Israel working to halt division of Jerusalem as more than 100,000 Arabs
are living illegally on Jewish-owned land*

Posted: June 10, 2009
News From Israel

JERUSALEM – In an unusual move, Arabs who built illegally on
Jewish-owned property in key sections of Jerusalem have been hand
delivered eviction notices.

The issue of real estate in the particular Jerusalem neighborhood, Kfar
Akeb, is crucial. The district largely consists of Jewish-owned land,
but over the years Arabs illegally constructed housing developments
there resulting in an Arab majority.

Unless demographics change, the neighborhood seems slated to become part
of an eventual Palestinian state. Israel's previous prime minister, Ehud
Olmert, cited the Arab majority as reason to give up the land, as have
other Israeli leaders.

But last Thursday, Jerusalem activist Aryeh King distributed the
eviction notices to eight private homes constructed illegally on
Jewish-owned property. King holds the power of attorney to about 5.5
acres of Kfar Akeb land owned by five Israeli Jews. The notices gave the
squatting Arabs seven days to vacate.

Now that the deadline has passed, King plans to bring a private security
team to physically boot the Arabs within the next 23 days.

The eight homes are just a sampling of over 100,000 housing units built
illegally on Jewish-owned land in eastern sections of Jerusalem – areas
the Palestinians claim as a capital. King's move of handing out eviction
notices is almost unheard of. If enforced, the action could serve as a
template for further evictions.

U.S. Jewish group to blame for 'division' of Jerusalem?

Key land in Qalandiya and Kfar Akeb is owned by the Jewish National
Fund, which over the years has allowed tens of thousands of Arabs to
illegally squat on its land, resulting in the current Arab majority.

The organization bought the land in the early 1920s using Jewish donor
funds for the specific purpose of Jewish settlement.

But the JNF lands have been utilized for the illegal construction of
dozens of Arab apartment buildings, a refugee camp and a U.N. school.

A previous tour of Qalandiya and Kfar Akeb found dozens of Arab
apartment complexes, a Palestinian refugee camp and a U.N. school for
Palestinians constructed on the land.

According to officials in Israel's Housing Ministry, Arabs first
constructed facilities illegally in Qalandiya and Kfar Akeb between 1948
and 1967, prior to the 1967 Six-Day War during which Israel retook
control of the entire city of Jerusalem.

Qalandiya, still owned by JNF, came under the management of the Israeli
government's Land Authority in the late 1960s.

Israeli Housing Ministry officials say the bulk of illegal Arab
construction in Qalandiya occurred in the past 20 years, with
construction of several new Arab apartment complexes taking place in
just the past two years.

Neither the Israeli government nor JNF took any concrete measures to
stop the illegal building, which continues today with at least one
apartment complex in Qalandiya under construction.

Land in another Jerusalem' neighborhood, Shoafat, which has an estimated
value of $3 million, was also purchased by JNF in the early 1900s and
fell under the management of the Israel Land Authority about 40 years
ago. Much of the illegal Arab construction in Shoafat took place in the
past 15 years, with some apartment complexes built as late as 2004.

In Qalandiya and Shoafat, Israel's security fence cordons off the Arab
sections of the JNF lands from the rest of Jewish Jerusalem.

Internal JNF documents outline illegal Arab construction on the
Jewish-owned land. A December 2000 survey of Qalandiya summarized on JNF
stationery and signed by a JNF worker states, "In a lot of the plots I
find Arabs are living and building illegally and also working the JNF
land without permission."

The JNF survey goes on to document illegal construction of Arab
apartment complexes and the U.N. school under the property management of
Israel's Land Authority.

U.S. helping Palestinians build in Jerusalem

An investigation in March determined that the U.S. has been aiding the
Palestinians in developing infrastructure in eastern Jerusalem,
including on property owned by Jews.

The situation has been unfolding in the northern Jerusalem neighborhoods
of Kfar Akeb, Qalandiya and Samir Amis, which are close to the Jewish
neighborhoods of Neve Yaacov and Pisgat Zeev in Israel's capital. Kfar
Akeb, Qalandiya and Samir Amis are located entirely within the Jerusalem
municipality.

A tour then of the three Jerusalem neighborhoods found some surprising
developments. Official PA logos and placards abound, including one
glaring red street sign at the entrance to the neighborhoods warning
Israelis to keep out.

Another official sign, in Kfar Akeb in Jerusalem, reads in English,
"Ramallah-Jerusalem Road. This project is a gift form (sic) the American
people to the Palestinian people in cooperation with the Palestinian
Authority and PECDAR. 2007." The sign bears the emblems of the American
and PA governments and of the U.S. Agency for International Development,
or USAID. The displays were not present during a previous tour of the
neighborhoods in 2006.

Some local schools in the Jerusalem neighborhoods are officially run by
the PA – some in conjunction with the U.N. – with many teachers drawing
PA salaries. Civil disputes are usually settled not in Israeli courts
but by the PA judicial system, although at times Israeli courts are used
depending on the matter.

Councils governed by PA President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah organization
oversee some municipal matters. USAID provides the PA funds for road and
infrastructure projects.

Israeli security officials said the local Jerusalem police rarely
operate in Kfar Akeb, Qalandiya and Samir Amis; instead security has
been turned over to the Israel Defense Forces and Border Police, who
work almost daily with PA security forces. The PA police operate in the
Jerusalem neighborhoods in coordination with Israel.

Shmulik Ben Ruby, spokesman for the Jerusalem police, confirmed the
arrangement.

"If there are fights between some local families, sometimes we involve
the PA police to make peace between the families," he said. "Yes, the PA
police can operate in these neighborhoods in coordination with the IDF
and Border Police."

Jews barred from sections of Jerusalem

In another recent development, Israeli Jews, including local property
owners, have been almost entirely barred from entering Kfar Akeb,
Qalandiya and Samir Amis, while Israeli Arabs can freely enter.

King, a nationalist activist, said that he was barred several times
during the past few months from entering the neighborhood to administer
to the land, upon which local Arabs illegally constructed apartments.

Police spokesman Ben Ruby explained this new arrangement is due to
security concerns.

"It's quite dangerous to be there alone, so if they don't have to be
there it's not allowed, because they might find themselves in danger if
they go in," said Ruby.

In 2002, in response to the outbreak one year earlier of the Palestinian
intifada, or terrorist war against the Jewish state, the Israeli
government constructed its security barrier blocking off the West Bank
from Jewish population zones. The route of the fence also cut into
northern and eastern Jerusalem, incorporating Kfar Akeb, Qalandiya and
Samir Amis on the so-called Palestinian side.

Israel recaptured northern and eastern Jerusalem, including the Old City
and the Temple Mount, during the 1967 Six-Day War. The Palestinians,
however, have claimed eastern Jerusalem as a future capital. About
244,000 Arabs live in Jerusalem, mostly in eastern neighborhoods, out of
a total population of 724,000, the majority Jewish.

Jews lived in Kfar Akeb, Qalandiya and Samir Amis years before the
establishment of Israel in 1948, but they were violently expelled during
deadly Arab riots in 1929.

Jordan, together with other Arab countries, attacked Israel after its
founding in 1948 and administered the three Jerusalem neighborhoods as
well as all of eastern Jerusalem following an armistice agreement. In
1967, Jordan attacked again and Israel liberated the entire city of
Jerusalem in the Six-Day War. During the period of Jordanian control,
some new construction took place, including in areas previously
purchased by Jews.

The recent barring of Jews from northern Jerusalem sections seems to
coincide with an Israeli government decision the past year to allow the
PA some presence in Jerusalem.

Last June, it was reported that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert allowed the
PA to hold an official meeting in Jerusalem to discuss dealing with
expected Palestinian sovereignty over key sections of the city. Dmitri
Ziliani, a spokesman for the Jerusalem section of PA President Mahmoud
Abbas' Fatah party, confirmed to WND the meeting was related to the
activities and structure of Fatah's local command in some neighborhoods
of Jerusalem.

"We were covering the best ways to improve our performance on the street
and how we can be of service to the community," Ziliani said.

Ziliani said the regular PA meetings in Jerusalem are, in part, held in
anticipation of a future Palestinian state encompassing all of eastern
Jerusalem.

"Our political program as Fatah dictates there will be no Palestinian
state if these areas – all of east Jerusalem – are not included,"
Ziliani said.

According to Israeli law, the PA cannot officially meet in Jerusalem.
The PA previously maintained a de facto headquarters in Jerusalem,
called Orient House, but the building was closed down by Israel in 2001
following a series of suicide bombings in Jerusalem. Israel said it had
information indicating the House was used to plan and fund terrorism.

Thousands of documents and copies of bank certificates and checks
captured by Israel from Orient House – including many documents obtained
by reporters – showed the offices were used to finance terrorism,
including direct payments to the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group