Announcement of Construction Plan in Mordot Gilo
On November 3rd, the Jerusalem Planning Committee approved building permits for the construction of 181 units in Mordot Gilo West (Plan No 13157). Of the 181 units approved, 113 are the same units previously “approved” on January 13. (Since the developers asked for certain waivers regarding the permit, they were required to publish those waivers and bring […]
OCHA Report: 180 Palestinian Households At Risk for Eviction in East Jerusalem
A number of legal mechanisms have facilitated the establishment of East Jerusalem settlements. The most prominent of these are (a) land expropriations, (b) the abuse of Absentee Property Legislation, and (c) the “recovery” of property that had belonged to Jews prior to 1948. Israeli authorities long ago exhausted the first of these mechanisms, expropriating (as […]
Approval of 500 Units in Ramat Shlomo
On November 23, Jerusalem building committee approved a plan for the construction of 500 units in Ramat Shlomo. The plan in question, Plan number 11094, pertains to construction outside the expropriation lines of Ramat Shlomo. A significant part of the plan is on private land, not Israeli-declared state land, which has complicated and prolonged the planning process. This plan […]
State Comptroller’s Report on Elad
On November 1st, Israel’s State Comptroller published a report criticizing the conduct of three Israeli governmental authorities in the management of their relations with the settler organization known as Elad, which manages the City of David National Park (in Silwan). These authorities are (1) the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, (2) the Israel Antiquities Authority […]
On the Eve of the New Year: A Different & Dangerous Jerusalem
Collective punishment: From Sporadic to Systematic The emergence of a new policy towards Palestinians in East Jerusalem The period of the Jewish High Holidays is often a time of tensions in Jerusalem and, for the past two years, has been a time of intense violence and upheaval in East Jerusalem. With that season nearly upon […]
Breaking News: Government Actively Advancing E-2
As covered in detail over the weekend in the Israeli media, a lawsuit brought by the Peace Now movement revealed that the government of Israel is moving ahead full steam with plans for a new settlement comprising 2500 units, widely dubbed “E-2” (referred to as the Nahla plan and, by settlers, as “Givat Eitam”). The plan deals with […]
Tisha B’Av Incitement Re: The Temple Mount
The Tisha B’Av fast day, commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples, always brings the ever-tense situation on the Temple Mount to the brink of conflagration. This year was no different, with the day (starting at sundown on August 13 and ending at sundown on August 14) witnessing the well-established patterns of skirmishing, […]
Deepening the Occupation in East Jerusalem
In recent months, the focus of the world, when it comes to East Jerusalem, has been on urgent issues – like violence/clashes, home demolitions, etc. It is to this backdrop that the government of Israel has been quietly advancing two types of measures to increase its presence in the life of East Jerusalem’s Palestinian residents. […]
Back in the Headlines: Plans for 2500 Units South of Gilo
Last week, there were press reports concerning a new plan for the construction of large-scale construction in East Jerusalem, near the border between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, as part of an expansion of the settlement of Gilo. These press reports detail a private sector initiative, being promoted by Israeli developers, under a town plan drawn up […]
Israeli Govt: “The Mt of Olives will be Reinforced as a Visitors’ Site”
Israeli Govt: “The Mt of Olives will be Reinforced as a Visitors’ Site” This week, the Netanyahu government decided to start designing a plan for to develop the Mount of Olives as a major tourist site, “under the framework of celebrating the 50th anniversary of the unification of the city of Jerusalem.” Notably, this initiative is being […]