Ramallah: Jordan must take legal action against the Judaisation of Occupied Jerusalem, according to Khalil Tafakji, who heads the Maps and Colonisation group in the city.

Speaking to Gulf News, Tafakji pointed out that Jordan is the only state which has the authority to sue Israel at an international level for attempts to make Jerusalem overwhelmingly Jewish.

“According to the Wadi Araba peace deal between Jordan and Israel, the Al Buraq Wall is a Waqf (trust) run by the Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf,” he said.

He was referring to plans by Occupied Jerusalem’s Planning and Construction Committee to redesign the city. The Palestinians oppose these plans however, claiming that they are outside the committee’s remit and that Israel can never be the capital of two states.

Tafakji said the Israelis are implementing a plan to eradicate the Arab and Islamic heritage and culture in Occupied Jerusalem.

He explained that just under the Al Magharebah Wall of the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, the Israelis are in the advanced stages of constructing a huge tunnel which connects the Jewish Quarter in Occupied Jerusalem with their claimed city of David, which happens to be the Palestinian neighbourhood of Silwan, to the Al Buraq Wall, which the Israelis call the ‘Wailing Wall’.

According to the plan all signs of Arab and Muslim culture in the Al Buraq Wall area will be removed. The project should be completed by 2020. By this time, the population will be mainly Jewish, he said.

Work on a rail system, called the Jerusalem Light Rail, has already begun. This will connect Occupied West Jerusalem to theAl Buraq Wall. Tafakji told how passengers will receive information about the Jewish religion at the station. According to Tafakji, it will also be mandatory for all visitors to pass through the Jewish Quarter and learn about Jewish history, thus reinforcing the concept of Occupied Jerusalem as a Jewish city.

Many homes have already been destroyed in the Arab neighbourhood of Silwan, which has been resided by Palestinians for centuries.

Palestinians are concerned that the case of Silwan is just the beginning of a broader campaign to remove all Palestinians from the Holy City