Al-Quds Center for Civil and Social Rights in Jerusalem said that the Israeli Authorities in Jerusalem took new measures to limit the construction of Palestinian houses in Jerusalem. The center sent a letter to the regional Committee for constructions in Jerusalem Municipality demanding an explanation for rejecting building permits in East Jerusalem, but it received no reply.
The center mentioned that it could verify its claim, as a Palestinian from east Jerusalem asked the centre for legal aid since the municipality rejected his permit. The center followed this issue and contacted Engineering offices specialized in constructions and verified the fact that the municipality refrains to permit any construction of building for Arabs in East Jerusalem.
The lawyer of Al-Quds center, Ashraf Saif considered the procedures taken by Jerusalem Municipality a dangerous angle which aims to limit the Arabic constructions in Jerusalem, and that it always puts the Palestinians under suspicion that they always do not follow the construction procedures taken by the municipality. Saif added that the current procedures carry dangerous political dimensions which aim to limit the Palestinian existence in Jerusalem and force them to leave Jerusalem and move into the West Bank.
The head of Al-Quds center, Ziad Al-Hamoury, described the new measure as “dangerous†and mentioned that it comes as part of the regulations which the municipality takes against the Palestinians in Jerusalem in cooperation with the Israeli Police, such as confiscating building materials, Equipment, in addition to demolishing some houses and fining the people who construct them.
Palestinian lands around Jerusalem have been taken from them in order to construct new settlements and surround Jerusalem with a chain of settlements leaving the Palestinians aside after they lose their land and lose their geographical and social unity. The Israeli procedures of banning the Palestinians to build in Jerusalem from one side, and confiscating their lands around the city on the other side, is in fact an implementation of what an Israeli official once mentioned the way to deal with “The demographic danger the Arabs impose in Israelâ€Â.
