Palestinians: the project will change the character of the Old City

Occupied Jerusalem: -- Palestinian experts and officials are warning of the dangerous repercussions of an Israeli project aimed at changing the landmarks and character of Jaffa Gate and the Omar Bin Khattab Square in the Old City of Jerusalem.

The project, which is currently under construction by Israeli Jerusalem municipal teams and the Israeli Antiquities Authority, involves excavations beneath the western wall of the historical Jerusalem Citadel, which includes the Nabi Daoud Mosque. A market and tourist and commercial center will be built belowground at the site, aimed at attracting commercial and tourist activity and diverting entrance into the Old City to Jaffa Gate by connecting it to Jaffa Street and Jewish centers in the western sector of occupied Jerusalem.

Renowned settlement expert, Khalil Tufakji says the Jaffa Gate project is part of an even more comprehensive project to alter the landmarks and character of the area, especially Omar Bin Khattab Square. He explains that this area in particular leads into the Old City, namely the Armenian Quarter and the Sharaf, or Jewish Quarter, where settlement build-up in the Old City is concentrated. Around 3,000 settlers live in this quarter in addition to the hundreds of settlers and yeshiva students distributed among dozens of other properties taken over from Palestinian Jerusalemites.

“We are talking about a huge tourist project in this area, which is slated to be completed in 2022; the construction and bulldozers are already in place,” Tujaki says.

The project includes the establishment of open arenas, markets and commercial and tourist centers along with an underground museum, so that tourists and Jews can reach Jaffa Gate through several nearby, glassed-in courts and tourist rest-stops. Through its Antiquities Authority, the Israeli government earmarked a budget of ILS40 million for the project, which is being implemented by the “Clore Israel Foundation.”

Jerusalemites fear this Israeli project will result in an even worse slump in commercial and tourist activity in the Old City, which already suffers from an almost complete commercial standstill. This recession only worsened with the coronavirus pandemic, which forced many Jerusalemite merchants to close their shops in search of other means of livelihood for their families.

Walid Dajani is manager of the Imperial Hotel in Jaffa Gate, whose family has been fighting a legal battle for over two decades with settlement associations that claim ownership of the hotel, which is originally the property of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate. Dajani warned of the demographic ramifications of these developments in this area, especially on the Palestinian Christian presence in the Old City, which is currently only 1% of the population of 40,000 residents.

Previous estimates indicate a 5% rise in Jerusalemite shops closed during the pandemic and due to Israeli taxes. Overall, 350 shops in the Old City have been forced to close over the years and turned into alternative workspaces. This was confirmed by head of the Jerusalemite merchants’ committee and former secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, Hijazi Risheq, who said the situation in the Old City in particular was dire. Everyday, he contends, shopkeepers and merchants lose money due to the recession, a situation which is exacerbated by restrictive and Israeli measures including on movement, for people coming to the Old City.

Meanwhile, Tony Khashram, head of Holy Land Tourism, said Israel was looking to turn Jaffa Gate into the “Mecca” of Jewish pilgrims worldwide. He explains how Orthodox and extremist Jews in Jerusalem are in control of capital and have considerable sway in the politics of the city, investing large amounts of money into Jewish religious sites in the Old City. In contrast, Christian and Islamic sites are unimportant to them. “Jaffa Gate is the easiest entryway into the Old City for Jews from West Jerusalem to the Buraq [Western] Wall, on foot, by car or other means of future transportation,” Kashram explains.

Commenting on the current project at Jaffa Gate, Khashram says: “As for the future of commercial activity in the Old City, I think it will continue to be very weak, because it depends on Christian and Islamic and not Jewish tourism.”

Khashram explains that 2019 saw the highest number of Christian and Muslim tourists since 1948, constituting 35% of the total number of tourists who entered the holy land from all crossings. The other 65% were Jewish foreigners.

The current projects being carried out in Jerusalem cannot be separated from the crux of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, especially in regards to the narrative. Khashram maintains, “Everyone knows that Jews inside and outside of Israel have not stopped for one day since 1948 to promote the idea of building Solomon’s Temple. We, in the tourism sector, hear it all the time from tourists and we know how much money Israel collects from other countries and Jewish organizations abroad for the sake of their settlement projects in the city. This money funds all of the tourism service providers and contractors and all of the other Jewish-owned economic sectors in Jerusalem.”

Money utilizes to enhance the demographic settlement presence in the Old City is not limited to Israeli government-funded projects, all of which look to achieve one goal, which is the Judaization of Jerusalem in its entirety, but extends to other sources, particularly the millions of dollars flowing into these projects from the likes of American-Jewish millionaire Irving Moskowitz. He finances settlement associations with an annual ILS100 million, constituting a main source of funding for their activities, aimed at taking over Jerusalemite properties in the Old City, Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah. Thanks to his money, two settlement neighborhoods were established in Ras Al Amoud, named “Ma'ale HaZeitim” and another in the heart of Sheikh Jarrah named the “Moskowitz Quarter”, which was built on the ruins of the Shepherd Hotel.

“Since the day I received the Israeli demolition order, I never left the house, I am always afraid that they will come and I don’t want them to find it empty, I am always here ready to defend my ownership of this house, I won’t go out. I missed family weddings, mornings I never went out, except once, to the post office to pay the fine for the house!”

These were the words of Etidal, a Palestinian woman from the Al-Bustan neighborhood - Silwan, the Israeli occupation authorities issued an executive order to self-demolish her house within a period of 21 days. If she and her family do not do so, the occupying forces will demolish their house, bearing the family the costs of the demolition. In addition to continuing the payment of a construction violation issued to them since 2009. The story of Etidal is not exceptional, as 230 thousand Palestinian women live under constant threat of forced displacement in its various forms within a policy that in most cases can constitute a crime against humanity to empty Jerusalem of its Palestinian residents and replace them with Israeli settlers .

Palestinian women have been living under the Israeli military occupation in Jerusalem since 1967, when Israel imposed its legal system in contrary with international humanitarian law, which prohibits the occupying power from changing the laws in force in the area. Moreover, the Israeli Laws classified Palestinians as permanent residents in their own land; accordingly, they are under the constant threat of losing this residency and be expelled out of the city. The policy of house demolitions in East Jerusalem is one of the forced displacement mechanisms where Israel seeks to limit the presence of Palestinians in Jerusalem to Judaize the city. Among all this, the suffering of Palestinian women and the double impact of the occupation on their security and safety are evident.

This specialized article presents the issue of house demolitions in Silwan as one of the mechanisms of forced displacement. It focuses on the daily challenge of human security of Jerusalemite women due to this Israeli policy, and its impact on their daily lives. This article contributes in shedding the light on their case in light of the WPS agenda, and answers the central question: How can Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda contribute in alleviating the suffering of Palestinian women in Jerusalem? Could it guarantee their basic rights?

Legal Overview: Silwan as a part of East Jerusalem.

Silwan is part of the militarily occupied East Jerusalem, which Israel illegally annexed its lands, despite the UN Security Council’s call for the Israeli forces to withdraw from it as stated Resolution 242. This illegal annexation was followed with the imposition of the Israeli legal system on Palestinians in Jerusalem. Accordingly, the Israeli courts hear the civil cases of the Palestinians without jurisdiction ; as the relationship between the occupying power and the people under occupation must be governed by international conventions and covenants of humanitarian law. Such cases must be heard before international courts. As Israeli Judicial system necessarily adopts the colonial perspective of the Israeli occupation represented in the policies to Judaize the city, the most prominent of which is forced displacement.

The policy of forced displacement takes many forms, such as the withdrawal of residency and the imposition of a coercive environment on the Palestinian population in which it is difficult to live under. In several cases, this policy can constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity, but the most obvious form is house demolitions, which witnessed an increase of 40% during the first quarter of 2021 over previous years, leading to an increase of 87% for cases of displacement.

Israel’s policy to forcible transfer: Expensive fines & executive demolishing orders: Based on that, Israel imposes fines or even issue executive orders on Palestinian housing units that did not obtain a building permit, as the Palestinians in Jerusalem face two problems in this regard:

1. Israel does not adequately grant building permits to the Palestinians in Jerusalem, as the percentage of building permits granted to the Palestinians in recent years did not exceed 7% of the granted permits, although they constitute 40% of the population in East Jerusalem, which indicates a racist planning policy.
2. Building permit fees are very expensive compared to the income of the Palestinian population in occupied Jerusalem, where 75.4% of them live below the poverty line.

As for the issue of (17) Palestinian families in the Al-Bustan neighborhood - Silwan, these families face both policies, non-appealable executive orders for demolition, and exorbitant financial fines.

Today, the estimated number of houses under the threat of demolition in East Jerusalem is 60,000 houses. This constitutes a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilians in Times of Armed Conflict. Article 53 states that: “Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or co-operative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations”. While all the houses threatened of demolition in East Jerusalem are civilian facilities and their residents are civilians.

In addition, house demolitions can constitute a war crime based on international criminal law, as Article 8/2 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court states that large-scale destruction of property without a military necessity justifying it is a war crime. Furthermore, it can constitute a crime against humanity as it includes the elements of the crime of persecution as a crime against humanity.

None - appealable executive orders for demolition:

Despite imposing the Israeli legal system in violation of international humanitarian law on the Palestinians in Jerusalem, Israel accelerated the implementation of its forced displacement policies. In 2008, the Israeli government approved Amendment No. 116 to the Israeli Planning and Building Law, known as the Kaminits Law; This amendment grants wide powers to demolish and impose very expensive fines on the executive authority, undermining the powers of the judicial authorities. It prevents courts from interfering with demolition freeze orders so that the planning and building unit can issue an administrative order to demolish a building without a court permission and can also impose a fine of hundreds of thousands of shekels without court’s permission.

Today, because of their implementation, the planning and building unit has imposed fines amounting to more than 20 million shekels in Arab towns. The Israeli government boasts that it has managed through law to limit 80% of construction in unregulated Arab towns.

The right to adequate housing within the WPS agenda:

"Although the whole family is affected by forced displacement, it is the woman who suffers the most here as well. Women have to adapt to their new circumstances and assume their responsibilities as in the past, but with fewer means, and they have to work harder and harder to manage things."

International law links between the right to adequate housing and human security; as one of the elements of the right to an adequate standard of living. Accordingly, the indivisibility approach applies to it with the related basic human rights such as the right to food, water, health, work, and property, safety of the person, safe Housing, and protection from inhuman and degrading treatment.

This link is reflected in the definition of “the right to adequate housing” as more than just providing a roof, which the individual can live under, it is the right to live a safe and dignified life in a decent housing away from threats .

Therefore, international community considers forceful displacement a grave violation of international law . Moreover, in some cases it may constitute a war crime or a crime against humanity .

In Jerusalem, Palestinians struggle against the policy of forced displacement, which is implemented in various forms, the most prominent and burdensome of which is the policy of house demolitions. Where Israel has pursued a policy of self-demolition, based on giving Palestinians the option to self-demolish their home or bear the cost of demolition if it is carried out by the Israeli Jerusalem municipality, adding to the risks and burdens of forced displacement an additional financial burden as compensation for the government.

In light of this systematic policy, which is widely applied in Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem, in addition to other racist policies, living in the city of Jerusalem has become a major challenge for Palestinians, especially women and girls, which requires special attention and focus to protect them from the multiplier effect of human rights violations under occupation.

This policy reshapes the lives of Jerusalemite women, from stability to displacement. It affects their ability to access available resources, and re-establish a sense of belonging, as they live under constant anxiety and fear. It also results in the destabilization of the economic situation and family structure because of the loss of livelihood, property and luggage, and the loss of privacy.

"We separated, my children are in their relatives' homes, I sleep with my parents, and my little daughter sleeps in the car! We lived here all our lives, but now we lost everything. I don't know what will happen next, all I know is that I need to go back to live with my family under one roof, I derive my strength from being with them, but it is not possible now, we have lost our house forever, where are we going, and how can we start over?” With these words, Safaa Nassar (49) years old from Silwan, expresses her life after the demolition of her house.

The displacement of Palestinian in Jerusalem increase the vulnerability of women, and exacerbate the differences based on gender at the public and private spheres.

1. Lack of security: The sense of insecurity begins from the moment they feel threatened of losing their houses through the Israeli demolition orders, as women live in constant anticipation of what is coming. When the demolition occurs, women become homeless, with no place for protection, they feel that they are a burden on those around them from their relatives and neighbors.

2. Instability: When the house is demolished, women move between the homes of their relatives (usually the house of their brothers or their parents), where they live a period of constant movement before the family can find an alternative to housing. There are no guarantees that this alternative will be comfortable or appropriate, and they remain subject to permanent movement and lack of privacy.

3. Difficulties adjusting: After women have formed and strengthened their relationship with the neighborhood and started to feel empowered by activating their energies in their community. The women whose homes were demolished, find themselves in a completely different situation and in a new environment. People always deal with them as women in need of help, and the stigma attached to them is "poor", they must live and adapt to these new circumstance as they recover from the trauma and its impact on them.

United Nations reports in the context of the right to adequate housing indicate that legal protection against forced displacement is an essential component of women's security. Thus; addressing the threats to the security of Palestinian women in the city of Jerusalem, the policy of forced displacement and home demolitions is evident as the largest component of the insecurity.

The vision of WPS agenda is based on understanding that conflicts have multiplier effect against women. Thus, women are the most interested in building peace. Therefore, through the WPS agenda, documenting cases of human rights violations with a focus on their impact on women and girls as vulnerable groups is the backbone of advocacy campaigns especially at the international level. To mobilize international public opinion and support and be in solidarity with the Palestinian women’s call to end the occupation and hold Israel accountable for committing human rights violations and war crimes. Women’s participation in ending occupation and achieving peace requires women's ability and empowerment to be effective, but persistent violations of basic human rights undermine women's ability to reach and influence. This contributes to the continued absence of international accountability for the Israeli occupation and impunity for its crimes against the Palestinians.

As a young human rights defender and WPS advocate, I send a message to the Security Council and UN agencies that it is time that for us as Palestinians especially Palestinian women to live in peace and security. This can be achieved only when perpetrators are held accountable for committing human rights violations and to ending impunity against all those who committed crime against humanity.

We need the international community to take actions against perpetrators to stop war crimes, to end the Israeli occupation and hold the Israeli occupation accountable for its successive crimes against Jerusalemite women. Otherwise, we will continue to count numbers of women victims of conflicts, wars, and colonial occupation.

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Political analysts and land experts are warning against the implementation of the land and property registration law being proposed by the so-called Israel National Fund “Keren Kayemet”, which includes the registration of thousands of dunams of Palestinian land and properties in Jerusalem in its name. They say this is just one more tool in Israel’s hands to steal Palestinian land after its Judaization of the names of streets and attempts to ‘Israelize’ Jerusalemites.

Loopholes and gaps

Political analyst and journalist, Rasem Obeidat, says the neighborhoods and areas selected for the implementation of this land law is no coincidence. The Israeli government and the Jewish National Fund believe there are loopholes in these area that help Israeli parties to take control over the largest possible areas of land by implementing the absentee property law. These are areas where there are nearby settlements or the land was never settled by Jordanian authorities when they administered the West Bank, including Jerusalem.

Obeidat says there are approximately 530 files in the West Bank and 2,050 in Jerusalem, including 2,000 plots of land with a combined area of 2,500 dunams that are currently under inspection. He adds, “The plan to register properties and land in Jerusalem is a project of Judaization par excellence, aimed at reinforcing control and imposing Israeli sovereignty over the city under the guise of a ‘unified Jerusalem’. This includes increasing settlements and land takeover and the expulsion and displacement of the city’s original inhabitants. There is also the absentee property law being applied, whereby the state takes over land from Jerusalemites living abroad or even in the West Bank and legitimizes forged land and property deeds, allowing them to be legally sold.”

He maintains this new plan means Jerusalemites will be forced into paying huge sums of money in order to register their lands, not to mention the possible problems that could arise due to family disputes over ownership if no papers or deeds can be produced.

Registration plans

Land and settlements expert Khalil Tufakji says that after 1967, Israel halted all land registration and since then, several measures have been taken vis-à-vis these plots, including their confiscation or sale. He maintains that by registering these properties, Israel is looking to “hit two birds with one stone” by transferring what Israeli authorities claim is Jewish-owned property from the names of individuals to Keren Kayemet, which prohibits sales to Arabs. At the same time, it wants to register many of these plots as ‘absentee properties’, therefore putting them in the hands of the Israeli Custodian of Absentee Properties. The third point in this plan is to register part of these properties as municipality-owned property, after they were confiscated and schools built on them. In addition to this, there are confiscations that took place between 1967 and 1995 for the ‘public good”. In short, Tufakji says, Israel wants to transfer personal Palestinian properties to the Israel Land Authority or as state-owned properties. In addition, there are the properties that fall within the land registration process, which are areas owned by Jordan, on part of which settlements will be built, in addition to Lutheran Church properties that were confiscated.

Tufakji points to another issue pertaining to the registration process, which is that huge areas of land inherited by Muslims and Christians were reduced to small plots or absentee properties. This means the Custodian of Absentee Properties intervened regarding these plots of land, not allowing any investments, sale or purchase of them except with its permission. Hence, this registration process is part of the Judaization process of the city, he stresses, along with attempts to Judaize its citizens and street names.

Purchase processes

Regarding the circumstances surrounding the purchase of land in Palestine prior to 1948, Tufakji explains: “This land originally belonged to Palestinian Jews in this area and which were managed between 1948 and 1967 by the Jordanian Custodian of Enemy Properties”, a commission headed by a Jordanian official whose job was to maintain properties owned by Jews before 1948, such as these plots of land in Shufat and Beit Hanina, they also include land located in the western areas of Sheikh Jarrah, known as “Kabaniyat Um Haron”, homes of Jerusalemite families threatened with forced expulsion in the eastern part of the neighborhood and plots of land that were purchased after 1967, which were not registered in the land registry at the time. In addition to these, there are properties confiscated for public interest and which have not yet been utilized but which Israel now wants to transfer to state-owned properties.

According to Israeli estimates, there are approximately 2,500 dunams of land that include land in the towns of Kufr Aqab and Rafat on which residential buildings are built. Other areas, such as the Shepherd’s Hotel in Sheikh Jarrah, which belongs to the Husseini family, were turned into absentee properties under the Custodian of Absentee Properties while others were put under the Israel Development Authority or turned into state-owned property.

Property of heirs abroad

Tufakji points to a major problem regarding ownership, which is that much of this property is owned by heirs who live abroad. According to the registration process, these heirs must produce proof of ownership for the land but whether they do this or not, the land is still considered absentee property since they reside abroad. That is, the land is considered to have no known owners and is therefore registered as being part of the state.

He adds, “There is yet another problem; we expect in the future there will be Israeli projects that we many not know about now but which will show up later. This is why they want to speed up the registration process so these projects can be put in motion.”

Abandoned Palestinian properties

Regarding the fate of abandoned Palestinian properties and the possibility of demanding their reclamation, Tufakji contends: “If they were left to the Israelis, there is not much that can be done because it becomes a political issue. There are properties that were confiscated for public interest according to a 1943 law, all of which means this has become a political more than a legal issue. That is, the law serves Israelis whether this law is Jordanian, British or Ottoman. According to Ottoman law, for example, abandoned land goes back to the existing state or successor,” Tufakji says.

Hebron, a beautiful verdant landscape filled with rich vineyards, encompassing intricate authentic architecture and bustling street markets sprinkled with ancient olive trees, is a Palestinian city that has been diagnosed with cancer. Citizens of Hebron have become strangers in their own ancestral homes, while Jewish foreigners have come to take over their houses and claim them as Israeli.

A few days ago, my friends and I went to Hebron to visit the Ibrahimi Mosque. Ever since the trip, I have been unable to bring back life to my soul. The majority of the mosque has been turned into a synagogue, splitting the area into two parts. The Muslim part is clamped down with severe security measures, where the entrance is blocked by an Israeli checkpoint and security booth. To further exacerbate the situation, there are numerous heavily armed soldiers roaming the inside of the mosque where prayers take place. At the door, we witnessed three Israeli-settler children hounding two younger Palestinians with a baseball-like bat. The sound of one of the Palestinian mothers shrieking as she ran to the scene seemed to have deafened the entire city. Around four Israeli soldiers ran up to her and physically restricted her, keeping her from rescuing her child—a typical day in Hebron. Passers-by looked on, but kept moving.

As we walked through the narrow streets of the old city, I felt like we were in a dark dungeon. I tried to look up to catch some of the clear blue sky when my eyes met the low, heavy-looking, never-ending fence that constituted the ceiling. I learned that the Palestinians had built it in order to protect themselves from the garbage being thrown at them from the settlers living above. The settlers have occupied most of the second and third stories of the historic houses in the old city and tauntingly place Israeli flags on the outside of their windowsills.

“Why do they [the settlers] do this to themselves? Don’t they see that by trying to turn our lives into a living hell, they make theirs one?” I cried out in frustration.

“I think they truly believe that this is their land. They genuinely think that by occupying us they are resisting and defending their right as the chosen people,” my friend responded.

All settlements on Palestinian land are illegal, despite the reasons behind their erection. The settlers in Hebron are the worst, because the majority of them are ideologically-motivated and claim Hebron [and Israel] as their biblical home. They successfully managed to turn Hebron, Palestine’s largest city, into a settlement enclave. There are roughly 500 Jewish settlers living in Hebron and around four times that number in Israeli soldiers solely at their disposal for protection. The settlers occupy the most beautiful houses in the old city and around each of those houses a number of Israeli forces stroll around carrying weapons. Daily curfews are carried out by the Israeli soldiers, in order to imprison the Palestinians in their own homes as the settlers freely wander the streets and markets of the city, generally trashing the sections designated for Palestinians, smashing their cars and throwing rocks at their windows.

These settlers are creating a garbage dump in the land they claim to love, living in it and raising their children on hate. Why else would little Israeli children know to beat on Palestinian children with a baseball bat?

I have so much respect for the Palestinians living in Hebron and suffering massively on a daily basis to stand as Palestinians and exist, despite all the hardships. In my opinion, settlers act the way they do because they are consumed with immense fear. According to them, it’s either us or them- meaning that if we expand and grow, they are under threat, and fear the possibility of vanishing. Perhaps they are right. We as Palestinians will never accept the settlements or the settlers illegally squatting on our land. In any kind of peace, settlers cannot be part of the equation.

Mayse Jarbawi is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.

I was born in Jerusalem but spent my whole life in Ramallah, a city which is a mere 40 minutes away from Jerusalem. However, since my adult life began, I have only been able to enter it roughly 10 times.

Ever since I acquired my Palestinian ID card when I turned 16, Jerusalem became nothing more than a dream. The number of minutes it takes to reach Jerusalem was no longer relevant. Now, it was all about being Palestinian – apparently a threat to Israel’s national security. People like me began looking for connections that would help to obtain a permit, with the hopes that you would be lucky enough to get one that allows you to be in Jerusalem for more than three hours. Then even after the permit was in hand, Qalandiya had to be crossed, with all the questioning and hassle passing through an Israeli checkpoint entails. I envied my classmates who had a Jerusalem ID, wishing I also had a home there, a reason to feel welcomed in and familiar with that special place. It was way out of reach though, and I learned that hope was my only fortune.

My freshman year of college I met three incredible Jewish people my age, who soon became my closest friends. I respected them because their perspective on Israel was not biased; they freely admitted that the occupation was illegal, wrong and defies the ethical construction of modern human civilization. They were not pro-Palestine per se, but were definitely not pro-Israel. However, despite their personal beliefs, I soon became aware of the fact that all three of them were going on a “birthright” trip [designed for Jewish youths from around the world to get ‘introduced’ to Israel] the following summer. When I asked one of them why she wanted to be a part of such an opportunistic and fabricated program, her answer was limited to: “because it’s free!”

My friends continued to justify their decision by explaining that a Jewish American would find no reason to turn down an exclusive complimentary 10-day tourist trip in order to make a political statement. I could feel my heart constricting and my tears felt like fire on my face. Indignant whispers were roaring in my head; who are they to be able to enter Jerusalem and be treated like royalty? What do they know about Bab Al-‘Amud [Damascus Gate]? Or Jerusalem’s favored sesame bread? Have they heard the song ‘Zahrat Al-Mada’in’ [The Flower of all Cities] by Fairouz? The racial luxury Israel was granting them left me powerless and wondering where my birthright was in all of this.

After several failed attempts over the past five years and after waiting for hours in long lines in the settlement of Bet El [where permits for Palestinians are issued], I was finally allowed a permit to enter Jerusalem for one day last week, from 8am until 5pm. After such a long hiatus, I could not really complain. I was too happy.

In order to reach Jerusalem, Qalandiya checkpoint must be crossed. All the Palestinians are made to stand in a long passage made of metal bars with cameras at every corner. Once one reaches the end of the passage he or she must go through a big prison-like gate followed by a security booth. When I got to that point, I had to show my ID and permit along with other official documents to an 18-year old blonde Russian so-called Israeli soldier, who then nodded in approval, waving me through. I felt so humiliated and seriously thought of turning around and going back to Ramallah. At Qalandiya, you feel like a rat in a big corporate laboratory run by sadistic scientists.

Once I arrived, I could smell the holiness of Jerusalem in the air. I couldn’t hide my smile. I felt so proud to be Palestinian and so grateful to all the Palestinians who persist and remain in Jerusalem despite their horrible living conditions.

However, the feeling of homecoming and euphoria did not last long. After about an hour I began to feel suffocated and stressed. Too much agitation and tension fill the streets of Jerusalem, probably because of how many Israeli soldiers prance around carrying bulky rifles at every corner. People are on edge and angry and there is no sign of peace anywhere.

I will always love Jerusalem, even if my “homecoming” was bittersweet. The conflicting feelings I felt towards this beautiful city were mixed with a heavy dosage of guilt. “I miss Ramallah,” I caught myself thinking, and begged for that thought to vanish. It’s so sad what Jerusalem has become.

Mayse Jarbawi is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.

“Ramallah is different, it’s not like the rest of Palestine,” I repeated to my American friend’s mother, trying to persuade her to allow her daughter to visit me in Palestine.

“Oh really? So it happens to be that the city you specifically live in is simply not under Israeli occupation? What a fortunate coincidence!” she chimed.

Although she was trying to mock me, I did not follow up on her sarcasm, because to me the answer is yes, Ramallah is a city that has somewhat managed to escape the throes of the occupation, and so I found no reason for her to worry about her daughter’s safety. She didn’t believe me though, and my friend stayed in California for the summer.

My father’s family is from Jenin, a city that will never attain Ramallah’s life style. My father moved to Ramallah when he became a Birzeit University student, like many of the students coming from the northern West Bank, converting it into a city for students and newly-employed youths. Birzeit University and the Quaker Friends’ Schools along with plenty of other academic institutions definitely contributed to Ramallah’s liberal way of living. The essence of Ramallah became unrelated to the rest of Palestine - where communities are run by family ties and kinship. In Ramallah, you are who you are and you are not defined by who your grandfather was and what your father does. People were leaving behind the strict cultural traditions, and moving to Ramallah where the culture seemed like it was solely to let go of strict traditions and become their own person.

A few days ago, my friends and I met an Italian woman volunteering in a village near Bethlehem. Her first question to one of my friends was: “Do you remember you are under occupation when you live here? I’ve only been here two days now and I feel like I’m not even in the West Bank.”

My friend was very offended; “Of course I remember, I live it everyday!” The Italian immediately smirked and said: “I’m sure you haven’t been outside of Ramallah then, that’s where you really live it. Here in Ramallah you can leave the house, go out, have fun, where is the occupation?”.

My friend was unrelenting: “People go out and have fun because Ramallah has a different culture that is more tolerant, not because people living here are less Palestinian. What about all the settlements you witness day by day, engulfing the city? Psagot, Beit El, Mali Michmash, Ofra, Halamish and Har Adar? The apartheid wall? What about the illegal arrests the Israeli army carries out at night? And Israel’s restraint on Palestinian tax revenues causing all the government workers to go on strike and many to starve? Just because the town is filling up with restaurants and bars doesn’t mean there is no resistance.”

Palestinians have mixed feelings about life in Ramallah. Many agree with my friend and believe that Palestinians have the right to enjoy their life, and that it shouldn’t be one or the other. Others believe that Ramallah is a conspiracy, created and spurred on by an economic boom in order to indirectly compel its citizens to forget about the conflict and get busy with materialistic aspirations. The fact of the matter is that because Ramallah has become home to diplomatic delegations, foreign aid organizations, and high ranking Palestinian officials, it has embraced a certain type of elitist class which requires a certain type of entertainment. It is not even all about being wealthy, because rich people are everywhere, whether in Bethlehem, Nablus or Hebron. Still, these places do not all bear resemblance to the open and carefree life of Ramallah. People come to Ramallah because of its wealthy who just happen to love spending money and living the posh life.

Ramallah has become a cultural melting pot, where there seems to be no boundaries. People feel very comfortable taking out thousands of dollar loans, buying fancy cars and building mansions in the hopes that the financial situation will improve and they can eventually pay their debts. The guise of normalcy and the ‘posh life’ is seemingly more important to some in Ramallah than the fact that the city is indeed, still under Israeli occupation. No matter how many macchiato machines pop up in Ramallah’s Amman-like cafes or designer bags hang from the shoulders of snazzy-clothed young women, the fact is Israel constantly reminds us that it has not loosened its grip on Palestine, in Ramallah or elsewhere.

Mayse Jarbawi is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.

My first reaction when I saw the cartoon was: “Really? They’re actually going to use the anti-Semitic card?” It is about time to stop associating anything that has to do with criticizing Israel with anti-Semitism. Israel is supposedly a “democratic” country- where people are allowed to inveigh against their government without being prosecuted as racist. “Freedom of Speech” became a term used by the West in order to justify their actions when they offend the Muslims. If freedom of speech is used to defend the people who disrespect the religion of Islam, then it should be used to defend people who condemn a politician like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The cartoon in question by Gerald Scarfe, a well-known UK cartoonist who has been working with the Sunday Times since 1967, and published on Holocaust Memorial Day, is not related to anti-Semitism whatsoever. The cartoon portrays Netanyahu waving a blade while cementing the apartheid wall using Palestinian blood, with Palestinians bricked into the wall. The cartoon is depicting the slow systematic annihilation Netanyahu is carrying out against Palestinians. It includes the inhumane siege on Gaza, the use of white phosphorus on densely populated areas in Gaza, illegal imprisonment of children and citizens without trial, innumerable house demolitions, the epidemic of illegal settlements and so on. The blood in the cartoon resembles the blood of the Palestinians who were murdered by the army and settlers under Netanyahu’s rule. So, rather than being anti-Semitic, it is more of a brutally candid picture of reality.

During a meeting held yesterday for the Sunday Times’ senior editorial team, representatives of the Jewish community and News International corporate affairs, the Jewish community organizations presented their adverse thoughts on the cartoon. One of the points was that the blood illustrated in the drawing “has a long and ugly tradition within the history of anti-Semitism... These historical and contemporary contexts have racist impacts upon victims and proponents alike.” Besides the overuse of “blood libel,” the fact that what Netanyahu is doing in Palestine is reminding the Jewish people of the Holocaust and bringing back horrific, despairing memories indicates that something is extremely wrong.

Needless to say, a sincere apology was given shortly after the cartoon was published. Rupert Murdoch, ex-director of News International- which publicizes Times, immediately wrote on Twitter: “We owe major apology for grotesque, offensive cartoon.” Martin Ivens, the Times’ acting editor, turned defensive and justified the cartoon by saying that “the paper has long written strongly in defense of Israel and its security concerns.” Millions of newspaper-cartoons denounce politicians everyday, yet for some reason, Israeli politicians are special.

A number of months ago, a trailer for the movie “Innocence of Muslims” was released, and basically smashed the Quran, Prophet Mohammad and the Muslims. According to Tony Blair, his problem with the issue was the Muslim world’s “reaction.” In his opinion, it was “absurd.” He found the trailer to be a “laughable piece of film work” and that the problem “is about the struggle of modernization. The good news is, in the end, the modernizers will win incidentally.”

Several years ago, a cartoon was drawn depicting the Prophet Mohammad in a Danish newspaper. The act was seen as disrespectful by Muslims around the world. However, the matter was dealt with under the basis of “Freedom of Speech,” and “newspapers across Europe reprinted cartoons ridiculing the Prophet Mohammad, saying they wanted to support the right of Danish and Norwegian papers.” Apparently, freedom of speech is offered selectively these days. While it may be used liberally in offending Muslims and Palestinians, it is stopped in its tracks when the criticism is leveled at Israel. Needless to say, Scarfe’s cartoon of Netanyahu will probably not be duplicated in the future.

Mayse Jarbawi is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.