אחמד אמרה

From the Edge to the Heart: ‘Settling in the Hearts’ of Palestinian Neighborhoods in East Jerusalem:

Silwan, has been the target of settlers’ organizations such as Ela’ad and Ateret Cohanim since the 1990s. These organizations seek to settle at the heart of predominantly Palestinian neighborhoods. Thus, they undertook various ways to overtake Palestinian properties, utilizing an enabling Israeli legal system to their end-goals, and to pave the road for Israeli settlement’s expansion in Palestinian neighborhoods. Batn al-Hawa in Silwan is not the only targeted neighborhood. Rather, Wadi Hilwi (referred to as Ir-David) near the water spring, the area of the “Jewish Cemetry,” and single houses are also targeted. The Old City, the Sheikh Jarrah and Kobaniyat Um Haroon, and Musrara are among the neighborhoods that face similar geo-political and legal fate. These and other neighborhoods share a similar history of Jewish presence and particular property rights that settlers’ organizations exploit to advance their political goals of settlements and of preventing any future partition of Jerusalem. The presentation addresses the intertwined narratives of displacement of Jews and of Palestinians, and the political-moral discourse attached to the dispossession of Palestinian families. These settlements in the hearts of Palestinian neighborhoods are different from the classic Israeli colonization and settlements in East Jerusalem as it moved from encircling Palestinian presence towards living at the heart of Palestinian residence areas.
Governing Property: The Politics of Ottoman Land Law and State-Making in Southern Palestine, 1850-1917