Occupied Jerusalem – Hardly a month passes in the city of Jerusalem without an announcement of settlement associations seizing land or property belonging to a Jerusalemite family, and with every new seizure, the number of settlers living by occupation force in the neighborhoods of Jerusalem increases, especially those located inside or around the Old City, which The occupation considers it the “Holy Basin.”
Like a beehive, the efforts of several Israeli institutions and entities have combined to Judaize Jerusalem since 1967, which made the number of settlers jump in the east of the city from zero that year to 230,000 settlers today.
Maps and settlement expert Khalil Al-Tafakji told Al-Jazeera Net that the number of Palestinians in East Jerusalem reached about 70,000 people without a single Israeli in it until June 5, 1967, and as soon as the Al-Maghariba neighborhood adjacent to Al-Aqsa Mosque was demolished and leveled to the ground on the 10th of the same month, operations began. Settlement was carried out directly, and the French hill colony known as “Ramat Eshkol” was established.
15 settlements in Jerusalem
Today, the number of settlements in Jerusalem has reached 15, the largest of which are “Gilo,” “Ramot,” and “Har Homa.” The occupation authorities, according to Al-Tafakji, are seeking to expand the borders of the Jerusalem municipality under the name “Greater Jerusalem” by adding three settlement blocs, namely “Givat Ze’ev.” “Maale Adumim” and “Efrat”.
These settlement blocs include about 150,000 settlers, according to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, which indicates that the number of settlers in the western and eastern parts of the city is 770,000, 540,000 of whom are in the west of the city and 230,000 in its east, occupied in 1967.
In his book “Settlement in the City of Jerusalem,” published by Bayt Mal Al-Quds Agency in 2018, Khalil Al-Tufakji devoted a chapter to talking about the institutions working in the Judaization of Jerusalem. In this chapter, he mentioned the names of 11 Israeli institutions that have worked and are still working to devour more lands and real estate in the Holy City.
Below is a brief definition:
Ateret Cohanim Settlement Association
It was established in 1978, and its administrators have strong relations with Israeli government offices, including the Prime Minister’s Office.
Until 2018, the association controlled 21 buildings in the Islamic and Christian neighborhoods of the Old City of Jerusalem, and 60 settler families, including 300 individuals, lived in these buildings, most of them concentrated in settlement outposts spread across Al-Wad Road in Al-Atika.
One of the most famous houses controlled by Ateret Cohanim is what is known as “Ariel Sharon’s house” on El-Wad Road.
Elad Settlement Association
It was established in 1986 and became famous for its work in the town of Silwan, which is called the southern protector of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
It was able to enter the first two properties in the Wadi Hilweh neighborhood in 1991, and established the “City of David” settlement in the same neighborhood. It now controls dozens of properties there, and was able to plant settlers among the homes of Jerusalemites in several neighborhoods.
In addition to its activity in seizing Palestinian real estate, this association is active in organizing tours, lectures, and seminars through which the Biblical narrative about the place is conveyed.
“Israel Lands Authority”
This institution manages state lands and has comprehensive powers regarding land affairs, including lands that were previously owned by the Jordanian government.
Custodian of Jewish Property in Jerusalem
It is one of the departments affiliated with the Israeli Ministry of Justice, and it manages the properties that Jews claim to have owned during the periods of the British Mandate and Jordanian rule.
The number of files managed by this department under the name “Public Property Custodian” is 532 files.
Custodian of absentees’ property
This department is affiliated with the Ministry of Finance, and manages the property of Palestinians who reside outside the borders of the city of Jerusalem or property belonging to countries that “aggressed against the Hebrew state in 1948,” namely Lebanon, Syria, Transjordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt, or any part of land located outside the borders of Israel.
This department refuses to disclose the properties it manages, even though some settlers, including Aryeh King, the deputy mayor of the occupation municipality in Jerusalem, known as the godfather of settlement in Jerusalem, submitted a request to the Israeli Supreme Court to reveal the data of this department.
Jewish National Fund
This fund managed the lands purchased for the establishment of Jewish settlements before 1948, and this fund manages the properties in the “Neve Yaakov” and “Atarot” colonies in Jerusalem.
Jerusalem Development Authority
It is considered an official organization established according to a law enacted in 1988, and it has become the executive arm for major projects in Jerusalem, the most prominent of which are the wall restoration project and development works in the towns of Silwan and Mount of Olives, in addition to establishing nine “national” gardens and parks around the Old City, and modernizing its infrastructure.
Western Wall Heritage Fund “Al-Buraq”
Established under the auspices of the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office in October 1988, this institution is responsible for plans surrounding the Western Wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque, including tunnels and excavations.
East Jerusalem Development Company
It operates under the umbrella of the Ministry of Tourism and the Occupation Municipality, and works in the field of developing tourism projects and infrastructure in Jerusalem.
Its work is focused in the “Holy Basin” area surrounding the Old City, especially in the Mount of Olives, Mount Zion, and Wadi Al-Rababa area.
This company contributes to the plan to transform the Al-Bustan neighborhood in the town of Silwan into a biblical garden bearing the name “The King’s Garden,” and to create it, the occupation municipality’s bulldozers continue to demolish the neighborhood’s homes and displace its residents.
Jewish Quarter Reconstruction and Development Company
Operating under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism and the Municipality, it is the company responsible for maintaining the Jewish Quarter and the City of David settlement in the town of Silwan.
In 2001, this company published a huge plan to build hundreds of homes in the Jewish Quarter and Mount Zion on an area of 250 dunums (a dunum equals a thousand square metres) and other tourist projects near Mount Zion and in the town of Silwan, Bab al-Sahira, and Bab al-Maghariba, at a cost of $36.4 million. It was announced at the time that the goal of The main project is “to restore a strong Jewish presence in the Old City.”
Temple Mount Heritage Fund
The formation of this fund came in response to the decision issued by UNESCO in October 2017 regarding the denial of the Jewish people’s connection to Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The fund was established to care for Al-Aqsa Mosque, and a budget of two million shekels (552 thousand US dollars) was allocated annually to promote media campaigns about the Jews’ connection to this holy place.