Tuesday 27 April 2010

New Israeli plan to build 321 housing units in OJ

[ 27/04/2010 - 01:38 PM ]

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Islamic-Christian commission to support Jerusalem and holy shrines has revealed that the Israeli-controlled municipality of occupied Jerusalem was planning three new housing projects in the holy city.

Dr. Hasan Khater, the commission's secretary general, said in a statement on Monday that the municipality was planning to build a religious school and 321 housing units in Sheikh Jarrah suburb in northern Jerusalem.

He said that the buildings would be constructed on an area of 18 dunums, adding that two of the projects were financed by the Jewish billionaire Irvin Muscovic and his sons.

Khater revealed that the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) was also planning to change the name of the suburb into a Jewish name.

He warned that the project, if implemented, would serve as a colonialist belt isolating the city from its Arab environ and would tighten the blockade on the Old City's northern area, which is considered by the IOA one of the main keys of judaizing Jerusalem.

The success of the IOA in that scheme would direct a big blow to the Arab presence in the city as it would disintegrate its geographic contiguity and would isolate Arab suburbs from each other.

He urged the Palestinian leadership, the Arab League, and the organization of Islamic conference to swiftly act to block execution of those schemes before it was too late.

Meanwhile, the Aqsa foundation for endowment and heritage condemned in a statement on Monday the IOA for deliberately allowing concerts in which participants are almost naked in the southern area of the holy Aqsa Mosque.

It said that the IOA also arranges intensified tourism tours for Jews and foreigners to the same area, warning that the land is an Islamic Waqf (endowment) land and would remain so regardless of desecration attempts.

The society asked Muslims to frequent this area to counter the desecration visits.River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

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