Abu Ghneim Mountain- Har Homa settlement

The area known as Jabal Abu Ghneim is a territory of approximately 1500 dunums that expands from the south of Beit Sahour to the southern borders of Jerusalem.

  Immediately after 1967, Israel began a policy of colonization in the area of Jerusalem and since the settlements built on confiscated Palestinian land has proliferated. The huge settlement and housing project being pursued by the Israeli authorities has changed the character of Jerusalem. The aim of such a policy is to change the ethnographic make up of the city of Jerusalem, in evident violation of international law and many UN resolutions. The creation of areas of green land in the vicinity of Jerusalem is a ruse used by the Israeli authorities to confiscate Palestinian land and to expropriate Palestinians and demolish their homes.

In November 1994, the populations of Emtouba and Beit Sahour petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court in order to halt the confiscation of Palestinian lands. They also said that if the Israeli authorities took their land, then the housing units built on this land should be for Arabs as it is Arab land. The Supreme Court rejected the petition, declaring that residency on the land was not under discussion and that once the land is taken by the Israeli authorities it becomes the property of the Israeli Ministry of Housing, which is then responsible for deciding how the land is used.  This latter decided to set up the project number 5053, which called for using the Abu Ghneim land as follows:  

1-      industrial zone for light industry

2-      commercial zone

3-      tourist area with hotels and other amenities

4-      housing zone containing 17500 units

  However, it appeared difficult for the Israeli Ministry of housing to implement this plan and to sell portions of the Abu Ghneim Mountain to individuals for many reasons, including political and economic considerations. The Israelis see the area of Abu Ghneim as an area of tension, because it is located between east and west which represents a large amount of money, if one take into consideration the fact that Jerusalem. Also, from the economic point of view, every land unit cost $29 000, these land units are sold undeveloped.

After confiscating 24 sq. km of East Jerusalem, (which represents approximately 30% of the land of Jerusalem) the Israeli government announced on April 21, 1999 the confiscation of more land owned by Arabs in Emtouba, near Jerusalem. The reason given for this further territorial expansion was "public interest" considerations.    

  The political danger of building in Abu Ghneim

The "Greater Jerusalem plan" is apparently meant to permanently separate and isolate Arab Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank and to leave the holy city encapsulated by Jewish neighborhood. The extension of the different settlements around Jerusalem by encroaching on the West Bank increased the number of settlers in East Jerusalem. There are now around 150 000 living in East Jerusalem. This policy of settlement within East Jerusalem will have severe consequences on the demographic aspect of the city, affecting its balance.  

            Jerusalem is the religious, cultural, political and socioeconomic heart Palestine. Cutting off this vital bond will have severe consequences on Palestinian existence insofar as trade and movement between the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem will be more restricted. Cities like Beit Sahour, Beit Jala and Bethlehem are being caught in the center of Jewish colonies, without any connections to one another and Palestinian territories are being concentrated into cantons.  

            Actions taken in order to change the legal status of Jerusalem are illegal under International Law. The United Nations Security Council 252 concerning the application of Israeli Law, Jurisdiction and Administration to East Jerusalem, May 21, 1968 states that: "All legislative and administrative measures and actions taken by Israel including the expropriation of land and properties thereon, which tend to change the legal status of Jerusalem are invalid and cannot change that status".

Population transfer and ‎settlement construction are a blatant violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention that states that "the Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer its own civilian population into the territory it occupies". The illegal confiscation of land and the policy of settlement carried out by the Israeli authorities are also in complete defiance of the Oslo Accords.