RAMALLAH, West Financial institution — Israel is selling the development of greater than 9,000 new settlement models on the land of Jerusalem airport, or what is called Qalandia Airport or Atarot Airport. The mission is a part of a settlement plan that’s the largest of its form within the West Financial institution in a long time.
The Jerusalem municipality is selling the mission and executing the infrastructure works for the subsequent steps. The mission is predicted to chunk off Jerusalem Worldwide Airport, which was seized by Israel when it took management of the West Financial institution in 1967.
Neither the Hebrew media nor the Israeli authorities printed new particulars concerning the mission, aside from what was reported Oct. 4 by the Israeli Channel 13 concerning the Jerusalem municipality promoting the project. Channel 13 didn’t go into extra particulars.
Jerusalem Worldwide Airport is the one airport within the West Financial institution. It was established in 1920. 4 years later, the British Mandate authorities began utilizing it for his or her planes. In 1936, it was opened to public flights, however with Israel’s management over it in 1967, Israeli airways used it for business and home flights to and from Jerusalem till they closed it completely in 2000, turning it into an deserted website.
The brand new settlement mission could be the most harmful mission within the West Financial institution since its occupation, on the political and geographical stage. It falls throughout the Jerusalem 2050 program.
Khalil Tufakji, head of the cartography division at Jerusalem’s Arab Research Society, advised Al-Monitor that Israel seeks to realize three long-term strategic targets by way of the brand new settlement mission.
He defined, “The mission goals to demolish the Jerusalem airport thereby destroying the Palestinians’ dream of seeing Jerusalem because the capital of the Palestinian state. In the meantime, Israel is opening an enormous tunnel within the space to attach the deliberate settlement to the outposts outdoors the Jerusalem municipality. That is a part of an Israeli plan referred to as the Better Jerusalem Venture that goals to regulate 10% of the West Financial institution.”
The third aim is the institution of an enormous settlement bloc within the northern space of Jerusalem, separating town from the Palestinian communities, Tufakji mentioned. “Round 150,000 Palestinians residing within the space can be compelled out of their properties and 150,000 Israelis can be introduced into town. This can create a demographic change in favor of Israel, which seeks to show town into 88% Israelis and 12% Palestinians,” he famous.
Tufakji identified that the settlement can be constructed on an space of 1,200 dunams (296 acres). He added, “The Israeli authorities has begun infrastructure works to impose a fait accompli, profiting from the favorable worldwide circumstances. Israel sees Jerusalem as its capital and doesn’t settle for sharing it with the Palestinians.”
On Aug. 8, the Israeli group Peace Now printed a report on the mission. It defined that Israel believes “a lot of the [settlement] plan counts as state lands for the reason that days of the British Mandate when an airport was inbuilt it. This reality permits Israel to construct the settlement with out the necessity to confiscate lands from their Palestinian homeowners. On the similar time, giant components of the land depend as personal land.”
It continued, “It needs to be famous that the plan goals to demolish a number of buildings and Palestinian housing models which were constructed within the space over time.”
“The plan was meant to sever the Palestinian continuity and grow to be an Israeli enclave which might stop Palestinian improvement of essentially the most central and necessary metropolis sooner or later Palestinian state,” Peace Now famous. “This can be a very harmful plan which could carry a harmful blow to the two-state answer,” it warned.
Peace Now famous that the Jerusalem airport settlement “would be the first new settlement in East Jerusalem since Netanyahu’s authorities constructed the Har Homa settlement” on Mount Abu Ghneim in Jerusalem in 1997. It referred to as on the Israeli authorities to take away the plan from its agenda instantly and shelve it.
Suhail Khaliliah, director of the Settlement Monitoring Unit on the Utilized Analysis Institute ARIJ, a nongovernmental group, advised Al-Monitor that the Jerusalem airport settlement mission shouldn’t be new. The concept dates again to 2004, when the preliminary plans have been offered to him.
“Execution has been disrupted through the previous years because of worldwide pressures, however the concept of the mission has remained on the desk of successive Israeli governments because it falls throughout the Better Jerusalem mission,” he mentioned.
He identified that the mission shouldn’t be restricted to constructing housing models. “This mission consolidates Israel’s management over Jerusalem in its new type below the Better Jerusalem mission. This settlement is a crucial a part of that mission from the north and northwest sides of town of Jerusalem,” he added.
Khaliliah mentioned that Israel drew up plans for settlement initiatives in Jerusalem years in the past, however now they’re being carried out according to the built-in settlement mission. He defined, “This consists of three parts. The primary is constructing settlement housing models. The second is constructing bypass streets round Jerusalem that has been witnessing improvement within the final decade. The third ingredient is constructing industrial areas. The Jerusalem airport settlement may also embody the Atarot industrial zone, which can be developed into an enormous business industrial zone to draw settlers.”
Khaliliah famous that the preliminary plan for the settlement consisted of constructing 10,000 housing models, to which one other 4,000 models could be added. “This implies accommodating about 40,000 settlers within the first building section, resulting in greater than 60,000 settlers within the remaining section. This can induce a geographical and demographic change within the metropolis of Jerusalem,” he mentioned.
He warned that this settlement mission is the newest Israeli blow to the two-state answer, declaring that the Israeli settlement coverage has been dealing dozens of blows to the two-state answer for the reason that Oslo Accord.
Khaliliah indicated that Israel started getting ready the infrastructure for the mission 4 years in the past. “It laid the inspiration for the water and electrical energy networks, and is at present getting ready to assemble a tunnel. The engineering plans and building particulars are prepared,” he mentioned.
He concluded, “Beginning work solely requires a remaining resolution to be issued by the Israeli Ministry of Inside and Housing. That is largely a political resolution. With the presence of a minister like Ayelet Shaked on the head of the Ministry of Inside, this resolution is predicted to be issued very quickly.”
