A new Judaization scheme targeting the Old City of occupied Jerusalem

The besieging of the Old City in occupied Jerusalem and the obliteration of its cultural and historical landmarks is a goal that the Israeli occupation seeks to achieve as part of its attempts to Judaize the city by intensifying settlements in it. The Israeli occupation announced a settlement plan south of the town, amid the silence of the international community regarding these attacks and the processes of Judaization and settlement.

Spokesman for the people of Silwan town in occupied Jerusalem, Fakhri Abu Diab, indicated in a statement to SANA reporter that the occupation seeks, through its plan, to Judaize the area south of the old city, with the aim of obliterating and Judaizing every trace of Arab civilization in it, falsifying history and the siege of Al-Aqsa Mosque. The occupation wants to impose new facts south of the Old City, because it is adjacent to Al-Aqsa, which is its entrance from the eastern and southern sides, and is trying to establish new entrances to Al-Aqsa to distort its style and architectural and civilized scene, he added.

In turn, Director of Al-Quds International Center Hassan Khater revealed that the settlement scheme in the south of the Old City is part of a Judaization scheme to seize 1,500 dunums of it, stressing that the steadfastness of the Palestinian people will foil the occupation’s plans aimed at obliterating the identity, civilization and history of the city of Jerusalem.

Director of Wadi Hilweh Information Center, Jawad Siam, indicated that the south of the Old City is part of the town of Silwan, where Palestinians are subjected to demolition of their homes and displacement to implement a settlement belt starting from Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood east of the old town to Silwan south of Al-Aqsa in order to encircle the mosque and the old town. He pointed out that since the beginning of this year, the occupation has demolished 71 Palestinian homes and facilities in Jerusalem, and announced its intention to demolish hundreds of homes, in addition to establishing more settlement outposts in the center of the Old City, with the aim of isolating it from its surroundings.

Director-General of the Department of Maps and Surveys in the Orient House in occupied Jerusalem, Khalil Al-Tafkaji asserted that what is happening is part of a comprehensive process of Judaization through the establishment of hundreds of settlement units in the vicinity of the Old City and its historical walls in an attempt to empty it of the Palestinian presence, change the civilized scene and prevent Palestinians from building or restoring archaeological and historical areas in violation of all international laws and resolutions.

Inas Abdulkareem