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Arab Bloggers Rally Against the Judaization of Jerusalem

· Written by Anas Qtiesh

Categories: Middle East & North Africa, Israel, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Digital Activism, Governance, History, Human Rights, International Relations, Politics, War & Conflict
Jerusalem Old City from Mount of Olives. [1]
Image via Wikipedia [1]

Jerusalem, Al Quds in Arabic, is a core issue in the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem [2] under the ” Jerusalem Law [3]” was vastly condemned by the UN and its related bodies. UN Security Council resolution 478 [4] (passed in 1980) resulted in the moving of most foreign embassies out of Jerusalem.

Israeli Authorities are criticized for the ongoing policy to promote a Jewish majority and Judaize Jerusalem through evicting Arabs and demolishing their homes in East Jerusalem, claiming they don't have building permits and making it extremely difficult for an Arab residents to get a building permit. According to a World Bank [5] report, the number of recorded building violations between 1996 and 2000 was four and half times higher in Jewish neighborhoods but four times fewer demolition orders were issued in West Jerusalem than in East Jerusalem.

The latest eviction act [6] was met by an outrage from Arab bloggers. Khaled Alsoud from Jordan speaks out [7] [ar] on the situation of Arabs in the city:

20000 ألف مقدسي فقدوا حقهم بالإقامة عبر سحب البطاقات الزرقاء من 6000 رب عائلة و12000منزل مهدد بالهدم من قبل الدولة الصهيونية و جدار الفصل العنصري الذي أخرج 151423 مقدسي خارج إطار مدينة القدس ومنع التواصل بكافة أشكاله مع المقدسيين الذين احتجزوا داخل المدينة، كما في القدس 23 حاجز صهيوني يقطع أوصال المدينة ويعيق \أو يمنع\ أهلها من التواصل فيما بينهم أو مع الآخرين خارج الجدار.

والآن وجهت دولة الاحتلال الصهيوني إنذارات لـ 88 عائلة”1500 مقدسي” بالإخلاء وذلك لهدم بيوتهم بحجة التراخيص، وإنشاء حديقة عامة مكان تلك البيوت وفي أخطر وأوسع عملية تهجير منذ حي المغاربة.

20,000 residents of Jerusalem have lost their right to residency through withdrawing blue cards from 6,000 families; 12,000 houses are under the threat of demolition by the Zionist State and the apartheid wall which has locked out 151,423 residents out of the city and prohibited all kinds of communications with residents who were locked in the city. Al Quds has 23 Zionist crossings dividing it and obstructing, or prohibiting, it's people from communicating with one another or with the others outside of the wall.
Now, the Zionist occupation state have issued eviction notices to 88 families (1,500 people) to demolish their homes under the premise that they don't have permits in order to establish a park in their place, in what constitutes the broadest and most dangerous eviction since the demolition of the Moroccan Quarter.

syriangavroche gives his analysis of the situation [8] [ar]:

من الواضح أن كل هذه الأمور تجري بغية فرض أمر واقع قبيل أي جلسة مفاوضات مع الجانب الفلسطيني بخصوص القدس, فإفراغ القدس من سكانها العرب شكلاً و مضموناً هو إعادة بناء واقع جديد يمكن فرضه على الجانب الآخر و خصوصاً إن كان جانباً ضعيفاً مثل السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية.

It's obvious that the proceedings are in order to force a matter-of-fact before any session of negotiations regarding Jerusalem with the Palestinian side, emptying Jerusalem of its Arab residents is to rebuild an entirely new reality that can be forced on the other side especially if it was a weak side like the National Palestinian Authority.

Jafra brings back to memory [9] [ar] the influential Arab literary figures that were assassinated by the Mossad [10] such as Ghassan Kanafani [11], Wael Zuaiter [12] and Naji Al Ali [13], emphasizing the importance of  knowledge and culture in fighting occupation:

الفكرة و القلم و العلم اهم من الاسوار العالية واهم و بنادق مصوبة و قناص ينتظر و طائرة تبحث عن هدف

The idea, the pen, and knowledge are more important than high walls and more important than aimed rifles, a lurching sniper, and a plane looking for a target.

She goes on to plead support for the Al Quds Capital of Arab Culture 2009 [14] festivities:

انا الان و هم ايضا في القدس لا يدعونكم لمجزرة و لا لحرب او اعلان ثورة
هو مجرد دعوة لدعم هذا الحدث لجعله يليق بالقدس

They in Al Quds, and I, are not calling for a massacre, a war, nor a declaration of a revolution.
This is just an invitation to support this event and make it worthy of Al Quds.

Alghait from Syria asks [15] [ar] Syrian bloggers to create a “Blog for Al Quds Week”:

من بين الضجيج العذب للمدونات السورية أدعو نفسي وإياكم أن نخصص أسبوع للتدوين من أجل القدس كما كان الأول للجولان
أدعو نفسي وإياكم أن نعمل لإخواننا كما عملنا لأنفسنا
ولتكن من المدونات السورية أولاً ..

Out of the sweet noise of Syrian blogs I call upon you to designate a week to blog for Al Quds, just as we have done during the Blogging for Golan week.
I ask for all of us to work for our brothers as we did for ourselves.
Let the Syrian blogs lead the way.