Settlements and the Judaization of Jerusalem

At least 66% of today’s Jerusalem is territory seized by force (5% of the old Jordanian municipality and 61% of former West Bank territory). Within this area, Israel has expropriated more than 23,380 dunums of mostly Palestinian –owned land- over one-third of East Jerusalem – for the construction of Israeli settlements since 1967 (Foundation for Middle East Peace –FMEP, Report on Israeli Settlement, May-June 1999). These settlements – with a population of approx. 180,000 – are intended to secure Israeli superiority over the entire Jerusalem region. They form two rings around the city –the inner ring in East Jerusalem and the outer ring (‘Greater Jerusalem’) reaching far into the West Bank –isolating Arab East Jerusalem, cutting the West Bank in half, and imposing economic strangulation as the city is the natural center for all trade and movement routes in the Palestinian Territories. The ‘Greater Jerusalem’ plan is more of a political than geographical concept, which follows Israel’s vision of a metropolitan Jerusalem stretching from Ramallah (north) to Hebron (south) and from Jericho (east) to Bet Shemesh (west) covering 30% of the WB. The total area amounts to 440 km2, of which less than a quarter lies within pre- 1967 Israeli borders.

Almost half of the area of Arab East Jerusalem has been slated as ‘green areas’, i.e., public space, on which construction is not allowed. In fact, these areas serve as land reserves for the construction or expansion of settlements. The first such case was Shu’fat: 2,000 dunums of its land, designated as a ‘green area’ in 1968, were rezoned in 1973 to allow for the building of the Ramot settlement. The most recent case was Jabel Abu Ghneim, zoned as a ‘green area’ in 1968 and redefined in 1991 to prepare for the construction of the Har Homa settlement.

Israeli Settlements in East Jerusalem

Source: Palestinian Academic Society for the Studies of International Affairs. (PASSIA )