Ramallah: A hundred thousand Palestinians in neighbourhoods outside the security barrier surrounding occupied East Jerusalem face removal from the city’s census. Under Israeli proposals, they would be placed in a new municipality, thus losing their residency status.
The move is seen as a ploy to placate far-right Jewish groups outraged at the removal of security measures at Al Haram Al Sharif.
The Times of Israel reported that the proposals were aimed at making Jerusalem’s demographic balance significantly more Jewish. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu relies on far-right Israeli political leaders to keep his coalition in power.
Under the proposed Israeli legislation, four West Bank colonies would be absorbed into Jerusalem municipality — Ma’ale Adumim, Givat Ze’ev, Beitar Illit and Efrat — along with the Etzion bloc of colonies.
Shaikh Najeh Bakeerat, former chief of Al Haram Al Sharif and current head of Al Aqsa Heritage Foundation, said Israel wanted the holy city fully emptied of its indigenous Palestinian residents, and that the occupying power had put in place well-designed plans to achieve that goal.
He added that despite the removal of security measures at Al Haram Al Sharif, Muslims should stay highly vigilant, because Israel would never give up its systematic greed towards the holy shrine.
Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who is also a member of the security cabinet, said Israel had been weakened by the decision to remove the security measures. He told Israeli Army Radio: “I anticipate an increase in violence soon. Every time that Israel strategically caves, we get an intifada.”
Al Haram Al Sharif is run by Al Waqf Department, part of the Jordanian Government. Under a decades-old status quo agreement, Jews are allowed to visit the shrine but are banned from praying there.
In a shoot-out near Al Haram Al Sharif on Friday, July 14, three Palestinians from the 1948 areas and two Israeli police officers were killed. Israeli occupation authorities closed the holy site for two days and set up metal detectors, smart cameras and metal railings at the entrances in a bid to perpetuate its control.
Palestinians then refused to enter the site for prayers and held street protests that put Netanyahu under massive pressure. He backtracked on the security measures, and prayers at Al Haram Al Sharif were ordered by the Waqf Department to resume as normal.
Israel captured the eastern part of Jerusalem in the Mideast Six-Day War and annexed it in a move that has never been recognised by the international community.
Israeli wants a “unified and undivided Jerusalem” as Israel’s eternal capital. Palestinians see occupied East Jerusalem as the capital of their future independent state.
Observers believe that the status of Jerusalem was the main reason for diplomatic talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis breaking down in April 2014.
