Dubai: With both Israelis and Palestinians agreeing to start direct peace talks in the US next month, Palestinian citizens in occupied Jerusalem have warned against the volatility of the talks unless Israel changes its position towards the city in accordance with international law.
Israel underestimates the importance of the occupied Jerusalem issue from a Palestinian point of view, one expert said.
"During their 33 years of occupation Israel demolished around 2,000 buildings and expelled thousands of its citizens. Now they feel that they can swallow the last bite and get away with it," said Moaz Zat'ari, executive manager, Al Maqdese for Society Development (MSD) in occupied Jerusalem.
However, Israel is wrong in its assumption, Zat'ari said. Occupied Jerusalem remains a sensitive issue for both Muslims and Christians.
Israel has demolished around 1,937 homes since it occupied Jerusalem in June 1967 and 13,856 people have lost their residency permits, according to documents obtained by the Al Maqdese Society. Also, 17 homes have been demolished in this year alone.
Occupied Jerusalem will forever be the explosive issue in any peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians until Israel recognises the occupied part should be returned to the Palestinians and that it should halt its expansionist plans, according to Zat'ari who spoke to Gulf News from occupied Jerusalem.
"Israel has managed to change the demographic features of the city and its surroundings. The international community should not allow them to get the advantage after its brutality and violation of international law," he said.
While international pressure has had some impact on Israel's appetite to demolish Arab houses, it has not been enough to ensure full compliance of international law and obligations by the occupation authority.
Demographic changes
"Israel is feeling comfortable with the demographic changes it has achieved in the past 33 years so it feels like it's in a good position to digest the occupied part of the city easily," he said.
The upcoming direct peace talks need to address that there is no justification for Israel under international law for its demolition of homes, he added.
In addition, Israel's urban planning since 1967 has instituted a building law that has been used to control the existence of Arabs in the city in favour of Jewish colonies, he said. By doing this, it has marginalised the Palestinian component of the city to less that 250,000 people out of the previously one million total population of the city.
"The difficulties put before Arabs to obtain building permits in the city has forced them to leave [occupied] Jerusalem and migrate to the suburbs and surrounding villages. It has become next to impossible to obtain a building permit in the city while Israelis who wanted to move into the city are given permits with almost no restrictions at all," Zat'ari said.
He said this is exactly why Palestinians in some cases are forced to build shelters on their land which are subject to an immediate demolition order when the authorities discover them.
The MSD is a non-governmental organisation which has been working on documenting Israeli action in the city. "Israel has also to either return the situation on the ground or to compensate those who were affected by its illegal acts. Original citizens in [occupied] Jerusalem are not in any way guests in the city as they were described by Israeli law. The Israeli authorities have no rights to scrap an original citizen residency permit. We are the owners of the land and we will not leave our homes for new occupiers," he said.
