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Jerusalem Okays Jewish Housing in Flashpoint Palestinian Neighborhood
In the Media
Jerusalem Building Committee approved building permit for settler building inside Silwan. Ir Amim: "The Netanyahu government has enabled yet another destructive step in one of the most sensitive areas of Jerusalem. In the process, it is showing its determination to foil any diplomatic solution to Israel's citizens and to the entire world, as well as demonstrating its lack of interest in improving the situation in Jerusalem."
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Jerusalem Municipality Approved [for Deposit] New Jewish Settlement in the Heart of East Jerusalem Neighborhood
In the Media
The Local Planning and Building Committee approved unanimously [for deposit] a plan for construction of 18 housing units for Jewish families in Jabel Mukaber. The Elad NGO, which works to increase the Jewish presence in East Jerusalem, is behind the plan. “We hope that Arabs and Jews will live there in peace,” a city council member said
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Jerusalem: Present Home and Future Capital of Two Peoples
Policy Papers
Against the backdrop of growing tensions in Jerusalem, the objective of this paper is to present an outline for how to de-escalate the violence and implement a policy for managing the city that is informed by hope rather than anxiety. The paper presents guidelines for action in the current situation, based on the following premises: Jerusalem is the present home and future capital of two peoples; a diplomatic agreement on the city is currently remote; unilateral steps play into the hands of those who oppose an agreed upon solution; in the current reality, policies must be adopted to improve the quality of life and personal security of all residents of the city. A response is also offered to recent proposals for unilateral separation of Palestinian neighborhoods from Jerusalem.
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Ir Amim: “The mayor has a duty to make sure the plan is approved and that Sheikh Jarrah gets a much needed school.”
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Ir Amim report: while tenders issued and new construction plans in east Jerusalem slowed down in 2015, number of evictions rose significantly. 603 tenders for housing units were issued in 2015, mostly in Ramat Shlomo. 18 Palestinian families evicted from their homes.
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Planning, Building, and Settlements in East Jerusalem 2015
Reports
During the nine months of negotiations led by US Secretary of State John Kerry – from July 2013 through April 2014 – Israel published tenders for 3,020 housing units in East Jerusalem. Since the failure of the talks in 2014 and through the end of November 2015, Israel published almost no tenders over the Green Line, in East Jerusalem in particular. Strong pressure by the Jewish Home party to advance construction as a condition for its support of the state budget finally led to the publication of a significant tender for 438 housing units in Ramat Shlomo.
This being said, actual construction related to previously approved plans continued. In addition to the construction of hundreds of housing units in Ramot (to the west of Begin Highway, toward the Givat Ze’ev settlement bloc) and preparations for the construction of 708 housing units on the western slopes of Gilo, rapid construction is underway in Har Homa C, which will extend the wedge between Bethlehem and East Jerusalem.
The slow pace of plan promotion since the second half of 2015 contrasts with the unprecedented wave of seizures of Palestinian properties in the Old City and Historic Basin by private settler associations, with the support of state bodies. This trend includes the eviction of Palestinian families from seized properties. The two areas of most concentrated activity are the Muslim Quarter of the Old City and the Batan al-Hawa neighborhood of Silwan, where members of the Ateret Cohanim settler organization have been responsible for the eviction of 17 Palestinian families, more than doubling the number of properties it has managed to seize. Eviction claims were submitted against 15 additional Palestinian families, and approximately 70 more families face the threat of similar action.
On Ma’alot Khalidiya Street in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, settlers seized a living space after evicting a Palestinian resident, two Palestinian families on the street received eviction notices for imminent dates and new claims were submitted against four additional families at the end of the year. Efforts to evict Palestinian families are also underway in Sheikh Jarrah.
Over the past year, the authorities demolished 52 housing units in East Jerusalem, displacing 81 people. The authorities also demolished 37 structures used for non-residential purposes.
All of these trends must be given serious consideration when evaluating the pace of settlement building in Jerusalem over the last year.
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Following the failure of the Kerry talks in April 2014, the promotion of Israeli building plans over the Green Line, particularly in East Jerusalem, slowed significantly. In previous years, Israel forwarded building plans and published tenders for construction in East Jerusalem in the range of thousands of housing units each year. In 2015, the picture was different, with the scope of building plans and marketing of tenders much more limited than in past years. Most of the major building plans in East Jerusalem were already approved in 2012. The number of tenders issued in 2015 for approved plans was relatively minor and very few new plans reached the planning committees, even when the authorities explicitly stated that plans would be promoted.
During the nine months of negotiations led by US Secretary of State John Kerry – from July 2013 through April 2014 – Israel published tenders for 3,020 housing units in East Jerusalem. Since the failure of the talks in 2014 and through the end of November 2015, Israel published almost no tenders over the Green Line, in East Jerusalem in particular. Strong pressure by the Jewish Home party to advance construction as a condition for its support of the state budget finally led to the publication of a significant tender for 438 housing units in Ramat Shlomo.
This being said, actual construction related to previously approved plans continued. In addition to the construction of hundreds of housing units in Ramot (to the west of Begin Highway, toward the Givat Ze’ev settlement bloc) and preparations for the construction of 708 housing units on the western slopes of Gilo, rapid construction is underway in Har Homa C, which will extend the wedge between Bethlehem and East Jerusalem.
The slow pace of plan promotion since the second half of 2015 contrasts with the unprecedented wave of seizures of Palestinian properties in the Old City and Historic Basin by private settler associations, with the support of state bodies. This trend includes the eviction of Palestinian families from seized properties. The two areas of most concentrated activity are the Muslim Quarter of the Old City and the Batan al-Hawa neighborhood of Silwan, where members of the Ateret Cohanim settler organization have been responsible for the eviction of 17 Palestinian families, more than doubling the number of properties it has managed to seize. Eviction claims were submitted against 15 additional Palestinian families, and approximately 70 more families face the threat of similar action.
On Ma’alot Khalidiya Street in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, settlers seized a living space after evicting a Palestinian resident, two Palestinian families on the street received eviction notices for imminent dates and new claims were submitted against four additional families at the end of the year. Efforts to evict Palestinian families are also underway in Sheikh Jarrah.
Over the past year, the authorities demolished 52 housing units in East Jerusalem, displacing 81 people. The authorities also demolished 37 structures used for non-residential purposes.
All of these trends must be given serious consideration when evaluating the pace of settlement building in Jerusalem over the last year.
Ir Amim says behavior of Netanyahu government concerning approval of the plan on Gilo slopes is another example of cat-and-mouse games being played with the Americans on EJ construction; says such unilateral steps destroy any chance of reaching real and just solution in Jerusalem.
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Netanyahu approves selling East Jerusalem settlement units
In the Media
Following announcement of authorization to sell new housing units in East Jerusalem, Ir Amim warns that while Netanyahu's "announcement has only declaratory significance, procedural steps to advance the plan could be taken at any time."
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Jerusalem: The Rising Cost of Peace
Reports
The goal of this paper is to analyze the factors that will contribute to shaping a resolution on Jerusalem and to evaluate the relative feasibility of achieving a political solution to the conflict at this specific juncture in time. Using the Clinton Parameters as a base point, we outline actions taken on the ground since 2000 on three interdependent levels: within the Jerusalem Municipality (within the annexation line); within the Historic Basin surrounding the Old City and the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif; and within Greater Jerusalem. We look at the state of affairs in 2000, actions taken between 2000 and the end of 2014 and developments occurring within the most recent two-year period.
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The Old City Master Plan: From Professional Planning to Political Execution
Policy Papers
On December 19, a master plan for the Old City came under discussion by the Jerusalem Local Planning and Building Committee.
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Tearing a Neighborhood in Two – The Begin Highway in Beit Safafa
Policy Papers
Right in the heart of the neighborhood of Beit Safafa, massive construction is currently underway to transform an internal road into a six-lane highway.
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The E1 Report
Reports
Ostensibly, the E1 controversy pertains to the city of Ma’aleh Adumim to the east of Jerusalem. But E1 is, in fact, not part of Ma’aleh Adumim. The proposed construction in E1 differs from Ma’aleh Adumim both topographically and in terms of its political ramifications. It constitutes a new autonomous 4,000 unit-strong (roughly 20,000 people) settlement that will separate East Jerusalem from the West Bank and prevent any future territorial continuity between the two in any meaningful way. Alongside a plan for a large commercial area with hotels, the intent of this construction is to make facts on the ground. Its “successful” implementation has the potential to thwart any just and stable political solution.
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Ostensibly, the E1 controversy pertains to the city of Ma’aleh Adumim to the east of Jerusalem. But E1 is, in fact, not part of Ma’aleh Adumim. The proposed construction in E1 differs from Ma’aleh Adumim both topographically and in terms of its political ramifications. It constitutes a new autonomous 4,000 unit-strong (roughly 20,000 people) settlement that will separate East Jerusalem from the West Bank and prevent any future territorial continuity between the two in any meaningful way. Alongside a plan for a large commercial area with hotels, the intent of this construction is to make facts on the ground. Its “successful” implementation has the potential to thwart any just and stable political solution.
Mount Scopus National Park Plan
Policy Papers
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On November 17, 2011 the “Mount Scopus Slopes Park Plan” was published for public review by the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee (TPS 11092a). This plan, an initiative of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA), supported by the Jerusalem Municipality, should concern all who seek a political resolution to the conflict in Jerusalem, and who understand the implications of the park for the two adjacent Palestinian neighborhoods within Jerusalem’s municipal boundaries – Issawiya and At-Tur.
Toward a Point of No Return: Lifting the Political Restraints in East Jerusalem
Reports
This report outlines Israel’s policy shift in late 2010-early 2011 towards East Jerusalem, following the expiration of the 2010 settlement freeze. This turn for the worse, which occurred simultaneously in numerous policy fields, increased instability in the city and severely harmed any potential commencement of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
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Walajeh – A Village under Siege
Reports
This report describes the unfolding of events regarding the construction of the separation barrier around Walajeh, including the legal complexities and the various entities that play a role in this critical and disturbing development.
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