By: Madeeha Al-A’raj
The national Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements ( nbprs ) stated in its latest weekly report that , the concept of colonization can be identified as one nation subjugates another nation, conquers its people and exploits them, where the common ground among multiple forms of colonialism was a military and robbery one of wealth, lands and properties of the people by force. But, the Israeli occupation of Palestine surpassed other colonial regimes as it relies on religious ideology in order to justify its false legitimacy, so it combined the policy of transfer, ethnic cleansing, and uprooting with the plundering of resources and the exploitation of the Palestinian people.
Within the context, a new report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) stated that the restrictions imposed by the occupation authorities on Palestinian development in the parts of the West Bank it controls cost the Palestinian economy an estimated $50 billion between 2000 and 2020, and that represents more than two and a half times the Palestinian GDP in 2020.
UNCTAD said, ‘Despite the fact that many resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly of the United Nations affirming, under international law, the illegality of the settlements and the acquisition of land by force, those settlements continue to grow and expand, and at the same time on about 70% of Area C, while still Palestinian access to the remaining 30% of Area C is ‘severely restricted,’ including a ban on the import of certain technology, strict permit requirements, and tight administrative controls, checkpoints, and roadblocks.
The report also estimated the annual contribution of these settlements to the Israeli economy is $41 billion or 227% of the Palestinian GDP for the year 2021. UNCTAD noted, “This GDP produced from Palestinian lands and natural resources also shows the heavy price paid by the Palestinian people as a result of building settlements and their stepping up growth," stressing the need to lift all restrictions imposed on Palestinian economic activity in Area C.
On the other hand, it was revealed that areas, basins, and plots of land in Beit Safafa and Sheikh Jarrah have been registered for the benefit of Jewish families and settlement associations within the project of land registration and settlement in East Jerusalem. It seems that Jerusalemites' turnout for registration is weak, which opened the door for large-scale registration operations for the benefit of settlers and settlement associations.
According to the plan of the Israeli Registration Authorities, at the beginning of next year 2023, work will take place to settle the lands of Qalandia, Kafr Aqab and Samiramis, with the aim of introducing lands that the occupation authorities claim belong to Israelis and Jewish associations, with the aim of registering them and including them within the structural plans for settlement expansion projects that the occupation municipality intends to implement within a settlement project to build 1,390 settlement units on the lands of Jerusalem Qalandia Airport, and expand the Atarot Industrial Zone.
It is clear that the so-called Israeli Ministry of Justice is proceeding with its five-year plan in the targeted sectors, as it issued a decision last week to open the door for registration in the lands of Beit Hanina in basins 31828 and 30615 of the lands of Beit Hanina.
Moreover, people In Beit Hanina, were surprised to see that the Israeli Department of Justice and Registration put papers and advertisements on electricity columns in basins 31828/3615 and plots 231/232/233/234. Some of these papers were placed near these plots, and through them, the landowners were invited to prove their ownership of them, and to review the ministry before the expiry of the period of these declarations, otherwise these lands will be registered as abandoned property, noting that the aforementioned declarations for registration or objection expire on 11th of the next month i.e. after 20 days.
The papers stated that ‘these days we are conducting land settlement procedures in Basin 31828 for those who claim ownership of land or houses in Basin 31828 are required to submit a claim memorandum and documents proving their ownership of the property on the website of the Registration Authority And the settlement of real estate rights, and this step of the occupation authorities ignites a red light in front of tens or even hundreds of families who own lands and houses in these basins, and do not have documents and papers, or that one of their members has the right to them outside the homeland.
The Land Registration and Settlement Project is considered an Israeli settlement project that targets the remaining Palestinian property in Jerusalem. The implementation of the project on the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood last April led to the registration of a section of the neighborhood's lands in the eastern and western parts of the neighborhood in favor of Jews who claimed ownership of it before 1948 without any proof or documents
List of Israeli Assaults over the Last Week Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
- Forcing a family to demolish their house in Ras al-Amud Neighborhood in Silwan under the pretext of building without a permit, and forcing a citizen to demolish 45 square meters of his house under the same pretext and same neighborhood.
- Removing a roof and crescent of the minaret of the Jerusalem Citadel Mosque in Bab al-Khalil, with the aim of Judaizing the place and the removing of Islamic monuments.
Hebron:
- Attacking the house of Abdul-Karim Al-Ja'bari near the ‘Kiryat Arba settlement’, and smashing the windows of citizens' vehicles in the area.
- Seizing an agricultural tractor from Masafer Yatta under the pretext of being in a military zone.
- Injuring a number of citizens as a result of an attack by armed settlers in the Tel Rumeida Neighborhood, who threw stones and empty bottles at their homes, injuring a number of them. They also attacked the ‘Bab Al-Zawiya’ and ‘Al-Siddiq’ mosques and smashed their windows.
Bethlehem:
- Chopping 9 forest trees at the main entrance of Beit Fajjar town.
- Demolishing a 100-square-meter house in the Batin al-Maasi area of al-Khader under the pretext of not having a license
- Attacking citizens' homes in Khirbet Beit Iskaria, in the midst of the settlement bloc in ‘Etzion’ settlement, located on citizens' lands, south of Bethlehem.
Ramallah:
- Confiscating 2 agricultural rooms ‘caravans’ and demolishing other rooms made of bricks, and bulldozed lands in the Atara town, north of Ramallah in the Jabal al-Khirba area.
- Demolishing a retaining wall and brick agricultural rooms, and confiscating 2 agricultural caravans, water tanks, and two ancient columns.
Salfeet:
- Notifications to halt construction in 8 houses in the Qarawat Bani Hassan town, some of which are inhabited, and others under construction in the ‘Ras’ area in the northeastern region.
- Demolishing 3 agricultural rooms in the Kafr El-Dik town in the northern part of the town
Jordan Valley:
- Attacking the boy, Ali Moh’d Malihat, 17, from Jericho, before being arrested by the occupation army, which left him with bruises all over his body and lost consciousness.
- Cows were stolen in the Um al-Abr area in the northern Jordan Valley, and notified to stop building of 2 homes in Wadi al-Joufah, and began photographing citizens’ homes, and notified others to stop construction in 2 homes.
- Confiscating 12 cows belonging to the citizen Haza’ Msae’d, and his brothers in the Um al-Abur area in the northern Jordan Valley.