 150,000 NIS ($43,000) cash, I'm out of here."
Economic pressure
Because many Palestinian East Jerusalemites prefer to live on the Israeli side of the wall -- mostly for access to education, healthcare and jobs -- demand for housing there is high. But severe building restrictions on Palestinian neighborhoods inside the wall, imposed by the Jerusalem municipality, have created a housing shortage, causing prices to skyrocket in East Jerusalem.
For a long time, the Israeli authorities turned a blind eye to building in the neighborhoods of East Jerusalem that lie beyond the separation barrier. These areas are unplanned and suffer from a lack of infrastructure, lack of services, inadequate garbage collection, and water and electricity shortages.
But they have one major advantage that attracts residents: homes are cheaper than those on the Israeli side of the wall. And because they are still within the city's border, these Jerusalem residents can also hold on to their Israeli IDs, without which they would be stateless.
Shadi explains that while homes cost about 500,000 to 600,000 NIS ($143,000 to 172,000) in Shuafat and Beit Hanina, two of the most desirable neighborhoods of East Jerusalem on the western side of the barrier, his apartment in Ras Khamis cost only 120,000 NIS ($34,000).
Towers of inexpensive apartments have mushroomed in all of the Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhoods outside of the wall.
"Here, you'll pay 50,000 (NIS) cash and then 2,000 (NIS) each month for four years, not like there (on the Israeli side of the wall), where someone might pay 6,000, 7,000 (NIS) a month (rent)." Shadi, who is currently unemployed, says that when he is working he brings home about 5,000 NIS a month, just over Israel's minimum wage.
Planning policies
A local activist said as many as 15,000 people could lose their homes if Israel follows through with its planned demolitions in Ras Khamis and Ras Shehada. Most NGOs put the number much lower; Sari Kronish of the Israeli NGO Bimkom-Planners for Planning Rights estimates that anywhere from hundreds to 1,500 face displacement.
However, Kronish says, "There are many more units without permits than (those that) received demolition orders so far," making it difficult to know how many could eventually be effected.
The demolition orders -- as well as the policies that prevent Palestinians from obtaining permits in the first place -- stem from Israeli attempts to maintain particular demographics in Jerusalem, say activists. Kronish says that after Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967, it redrew the municipal boundaries.
The guiding principle of the new borders, she says, was "to add as much land and as few (Palestinians)"; leaving the new ratio of Jewish Israelis to Palestinians in Jerusalem at 70:30.
"Ever since then, the various governments of Israel have made decisions that planning needs to maintain that balance," said Kronish. That translates into policies that encourage the expansion of Jewish neighborhoods but stunt growth in Palestinian areas.
Kronish explains, "It's like passive displacement. The Palestinian neighborhoods have never been planned adequately. Some of them have been planned, but it's restrictive planning." For example, Israeli plans for Palestinian neighborhoods often designate for housing land that already has homes and other buildings.
Kronish adds that, paradoxically, "sometimes even existing homes are left outside the plan for designation for housing."
Israeli plans often emphasize green spaces in Palestinian areas, regardless of residents' needs or how they are using the land.
The Israelis also treat the Palestinian neighborhoods as "rural" although the areas are increasingly urban. Building rights for rural areas are limited and include restrictions on both the width and height of structures. Plans for these areas do not keep pace with Palestinian population growth.
Combined, these policies keep the number of building permits very low for Palestinian neighborhoods. The few who do manage to obtain permission to build find enormous taxes and municipal fees associated with those permits -- expenses that are far beyond what most East Jerusalemites can afford -- contributing to the steady stream of people to the areas outside the wall.
The Jerusalem municipality told IRIN that Palestinian areas of the city had historically been neglected, but said that it had invested 3 million NIS in the re-zoning of East Jerusalem neighborhoods in 2011 alone.
"Under Mayor Nir Barkat, the Municipality of Jerusalem has focused considerable effort in upgrading the quality of life for the city's Arab residents. Mayor Barkat's objective is to close the gap that has deepened due to the decades of neglect in parts of the city," a spokesperson said in a written statement.
Although Israeli policies are pushing Palestinians to the West Bank side of the separation barrier, the movement does not change the overall demographic balance of the city. But some residents of Ras Khamis believe that the areas of Jerusalem that lie beyond the wall will eventually be handed over to the Palestinian Authority.
Security concerns
Jerusalem's housing crisis and Israeli threats to demolish buildings in Ras Khamis are "politics", according to Riad Julani, 40, another resident facing the prospect of demolition.
"(The Israelis) have turned this place into a jungle. There is no security here," said Julani. He and other residents say that drug dealing and use is rampant in the neighborhood and that the Israeli authorities choose not to intervene.
"We have kids here, 14, 15, using drugs, and it's really right in front of the police. We could do an experiment. We could put something that looks like drugs in bags and go to (the Shuafat) checkpoint, and you could take money out in front of the soldiers, and will they come to me or you? No. They don't care. They don't care about Arabs."
Residents also report that houses and business are frequently robbed but say that the Israeli police do not come to help.
Saed Abu Asab, 58, lives in the same building as Julani. He says he prefers Ras Khamis to the apartment that he used to rent in Jerusalem's Old City, where he, his wife and their five children crowded into one room.
"It would be like, 'Do me a favor, I want to come in, move a little, I have to go to the bathroom,'" he recalls. Reflecting on his current situation, he adds, "Now, (the Israelis) are talking about making a demolition here, but why do they let (Jewish Israelis) build in Pisgaat Zeev (an Israeli settlement) and not (us) here?"
Still, even under the looming threat of demolition, the housing boom outside the separation barrier continues.
In the 1920s, an urgent call went out to the literati across the Middle East from Arab leaders in Jerusalem: Send us your books so that we may protect them for generations to come. Jerusalem was soon flushed with writings of all kinds, to be stored and preserved at the newly minted al-Aqsa mosque library.
But many of those centuries-old manuscripts are in a state of decay. Now, religious authorities are restoring and digitizing the books, many of them written by hand. They hope to make them available online to scholars and researchers across the Arab world who are unable to travel to Jerusalem.
Hamed Abu Teir, the library's manager, called the manuscripts a "treasure and trust." ''We should preserve them," he said.
The al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's third holiest site, is located on a hilltop compound known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as the Temple Mount. The holy site is ground zero in the territorial and religious conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
The library and its 130,000 books are housed in two separate rooms in the compound, where modern steel bookshelves are affixed to ancient stone walls. Among the collection are some 4,000 manuscripts, mainly donations from the private collections of Jerusalem families. UNESCO, which is providing assistance for the restoration project, says the library contains "one of the world's most important collections of Islamic manuscripts."
The drive to restore the manuscripts and get them online is part of a greater global trend that has seen an array of historical documents digitized and uploaded to increase access to researchers worldwide.
Here, the gap to be bridged isn't just physical distance. Residents of countries with no diplomatic relations with Israel, including much of the Arab world, are unable to visit Jerusalem and Palestinians living in the nearby West Bank or the Gaza Strip need to secure a permit from Israel to enter the city. Officials hope to circumvent those hindrances by putting the manuscripts online.
"A student in the Arab and Muslim world can't access it. A student in Algeria or Saudi Arabia for example can't come here and access (the manuscripts). We want to grant him the knowledge in his own house," said Abu Teir.
Most of the manuscripts were donated in response to a call in the early 1920s from the Supreme Muslim Council, a religious governing body, said Walid Ahmad, an education professor at Israel's al-Qasemi Academic College who has researched the library. He said the council sought to prevent Arabs from selling old manuscripts to foreign and Jewish buyers and preserve the Islamic heritage in one of its holiest sites.
The oldest book dates back 900 years, with some of the newer titles from the 19th century. Most of the texts are religious, but other subjects include geography, astronomy and medicine. Some of the pages contain personal letters about travel in the Middle East of the 18th century. Radwan Amro, who is leading the restoration process, said the most well-known manuscript in the collection was written by Imam Mohammed al-Ghazali, an Islamic scholar from the 12th century.
The manuscripts were stored in a library for the first few years of the 1920s, but when riots erupted in 1929 over disputes surrounding Jewish and Arab access to the sacred compound, the manuscripts were stored in bags and closets in a separate building nearby, Ahmad said. They would remain there for nearly half a century, when a new space was created for them.
But upon unpacking the books, officials realized they had been pillaged, with many snatched or destroyed.
About a quarter of the 4,000 manuscripts are considered in poor condition. Half of the books are already undergoing restoration, but the other half lie exposed in a small room in the library.
Many are in tatters. Shards of paper crumble off their pages. Insects have dug deep trenches into the unprotected leafs. Thousands of loose, fraying pages lie on a long table where an expert is attempting to match them to their original book.
The restoration and digitization project, funded by the Waqf, Jordan's Islamic authority which manages the holy site, aims to preserve what remains.
In the six years since the project began, Amro said the 10-person team has restored 200 manuscripts as well as old maps, Ottoman population and trade registers and hand-written documents from the Mamluk period of the 13th to 16th centuries. But the painstakingly slow process of treating every individual page to protect the intricate text and the paper's delicate fibers means restorers have a long road ahead of them.
Amro would not give an estimate as to when the restoration would be complete, joking that it could take "hundreds of years." But he said nearly all of the manuscript pages have been digitized and hopes that by the end of the year they will be put online.
Ahmad of the Al-Qasemi college said that in order to stay relevant in the Arab world from which it is physically disconnected, the library must put its collection online.
"Presenting materials to the greater public is the essence of an important library like al-Aqsa's," said Ahmad. "That's how you stay on the map as a library."
But many of those centuries-old manuscripts are in a state of decay. Now, religious authorities are restoring and digitizing the books, many of them written by hand. They hope to make them available online to scholars and researchers across the Arab world who are unable to travel to Jerusalem.
Hamed Abu Teir, the library's manager, called the manuscripts a "treasure and trust." ''We should preserve them," he said.
The al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's third holiest site, is located on a hilltop compound known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as the Temple Mount. The holy site is ground zero in the territorial and religious conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
The library and its 130,000 books are housed in two separate rooms in the compound, where modern steel bookshelves are affixed to ancient stone walls. Among the collection are some 4,000 manuscripts, mainly donations from the private collections of Jerusalem families. UNESCO, which is providing assistance for the restoration project, says the library contains "one of the world's most important collections of Islamic manuscripts."
The drive to restore the manuscripts and get them online is part of a greater global trend that has seen an array of historical documents digitized and uploaded to increase access to researchers worldwide.
Here, the gap to be bridged isn't just physical distance. Residents of countries with no diplomatic relations with Israel, including much of the Arab world, are unable to visit Jerusalem and Palestinians living in the nearby West Bank or the Gaza Strip need to secure a permit from Israel to enter the city. Officials hope to circumvent those hindrances by putting the manuscripts online.
"A student in the Arab and Muslim world can't access it. A student in Algeria or Saudi Arabia for example can't come here and access (the manuscripts). We want to grant him the knowledge in his own house," said Abu Teir.
Most of the manuscripts were donated in response to a call in the early 1920s from the Supreme Muslim Council, a religious governing body, said Walid Ahmad, an education professor at Israel's al-Qasemi Academic College who has researched the library. He said the council sought to prevent Arabs from selling old manuscripts to foreign and Jewish buyers and preserve the Islamic heritage in one of its holiest sites.
The oldest book dates back 900 years, with some of the newer titles from the 19th century. Most of the texts are religious, but other subjects include geography, astronomy and medicine. Some of the pages contain personal letters about travel in the Middle East of the 18th century. Radwan Amro, who is leading the restoration process, said the most well-known manuscript in the collection was written by Imam Mohammed al-Ghazali, an Islamic scholar from the 12th century.
The manuscripts were stored in a library for the first few years of the 1920s, but when riots erupted in 1929 over disputes surrounding Jewish and Arab access to the sacred compound, the manuscripts were stored in bags and closets in a separate building nearby, Ahmad said. They would remain there for nearly half a century, when a new space was created for them.
But upon unpacking the books, officials realized they had been pillaged, with many snatched or destroyed.
About a quarter of the 4,000 manuscripts are considered in poor condition. Half of the books are already undergoing restoration, but the other half lie exposed in a small room in the library.
Many are in tatters. Shards of paper crumble off their pages. Insects have dug deep trenches into the unprotected leafs. Thousands of loose, fraying pages lie on a long table where an expert is attempting to match them to their original book.
The restoration and digitization project, funded by the Waqf, Jordan's Islamic authority which manages the holy site, aims to preserve what remains.
In the six years since the project began, Amro said the 10-person team has restored 200 manuscripts as well as old maps, Ottoman population and trade registers and hand-written documents from the Mamluk period of the 13th to 16th centuries. But the painstakingly slow process of treating every individual page to protect the intricate text and the paper's delicate fibers means restorers have a long road ahead of them.
Amro would not give an estimate as to when the restoration would be complete, joking that it could take "hundreds of years." But he said nearly all of the manuscript pages have been digitized and hopes that by the end of the year they will be put online.
Ahmad of the Al-Qasemi college said that in order to stay relevant in the Arab world from which it is physically disconnected, the library must put its collection online.
"Presenting materials to the greater public is the essence of an important library like al-Aqsa's," said Ahmad. "That's how you stay on the map as a library."
30 jan 2014
The Israeli District Committee for Planning and Construction in Jerusalem held a crucial session on Wednesday to discuss an old scheme to establish building along the outskirts of Buraq Wall(Western Wall). According to the scheme, the building will be built on an archaeological sites along with parts of Buraq Wall area which will be lotted for offices and halls of the so-called “Wall Legacy Fund”.
The scheme was approved by the Israeli municipality and the committee in 2010.
It was supported by mayor of the municipality Nir Barakat, but infuriated the Jewish quarter, archeologists and engineers as the construction will be on the ruins of historic excavations, Maariv Daily Newspaper reported.
The newspaper pointed out that the central claim of the opponents is that the building will change the nature of the neighborhood and Wall, in addition it will affect the excavations carried out by Israeli occupation associations in the place.
Attorney Gilad Bren’, the representative of the Jewish quarter, stated, “it is a sacred place and those in charge of such projects should deal with them carefully.”
Buraq wall, formerly referred to as the ‘Wailing Wall’ and now more commonly known as the ‘Western Wall’ is the most sacred place for Jews who believe it to be the only surviving structure of the Herodian temple. For Muslims it is known as the Buraq Wall, for on the other side is where the Prophet Muhammed (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) tied the Buraq, the winged riding animal upon which he rode during the Night of Ascension.
The scheme was approved by the Israeli municipality and the committee in 2010.
It was supported by mayor of the municipality Nir Barakat, but infuriated the Jewish quarter, archeologists and engineers as the construction will be on the ruins of historic excavations, Maariv Daily Newspaper reported.
The newspaper pointed out that the central claim of the opponents is that the building will change the nature of the neighborhood and Wall, in addition it will affect the excavations carried out by Israeli occupation associations in the place.
Attorney Gilad Bren’, the representative of the Jewish quarter, stated, “it is a sacred place and those in charge of such projects should deal with them carefully.”
Buraq wall, formerly referred to as the ‘Wailing Wall’ and now more commonly known as the ‘Western Wall’ is the most sacred place for Jews who believe it to be the only surviving structure of the Herodian temple. For Muslims it is known as the Buraq Wall, for on the other side is where the Prophet Muhammed (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) tied the Buraq, the winged riding animal upon which he rode during the Night of Ascension.
Violent clashes erupted on Thursday morning between civilian Palestinian youths and occupation forces accompanied by hundreds of settlers who broke into Joseph Tomb east of Nablus city, northern the occupied West Bank. “More than nine hundred extremist settlers accompanied by occupation military patrols broke into Joseph Tomb in northern Nablus and performed their Zionist Talmudic prayers ” Witnesses reported
The occupation forces intensified its presence around the tomb and erected military checkpoints to protect the aggressive Zionist settlers during the clashes between the civilian youths and the aggressors where the Israeli soldiers fired stun grenades and gas bombs towards the civilians and the nearby homes.
The extremist settlers break into Joseph Tomb on a weekly basis as they claim it belongs to prophet Joseph (PBUH), at the same time authentic historians confirm that the tomb belongs to a righteous man called Yousef (Joseph) Dwekat from Balata town near Nablus.
The occupation forces intensified its presence around the tomb and erected military checkpoints to protect the aggressive Zionist settlers during the clashes between the civilian youths and the aggressors where the Israeli soldiers fired stun grenades and gas bombs towards the civilians and the nearby homes.
The extremist settlers break into Joseph Tomb on a weekly basis as they claim it belongs to prophet Joseph (PBUH), at the same time authentic historians confirm that the tomb belongs to a righteous man called Yousef (Joseph) Dwekat from Balata town near Nablus.
The Aqsa foundation for endowment and heritage said that the Israeli intelligence tried to install new sets of surveillance cameras on the northern wall of the Aqsa Mosque and at the police station near the Dome of Rock. These new cameras are intended to cover the entire area of the Dome of Rock in addition to the area of trees along the northern side of the Aqsa Mosque.
The foundation stated that some of its field reporters spotted Israeli technical employees along with their vehicles as they were trying to set up the cameras, but the guards of the Islamic Awqaf authority prevented them.
The foundation described this new Israeli violation as very serious, especially since the Israeli occupation already placed surveillance cameras inside the Aqsa Mosque compound.
It added that this violation is part of Israel's attempt to control the Aqsa Mosque as a prelude to dividing or demolishing it, warning that its installation of cameras at the Mosque indicates that it had given itself the green light to do whatever it likes with this Islamic holy site.
The Aqsa foundation reiterated that the whole Aqsa Mosque compound with its walls belongs only to Muslims, and the Jews have no right to a single grain of soil at the Mosque or beneath it.
The foundation stated that some of its field reporters spotted Israeli technical employees along with their vehicles as they were trying to set up the cameras, but the guards of the Islamic Awqaf authority prevented them.
The foundation described this new Israeli violation as very serious, especially since the Israeli occupation already placed surveillance cameras inside the Aqsa Mosque compound.
It added that this violation is part of Israel's attempt to control the Aqsa Mosque as a prelude to dividing or demolishing it, warning that its installation of cameras at the Mosque indicates that it had given itself the green light to do whatever it likes with this Islamic holy site.
The Aqsa foundation reiterated that the whole Aqsa Mosque compound with its walls belongs only to Muslims, and the Jews have no right to a single grain of soil at the Mosque or beneath it.
29 jan 2014
The Jordanian ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs condemned in a statement the entry of 30 Israeli soldiers in their uniform into the Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem last Sunday.
The ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that such an unprecedented step was “very serious”, adding that such an act should not be repeated and no weapons should be allowed into the holy site.
It said that the soldiers entered the Aqsa Mosque via Maghareba gate without any prior coordination with the Islamic Awqaf.
The ministry warned that such practice provokes feelings of Muslims around the world and threatens the outbreak of a religious war in the region.
The ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that such an unprecedented step was “very serious”, adding that such an act should not be repeated and no weapons should be allowed into the holy site.
It said that the soldiers entered the Aqsa Mosque via Maghareba gate without any prior coordination with the Islamic Awqaf.
The ministry warned that such practice provokes feelings of Muslims around the world and threatens the outbreak of a religious war in the region.
Municipality workers escorted by Israeli soldiers toured a Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem on Wednesday, a popular committee member said.
Muhammad Abu al-Hummus told Ma'an that the workers took photos of dozens of residential buildings, streets, and alleys in the al-Isawiya neighborhood.
Al-Hummus said residents were worried about incidents like this one because they usually precede home demolitions.
Israeli authorities on Monday demolished four Palestinian homes in annexed East Jerusalem, two of them in al-Isawiya, police and residents told AFP.
In 2013, Israel destroyed 99 buildings in annexed East Jerusalem, leaving 298 people homeless, according to United Nations humanitarian affairs agency OCHA.
Palestinians and human rights groups in the city say Israel rarely grants the permits, forcing residents to build homes without them.
Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan during the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed it in a move never recognized by the international community.
Muhammad Abu al-Hummus told Ma'an that the workers took photos of dozens of residential buildings, streets, and alleys in the al-Isawiya neighborhood.
Al-Hummus said residents were worried about incidents like this one because they usually precede home demolitions.
Israeli authorities on Monday demolished four Palestinian homes in annexed East Jerusalem, two of them in al-Isawiya, police and residents told AFP.
In 2013, Israel destroyed 99 buildings in annexed East Jerusalem, leaving 298 people homeless, according to United Nations humanitarian affairs agency OCHA.
Palestinians and human rights groups in the city say Israel rarely grants the permits, forcing residents to build homes without them.
Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan during the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed it in a move never recognized by the international community.
28 jan 2014
Jerusalem International Foundation said that the Israeli decision to establish a highway dividing Beit Safafa village, in occupied Jerusalem, into two parts came as part of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's plan. The Beirut-based foundation, confirmed that this Israeli decision came as a result of Kerry' plan that aims to achieve a framework agreement between Israeli and Palestinian authorities that includes the establishment of a Palestinian state within the borders of 1967 with part of East Jerusalem as its capital.
The foundation described the Israeli decision as illegal and illegitimate, saying that it was an Israeli scheme planned 20 years ago aiming to link between Israeli squatter settlements in occupied Jerusalem.
A state of anger has prevailed in Beit Safafa village after the Israeli Supreme Court rejected an appeal filed by Palestinian citizens against the construction of the highway.
If the road was finished, Beit Safafa residents would suffer heightened noise and pollution in addition to being cut off from basic services including schools and grocery stores.
The highway would connect the Gush Etzion settlement bloc in Bethlehem and southern Jerusalem to Israel's highway network.
For its part, the Civic Coalition for Defending Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem strongly condemned the Supreme Court's decision to refuse the appeal submitted by Beit Safafa's residents and to approve the establishment of the highway which would split their village into two separate areas.
The Coalition confirmed that the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem and the Ministry of Transport are currently undertaking large-scale construction work in Beit Safafa, occupied East Jerusalem, in order to complete a highway (“Begin Highway”) that will serve the expansion of Israel’s illegal settlements in and around the southern part of occupied East Jerusalem and expedite the annexation de facto of the Gush Etzion settlement bloc.
The occupied Palestinian population of Beit Safafa does not benefit from this highway, the coalition added, calling upon the United Nations and the EU to intervene as a matter of urgency in order to cease the construction of the new illegal settlement highway in Beit Safafa and make full reparation for losses and damages already caused to the Palestinian population in the occupied area, and not to grant any international recognition to the unlawful situation resulting from the illegal Israeli settlement enterprise of which this highway is part.
In light of the persistence of Israeli settlement expansion, the coalition urged the international community, including local authorities and business companies, to suspend cooperation and business with the Israeli authorities and companies responsible for the construction of the illegal highway in occupied Beit Safafa.
The construction site extends from the Israeli (Teddy Kolleg) football stadium and (Malha) Mall in the area of the 1948 depopulated Palestinian village of al Malha, West Jerusalem, to the Israeli Gilo settlement in the south of 1967 occupied East Jerusalem, the statement said.
"The projected road is approximately 1.5 km long and almost entirely located in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, specifically in Beit Safafa, a Palestinian community with approximately 9,300 inhabitants. In Beit Safafa, the road is being constructed as a 6-lane highway, with as many as 10-11 lanes in some parts. Construction started in September 2012 and is scheduled to be completed in October 2015."
The highway currently under construction in Beit Safafa is an extension of the already existing “Begin Highway” and has been designated alternatingly as Road No. 4 or Road No. 50 by the Israeli Jerusalem Municipality.
The Begin Highway is the western Jerusalem ring road that expedites travel between the south and the north of the city.
Partially constructed in occupied Palestinian territory, the Begin Highway links in the north into Road 443 to the settlement bloc of Givat Ze’ev in the occupied West Bank and onward to Tel Aviv. In the south, the Begin Highway currently ends in the Malha neighborhood, West Jerusalem; it does not yet have a direct connection with Road 60 (the “Tunnel Road”) which serves Israeli movement to and from the settlements in the southern West Bank, the statement clarified.
According to the coalition, Palestinians in Beit Safafa do not benefit from this highway which is being imposed on them against their express will. Although the highway is being built on land confiscated in the past from members of the community and passes through its center, no access road onto the highway will be available for the local Palestinian residents.
Moreover, the highway is causing grave losses and damages to individuals and the community of Beit Safafa. For Palestinian owners of land and homes along the route of the highway through Beit Safafa, construction of the highway is resulting in serious infringements against their property and housing rights.
In the longer term, the Begin Highway alone and in combination with the additional Israeli settlement activities planned in the area will result in the destruction of Beit Safafa as a community and in the forced displacement of (part of) its members, the statement continued.
The foundation described the Israeli decision as illegal and illegitimate, saying that it was an Israeli scheme planned 20 years ago aiming to link between Israeli squatter settlements in occupied Jerusalem.
A state of anger has prevailed in Beit Safafa village after the Israeli Supreme Court rejected an appeal filed by Palestinian citizens against the construction of the highway.
If the road was finished, Beit Safafa residents would suffer heightened noise and pollution in addition to being cut off from basic services including schools and grocery stores.
The highway would connect the Gush Etzion settlement bloc in Bethlehem and southern Jerusalem to Israel's highway network.
For its part, the Civic Coalition for Defending Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem strongly condemned the Supreme Court's decision to refuse the appeal submitted by Beit Safafa's residents and to approve the establishment of the highway which would split their village into two separate areas.
The Coalition confirmed that the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem and the Ministry of Transport are currently undertaking large-scale construction work in Beit Safafa, occupied East Jerusalem, in order to complete a highway (“Begin Highway”) that will serve the expansion of Israel’s illegal settlements in and around the southern part of occupied East Jerusalem and expedite the annexation de facto of the Gush Etzion settlement bloc.
The occupied Palestinian population of Beit Safafa does not benefit from this highway, the coalition added, calling upon the United Nations and the EU to intervene as a matter of urgency in order to cease the construction of the new illegal settlement highway in Beit Safafa and make full reparation for losses and damages already caused to the Palestinian population in the occupied area, and not to grant any international recognition to the unlawful situation resulting from the illegal Israeli settlement enterprise of which this highway is part.
In light of the persistence of Israeli settlement expansion, the coalition urged the international community, including local authorities and business companies, to suspend cooperation and business with the Israeli authorities and companies responsible for the construction of the illegal highway in occupied Beit Safafa.
The construction site extends from the Israeli (Teddy Kolleg) football stadium and (Malha) Mall in the area of the 1948 depopulated Palestinian village of al Malha, West Jerusalem, to the Israeli Gilo settlement in the south of 1967 occupied East Jerusalem, the statement said.
"The projected road is approximately 1.5 km long and almost entirely located in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, specifically in Beit Safafa, a Palestinian community with approximately 9,300 inhabitants. In Beit Safafa, the road is being constructed as a 6-lane highway, with as many as 10-11 lanes in some parts. Construction started in September 2012 and is scheduled to be completed in October 2015."
The highway currently under construction in Beit Safafa is an extension of the already existing “Begin Highway” and has been designated alternatingly as Road No. 4 or Road No. 50 by the Israeli Jerusalem Municipality.
The Begin Highway is the western Jerusalem ring road that expedites travel between the south and the north of the city.
Partially constructed in occupied Palestinian territory, the Begin Highway links in the north into Road 443 to the settlement bloc of Givat Ze’ev in the occupied West Bank and onward to Tel Aviv. In the south, the Begin Highway currently ends in the Malha neighborhood, West Jerusalem; it does not yet have a direct connection with Road 60 (the “Tunnel Road”) which serves Israeli movement to and from the settlements in the southern West Bank, the statement clarified.
According to the coalition, Palestinians in Beit Safafa do not benefit from this highway which is being imposed on them against their express will. Although the highway is being built on land confiscated in the past from members of the community and passes through its center, no access road onto the highway will be available for the local Palestinian residents.
Moreover, the highway is causing grave losses and damages to individuals and the community of Beit Safafa. For Palestinian owners of land and homes along the route of the highway through Beit Safafa, construction of the highway is resulting in serious infringements against their property and housing rights.
In the longer term, the Begin Highway alone and in combination with the additional Israeli settlement activities planned in the area will result in the destruction of Beit Safafa as a community and in the forced displacement of (part of) its members, the statement continued.
27 jan 2014
Israeli authorities on Monday demolished four Palestinian homes in annexed East Jerusalem that had been built without construction permits, police and residents said.
A total of 20 people lived in the four buildings, two of them located in the al-Isawiya neighborhood and two in Beit Hanina, occupants told AFP.
They had been served demolition orders because they did not have the necessary construction permits, Israeli police spokeswoman Luba Samri told AFP.
She added the demolitions went ahead without incident.
Earlier, a local committee official told Ma'an that Israeli forces escorted bulldozers to the al-Isawiya neighborhood at around 6 a.m. and demolished a three-floor building belonging to Abdul-Hayy Dari.
In 2013, Israel destroyed 99 buildings in annexed East Jerusalem, leaving 298 people homeless, according to United Nations humanitarian affairs agency OCHA.
Palestinians and human rights groups in the city say Israel rarely grants the permits, forcing residents to build homes without them.
Israel Demolishes Three Houses in East Jerusalem
Staff from West Jerusalem Israeli municipality demolished Monday three buildings in the Arab neighborhoods of Issawiya and Beit Hanina under the pretext they were unlicensed. Israeli bulldozers demolished a two-storey 300 square meters building that was still under construction and owned by Abdul Hay Dari, said Muhammad Abu al-Humous, a local activist.
He said residents clashed with police, who fired stun grenades at people who gathered in the area.
Also in Issawiya, municipal staff demolished a 70 square meters house belonging to Hussein Nasser.
Fatima Khalil, sister of the Nasser, said that it was the second time the municipality had demolished the house. She said the first time was nine years ago under the pretext it was unlicensed but that her brother rebuilt it to house his son.
Israeli municipality bulldozes also demolished a house belonging to Azzam Idris in al-Ashqariya area of Beit Hanina, to the north of Jerusalem.
According to the owner’s daughter, two families of 12 people have been living in the house for the past two-and-a-half years and that they had paid fines for building it without a permit as they were waiting for a permit to be issued.
Palestinians are forced to build without a permit because the Israeli municipality does not issue building permits to them or complicates procedures to get a permit while it builds thousands of new housing units for Israelis only in the settlements that are anyhow built on expropriated Arab land.
Israeli Soldiers Demolish Two Houses in Jerusalem
On Monday Israeli bulldozers demolished two houses in the al-Issawiyeh village in Jerusalem, on claims that these houses were built without authorization.
A member of the Follow-Up Committee in the village, Mohammed Abu al-Humus, told Palestinian official news agency WAFA, that one of the houses belonged to the Jerusalemite Abdul Hai Ahmad Dari.
Clashes erupted in the area, where Israeli forces fired tear gas canisters at passing students, and closed all the main entrances of the village.
Israeli bulldozers also demolished a 70 square-meter house belonging to Hussain Ali Nasser.
A family member told WAFA that this is the second time the Israeli forces have demolished their house, adding that the IOF had demolished their home nine years ago, under the pretext that the house was built without authorization.
Islamic Christian authority condemns Israel's demolition of Jerusalemite homes
The Islamic Christian authority for patronizing Jerusalem and holy sites said that Israel's systematic demolition of Palestinian homes in occupied Jerusalem and its environs constitute a flagrant violation of the rules of the international humanitarian law. Secretary-general of the Islamic Christian authority Hanna Issa stated on Monday that Israel demolishes homes in order to lay its hands over the remaining Palestinian property in occupied Jerusalem and complete its Judaization of the city.
Issa noted that the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) demolished on Monday morning a Palestinian house in Issawiya district in east Jerusalem at the pretext of unlicensed construction.
He explained that the statute of the international criminal court criminalizes such arbitrary demolition of civilian property that happens on a massive scale and classifies it as a war crime.
He affirmed that Israel also blatantly violates the human rights law which protects the right of individuals to own real estate without their exposure to any arbitrary measures stripping them of their ownership.
The official affirmed that Israel uses different pretexts to justify its arbitrary demolition of Palestinian homes and property, including security claims, their presence near settlements and their roads, unlicensed construction or their violation of the Israeli housing law.
For his part, Ahmed Qurei, an executive committee member of the Palestine liberation organization (PLO) said recently that east Jerusalem would be lost forever if Israel persisted in its settlement and Judaization activities in the absence of any Arab action to save the city.
Qurei called for active Arab moves supporting the steadfastness of the Palestinian natives of Jerusalem on their land.
In press remarks to Al-Ghad newspaper, the PLO official noted that Israel ethnically cleanses the holy city of its indigenous people and enlarges its settlements on a daily basis.
He warned that Israel has spent like the budgets of two rich Arab states to Judaize the holy city in order to kill the Palestinian dream of establishing a state with Jerusalem as its capital.
A total of 20 people lived in the four buildings, two of them located in the al-Isawiya neighborhood and two in Beit Hanina, occupants told AFP.
They had been served demolition orders because they did not have the necessary construction permits, Israeli police spokeswoman Luba Samri told AFP.
She added the demolitions went ahead without incident.
Earlier, a local committee official told Ma'an that Israeli forces escorted bulldozers to the al-Isawiya neighborhood at around 6 a.m. and demolished a three-floor building belonging to Abdul-Hayy Dari.
In 2013, Israel destroyed 99 buildings in annexed East Jerusalem, leaving 298 people homeless, according to United Nations humanitarian affairs agency OCHA.
Palestinians and human rights groups in the city say Israel rarely grants the permits, forcing residents to build homes without them.
Israel Demolishes Three Houses in East Jerusalem
Staff from West Jerusalem Israeli municipality demolished Monday three buildings in the Arab neighborhoods of Issawiya and Beit Hanina under the pretext they were unlicensed. Israeli bulldozers demolished a two-storey 300 square meters building that was still under construction and owned by Abdul Hay Dari, said Muhammad Abu al-Humous, a local activist.
He said residents clashed with police, who fired stun grenades at people who gathered in the area.
Also in Issawiya, municipal staff demolished a 70 square meters house belonging to Hussein Nasser.
Fatima Khalil, sister of the Nasser, said that it was the second time the municipality had demolished the house. She said the first time was nine years ago under the pretext it was unlicensed but that her brother rebuilt it to house his son.
Israeli municipality bulldozes also demolished a house belonging to Azzam Idris in al-Ashqariya area of Beit Hanina, to the north of Jerusalem.
According to the owner’s daughter, two families of 12 people have been living in the house for the past two-and-a-half years and that they had paid fines for building it without a permit as they were waiting for a permit to be issued.
Palestinians are forced to build without a permit because the Israeli municipality does not issue building permits to them or complicates procedures to get a permit while it builds thousands of new housing units for Israelis only in the settlements that are anyhow built on expropriated Arab land.
Israeli Soldiers Demolish Two Houses in Jerusalem
On Monday Israeli bulldozers demolished two houses in the al-Issawiyeh village in Jerusalem, on claims that these houses were built without authorization.
A member of the Follow-Up Committee in the village, Mohammed Abu al-Humus, told Palestinian official news agency WAFA, that one of the houses belonged to the Jerusalemite Abdul Hai Ahmad Dari.
Clashes erupted in the area, where Israeli forces fired tear gas canisters at passing students, and closed all the main entrances of the village.
Israeli bulldozers also demolished a 70 square-meter house belonging to Hussain Ali Nasser.
A family member told WAFA that this is the second time the Israeli forces have demolished their house, adding that the IOF had demolished their home nine years ago, under the pretext that the house was built without authorization.
Islamic Christian authority condemns Israel's demolition of Jerusalemite homes
The Islamic Christian authority for patronizing Jerusalem and holy sites said that Israel's systematic demolition of Palestinian homes in occupied Jerusalem and its environs constitute a flagrant violation of the rules of the international humanitarian law. Secretary-general of the Islamic Christian authority Hanna Issa stated on Monday that Israel demolishes homes in order to lay its hands over the remaining Palestinian property in occupied Jerusalem and complete its Judaization of the city.
Issa noted that the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) demolished on Monday morning a Palestinian house in Issawiya district in east Jerusalem at the pretext of unlicensed construction.
He explained that the statute of the international criminal court criminalizes such arbitrary demolition of civilian property that happens on a massive scale and classifies it as a war crime.
He affirmed that Israel also blatantly violates the human rights law which protects the right of individuals to own real estate without their exposure to any arbitrary measures stripping them of their ownership.
The official affirmed that Israel uses different pretexts to justify its arbitrary demolition of Palestinian homes and property, including security claims, their presence near settlements and their roads, unlicensed construction or their violation of the Israeli housing law.
For his part, Ahmed Qurei, an executive committee member of the Palestine liberation organization (PLO) said recently that east Jerusalem would be lost forever if Israel persisted in its settlement and Judaization activities in the absence of any Arab action to save the city.
Qurei called for active Arab moves supporting the steadfastness of the Palestinian natives of Jerusalem on their land.
In press remarks to Al-Ghad newspaper, the PLO official noted that Israel ethnically cleanses the holy city of its indigenous people and enlarges its settlements on a daily basis.
He warned that Israel has spent like the budgets of two rich Arab states to Judaize the holy city in order to kill the Palestinian dream of establishing a state with Jerusalem as its capital.
25 jan 2014
An Israeli official says the Tel Aviv regime is considering replacing the al-Aqsa Mosque in al-Quds (Jerusalem) with a temple.
Minister of Housing and Construction Uri Ariel on Friday called for the construction of what he called "the Third Temple" to replace the holy site.
Ariel says the first and the second temples were destroyed many years ago, so the third one needs to be built now.
“Al-Aqsa Mosque is currently in place of the temple,” he claimed.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is considered the third holiest site in the Muslim world.
Palestinians have denounced the plan as desecration.
They say it is part of the Israeli regime’s ongoing attempts to distort the Arab and Islamic history.
Palestinians argue that al-Quds is the capital of a future Palestinian independent state, and that its heritage should remain intact.
Minister of Housing and Construction Uri Ariel on Friday called for the construction of what he called "the Third Temple" to replace the holy site.
Ariel says the first and the second temples were destroyed many years ago, so the third one needs to be built now.
“Al-Aqsa Mosque is currently in place of the temple,” he claimed.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is considered the third holiest site in the Muslim world.
Palestinians have denounced the plan as desecration.
They say it is part of the Israeli regime’s ongoing attempts to distort the Arab and Islamic history.
Palestinians argue that al-Quds is the capital of a future Palestinian independent state, and that its heritage should remain intact.
Minister of Awkaf and religious affairs in Gaza Dr. Ismail Ridwan has warned that the Aqsa Mosque was in real danger. He said during the inauguration of a new mosque in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza Strip on Friday that many conspiracies are being hatched against the holy site.
The minister accused the Israeli occupation authority of launching criminal and arbitrary measures against the Aqsa Mosque as evident in the daily storming and desecration tours of its plazas.
Ridwan asked the Palestinian people and the Muslim leaders and scholars to adopt urgent measures to protect the Aqsa Mosque.
The minister accused the Israeli occupation authority of launching criminal and arbitrary measures against the Aqsa Mosque as evident in the daily storming and desecration tours of its plazas.
Ridwan asked the Palestinian people and the Muslim leaders and scholars to adopt urgent measures to protect the Aqsa Mosque.