Settlement & Annexation Report: August 19, 2022

Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement Report, covering everything you need to know about Israeli settlement activity this week.

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August 19, 2022

  1. Ir Amim on East Jerusalem Land Registration & State Land Seizures 
  2. Israel Advances Plan to Build New Settlement “Ariel West”
  3. IDF Razes “Ramat Migron” Outpost for Second Time in a Week
  4. Ultra-Orthodox Settlers Establish Their First-Ever Outpost
  5. Israel Pauses to “Rethink” Plan to Build on Historic Site of Lifta
  6. Bonus Reads

Ir Amim on East Jerusalem Land Registration & State Land Seizures 

In an alert issued August 11th, Ir Amim adds important information and analysis of Israel’s seizure of a plot of land in East Jerusalem last week. Importantly, Ir Amim explains how Israel is using the process of land registration to (sometimes covertly) take control over more and more land in the most sensitive areas in East Jerusalem. 

Ir Amim writes:

“The area between Jabal Mukkaber and Abu Dis has long been targeted by the state and settlers due to its strategic location…Upon investigation, Ir Amim discovered that 12 dunams of land (bloc 31735) situated in the same location referred to in the article were recently registered under the management of the General Custodian in the Land Registration Office…Rights, bloc 31735 recently underwent settlement of land title procedures (formal land registration). Initiated on May 31, 2021, the settlement of land title process was swiftly completed in just over a year with little to no transparency and formally registered in the Tabu (land record) on July 14, 2022. The official order transferring the respective plot of land into the management of the General Custodian was issued on June 8, 2021—a mere days after the announcement of the settlement of title process on the same bloc of land. It should be underscored that the General Custodian is one of the state institutions formally and integrally involved in the settlement of title process. The timing is certainly not coincidental, and it was clearly carried out as a means to assert Jewish ownership claims of the land. In contrast, the process has yet to be initiated on the adjacent thousands of dunams of land owned by Palestinians in the same area.

 

Such a move constitutes yet another cynical exploitation of the settlement of land title procedures which are being conducted in the framework of Government Decision 3790—a decision aimed at ostensibly improving the well-being of Palestinians in East Jerusalem. As reported previously, an examination of the locations where the procedures have been completed or currently underway reveals the driving rationale: settlement of land title is largely being promoted in areas where the state and/or settlers have a particular interest and have some capacity to lay claim to the land in the framework of the proceedings. As such, these procedures are being used as yet another mechanism to seize more territory in East Jerusalem under the guise of a decision and budgets earmarked for Palestinians.”

Israel Advances Plan to Build New Settlement “Ariel West”

On August 18th, the Israeli Civil Administration discussed an amended plan to build an access road leading to an area of land where Israel is intending to build a new settlement, dubbed “Ariel West.” At the time of publication, it is unclear the outcome of the discussion is not yet known. We do know that Israel was forced to amend its original plan to build the access road to the new settlement site when it was proven that the route went through privately owned Palestinian land belonging to the village of Salfit.

The plan for “Ariel West” was first discovered in November 2021, after the Israeli Ministry of Construction issued tenders (on October 24, 2021) for the new settlement, under the guise of a plan to “expand” the Ariel settlement, located south of Bethlehem. Under the plan, 731 new settlement units will be built on a hilltop located 1.2 miles away from Ariel, in an area that is non-contiguous with the built-up area of the current Ariel settlement.

Peace Now said in a statement:

“The government has been given another opportunity here to stop the establishment of the new settlement. After the Ministry of Housing rushed to issue tenders for the sale of the building rights, construction can still be halted if the defense minister stops the planning process. The “Ariel West” plan is not just a plan for thousands of housing units, but it is a new settlement designed to block the town of Salfit and prevent the development of Palestinian space in the area. Road comprise the infrastructure of the occupation, and the undercurrents of apartheid in the occupied West Bank. This dangerous plan must be stopped.”

“Ariel West” is one of many clear illustrations of how Israel systematically rewards unauthorized/illegal construction undertaken by settlers. In this case, settlers established an unauthorized outpost (i.e., illegal even under Israeli law) called “Nof Avi”on the hilltop where the new settlement is slated for construction. The Israeli government has allowed that outpost to remain in place for the past year, and thereby restrict Palestinians’ access to agricultural lands they rightfully own.

The hilltop and the Nof Avi outpost is located on land declared by Israel to be “state land” inside of the jurisdictional boundaries of the Ariel settlement, as authorized by the Israeli government. The jurisdictional boundaries of Ariel include several non-contiguous land areas — due to the fact that the area is dotted with land that even Israel recognizes to be legally owned by Palestinians (de facto annexing private Palestinian land to the settlement by leaving it in some places nearly completely surrounded by land controlled by the settlement).

The new settlement will further exacerbate the limitations that the settlements inflict on Palestinian agricultural workers, in addition to the future development of the nearby Palestinian town of Salfit, as illustrated in this video by Peace Now.  Even before the “expansion” plan, Ariel’s jurisdictional area was identified as a direct hindrance on the future development of Salfit. 

With news of the new settlement in October 2021, the Mayor of Salfit – Abdullah Kamil – explained to Haaretz:

​​“Salfit is slated for expansion. It has a university and there are plans to add 10,000 students over the next few years. The city’s master plan will have to be enlarged, and the site where the new settlement is planned is exactly the direction toward which we wanted to expand. This situation will explode. We also told the Israelis this; it will open a new front and it will harm Israeli security. It’s clear that part of the plan’s purpose is to eliminate any chance of a political solution.”

IDF Razes “Ramat Migron” Outpost for Second Time in a Week

On August 14th Israeli forces once again cleared settlers and their property off of a hilltop where the settlers are attempting to establish a permanent outpost, which the settlers call Ramat Migron. Israeli forces cleared the site just four days prior, but settlers quickly re-occupied the area.

As a reminder, in 2012 an illegal outpost known as Migron was dismantled by the Israeli government when the Israeli High Court ruled the land is privately owned by Palestinians. Since then settlers have continually sought to reestablish a settlement there. Israeli forces have razed outposts at the site at least 10 times in the past 10 years — all the while denying Palestinians the ability to reclaim control over land that an Israeli court affirmed they own.

In addition to the IDF retaining control over the Migron outpost site, Israel rewarded the settlers it forcibly removed from the Migron outpost by promising to establish two new official settlements: “New Migron” as well as 184 housing units to be built east of the settlement of Adam (aka, Geva Binyamin). Construction of the “New Migron” settlement was completed in July 2020. All said, the two new settlements and temporary housing for the evicted settlers cost Israeli taxpayers millions of dollars – sending a clear message that settler law-breaking pays.

Ultra-Orthodox Settlers Establish Their First-Ever Outpost 

On August 16th, a group of 15 settler families announced the establishment of a new outpost near the settlement of Metzad, located in the southern West Bank. The settlers, notably, are ultra-orthodox Jews – making this the first outpost established by ultra-orthodox settlers. The settlers, who are calling the outpost “Derech Emunah,” have built 15 makeshift structures already at the site, which they are using as a yeshiva, synagogue, and homes.

A leader of the group, Moshe Rotman, said:

“The establishment of Derech Emunah is designed to increase awareness within the ultra-Orthodox community of the religious commandment of settling the land, as well as showing that the housing crisis in the community can be resolved through settlement construction in Judea and Samaria.”

The Ultra-Orthdox have long been viewed as distinct from religious-nationalistic settlers. Most ultra-Orthodox settlers moved to homes in the settlements for cheap housing (and their desire to live in homogenous communities) rather than out of a religious or nationalistic belief that Israel has a right and/or obligation to reclaim all of the land between the river and the sea. The establishment of this outpost challenges that understanding. Rotman called the Ultra-Orthodox a “dormant volcano,” insisting that the new outpost was established not merely by members from the fringe of the ultra-Orthodox community, and suggesting that many more ultra-Orthodox settlers will follow suit. 

Peace Now said in response:

“Security forces must demonstrate zero tolerance to the outpost criminals, whether they are ultra-Orthodox, Zionist ultra-Orthodox or just criminals. Defense Minister Benny Gantz is avoiding evacuating the Homesh outpost. We call on him to instruct today, to demolish the new outpost. Any minute that the outpost is still standing shows that all he (Gantz) cares about is pleasing [right-wing Justice Minister Gideon] Saar and [right-wing Knesset member] Matan Kahana. It shows that he tries pleasing the ultra-Orthodox parties at the expense of the State of Israel.”

It’s also worth noting that Rotman said that the outpost was established in response to what his group perceives as the Israeli government’s selective enforcement against illegal construction by Israelis and the Palestinians in Area C of the West Bank. As FMEP has routinely covered, settlers and their allies in the Israeli government have perpetuated a false narrative – which at this point is deeply held by settler leadership – that the Israeli government is failing to thwart an alleged campaign by the Palestinian Authority to take over land in Area C via “illegal” construction – referring to construction by Palestinians on their own land, but without Israeli-required permits that Israel systematically refuses to issue. Settlers are using this story to push the government to more swiftly and systematically demolish any/all Palestinian construction in Area C.

Playing on this narrative, settler leader Tzvi Succot, who plans to run for the pro-settler Religious-Zionist (Orthodox) party Knesset list primaries, said:

“It is very exciting to see how members of the ultra-Orthodox community join with dedication to the holy mission of settling the land of Israel, breaking through the choking ring placed on the settlement enterprise in the West Bank. I hope the state of Israel won’t play a discrimination game and won’t demolish the new community, while all around it are hundreds of Arab-constructed illegal buildings that are not subjected to the law.”

Israel Pauses to “Rethink” Plan to Build on Historic Site of Lifta

The Times of Israel reports that the Jerusalem Municipality and the Israel Lands Authority have agreed to “rethink” their plans to build a luxury housing development on the ruins of the historic Palestinian village of Lifta, located in West Jerusalem. Lifta is the last Palestinian village in West Jerusalem to remain partially intact. Israel has prevented Palestinian refugees and landowners from returning to it, but has not yet demolished all the original structures (55 out of the original 400 structures still remain). In 2017 the ruins of Lifta were named by the World Monuments Fund as one of 25 at-risk sites around the world, and Lifta on the list of UNESCO’s tentative World Heritage Sites for bearing “unique testimony of the traditional village life.” 

The Times of Israel further reports that after visiting the site, Israel’s Mayor of Jerusalem Moshe Leon is considering a plan to “preserve the village and turn it into a World Heritage Site.” However, in commenting on the Mayor’s new directive, the Israeli Municipality erased Palestinians, their history and their culture, from the story of Lifta. In a statement, the Jerusalem Municipality said:

 

“[Lifta] serves as an important heritage symbol for Jerusalemites, Israelis and all those who come to Jerusalem. In the past, a plan to build housing units on the site was approved. The mayor discovered that this plan does not consider the preservation needs to the proper degree and in his opinion, is not appropriate at all. Therefore, in coordination with the ILA, it was decided not to market [the project] and to have a rethink. At the heart of the new thinking is the preservation of Lifta and its transformation into a world heritage site.”

Israel’s plans to build on top of Lifta’s ruins surfaced In May 2021, when Israel announced it planned to open bidding on a tender for the construction of 259 luxury housing units, commercial buildings, and a hotel. The announcement spurred a strong reaction, including daily protests on the land and several legal petitions. A lawyer representing a group of Palestinians refugees from Lifta submitted a petition against the plan in August 2021. In addition, the Israeli NGO Emek Shaveh submitted a petition against the plan, including three expert opinions with its submission, one from a civil engineer, a second from an ecologist, and a third written by a team of five architects and conservation planners. 

While FMEP’s settlement and annexation report focuses on settlement building in areas located over the 1967 Green Line, the story of Lifta – and of other Palestinian villages forcibly depopulated by Israeli forces in the 1948 – is another facet of the Israeli government’s policy of erasure of Palestinians via the establishment of Jewish Israeli communities. You can read one Palestinian’s account of forced her forced displacement from Lifta, here.

Bonus Reads

  1. “Jerusalem girls school repaints iconic Homesh water tower” (Arutz Sheva)
  2. “Israel recovers rare findings from alleged antiquities traffickers in West Bank” (The Times of Israel)
  3. “Peace Now is taking direct action against settler outposts. Can it succeed?” (+972 Magazine)
  4. “Why did the army shut down a Palestinian village? So settlers could pray in it” (+972 Magazine)
  5. “Extreme left opposes Mosh Ben Ari’s performance in the Hinnom Valley in Jerusalem“ (Arutz Sheva)

Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement & Annexation Report. To subscribe to this report, please click here.

August. 6, 2021

  1. Sheikh Jarrah, Part 1: Court Proposes Settler-friendly “Compromise” to Avoid Substantive Ruling on Sheikh Jarrah Dispossession Cases
  2. Sheikh Jarrah, Part 2: Israel Reportedly Asks Biden Administration to Pressure Palestinians Into Accepting Sheikh Jarrah “Deal”
  3. Israel Housing Ministry Moves to Advance Atarot Settlement Plan
  4. Report: Jewish National Fund to Approve “Review” of West Bank Land/Property it Claims to Own but Not Have Registered
  5. New Petition Against Construction on Top of Ruins of Lifta
  6. Members of Congress Seek Codify Trump’s Green Line-Erasing Labeling Policy Into Law
  7. Bonus Reads

Sheikh Jarrah, Part 1: Court Proposes Settler-friendly “Compromise” to Avoid Substantive Ruling on Sheikh Jarrah Dispossession Cases

At a hearing held on Monday August 2nd, the three-judge panel of the Israeli Supreme Court proposed a “compromise” to resolve the cases of pending evictions of four Palestinian families from their longtime homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. The compromise — which appears designed above all else to enable the Court to avoid issuing a ruling on the substance of the case — would enable the Palestinians in the targeted homes to avoid displacement for the time being, while offering settlers formal recognition of their ownership of the properties in question (and turning the Palestinians into tenants paying rent to a settler organization that has made clear its intention to displace them). Moreover, if implemented, the “compromise” would almost certainly become a precedent for the cases of the many other Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan (and almost certainly elsewhere in the future) whose homes/presence is targeted by settlers.

Specifically, under the deal proposed by the Court, the four Palestinian families fighting imminent forcible displacement from their longtime homes in the Sheikh Jarrah (the El Kurd, Jaouni, Abu Hasna, and Askafi families) would be required to recognize the settlers as the rightful owners of the land their homes are built on. In exchange for this recognition — in effect, a repudiation of claims to their own rights to the property — the Palestinians would be designated as “protected tenants,” which would enable the families to continue to live in their homes for 2 generations (protected tenancy rights may be handed down to the children and grandchildren, but not further), so long as the Palestinians pay the required rent to settlers (set at 1,500 shekels a year) and do not otherwise violate the rules of protected tenancy.

The four families swiftly rejected the proposal – which Mohammed El-Kurd observed, accurately, would leave them “at the mercy of settlers, paying rent to live in our own homes.” Despite  this rejection, the Court announced that it intends to continue pursuing the “deal” (while applying pressure on the families to accept it). To that end, the four families were asked to submit a list of individuals who might be eligible to receive protected tenancy rights.

Ir Amim explains not only the trap of protected tenancy rights, but also the larger concerns about how the Court is behaving, writing:

“While protected tenancy offers some assurances against arbitrary eviction, the law still allows for the eviction of protected tenants through a variety of means. Settler organizations are currently using these mechanisms in order to try and evict protected Palestinian tenants in other cases. Alternatively, the settler group could advance an urban renewal building plan, which would ultimately result in the eviction and demolition of the families’ homes. In such a case, the families would be eligible for alternative housing elsewhere, but would lose their community and the homes in which they were living for decades and to which they are strongly tied. Indeed, settler leaders have already applauded the court’s proposal calling it a victory.

Additionally, protected tenancy status will mean, in essence, that the families are not recognized as the owners of their homes. The significance is both symbolic and practical since it means that the families would lose all opportunity to claim ownership in the future – for example when the Israeli Government conducts a land registration process in the neighborhood. Past experience shows that regardless of any phrasing which may be used in an attempt to circumvent recognition of settler ownership, the declaration of protected tenants may be used against future claims by the families. 

The judges’ resolve to push for a settlement indicates their reticence in issuing a substantive ruling which would obligate them to rule against the settler group and the discriminatory legal mechanism which grants Palestinian property to Jews. Such a settlement likewise enables the Israeli government to abdicate responsibility for these measures. 

A fair proposal can only be one that is in accordance with International Law and its basic premise of protecting the occupied population and its right to property, family, and community life.  This basic principle must not be forgotten as the Israeli government is trying to evade the strong pressure which the protests against the Sheikh Jarrah evictions have succeeded in creating.”

Sheikh Jarrah, Part 2: Israel Reportedly Asks Biden Administration to Pressure Palestinians Into Accepting Sheikh Jarrah “Deal”

Haaretz reports that the Israeli government has asked the Biden Administration to pressure the four Palestinian families facing forcible dispalcement from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah into accepting the deal offered by the Supreme Court (see section above for details on the Supreme Court’s “deal”). The families rejected the deal immediately upon presentation, based on their refusal to legitimize settler claims of ownership over their homes.

Haaretz further reported that officials in the Biden Administration is not jumping to implement the Israeli request, but is keeping a close eye on the case. When asked about these  reports at a State Department briefing on August 5th, spokesperson Ned Price responded:

“Well, as you know, we don’t speak to any diplomatic or private conversations, but what I can say is that we believe that the proposal offered by the Israeli court on August 2nd is a matter for the Israeli and Palestinian parties to the case to consider and to decide for themselves. We’ve said this just this week and many times before that: families should not be evicted from their homes in which they have lived for decades. We have encouraged Israeli authorities to avoid evictions and other actions that exacerbate tensions and that undercut efforts to advance a negotiated two-state solution...Look, we’re not going to comment or comment on or confirm reports of diplomatic conversations. What we have said as it relates to this – we have both in public and in private encouraged Israeli authorities to avoid evictions and other actions that exacerbate tensions and undercut efforts to advance negotiated two-state solution.”

Reporting around the Court’s and the Israeli government’s efforts to secure Palestinian agreement on the Sheikh Jarrah “compromise” makes clear that this deal is seen by the Court and the government as a solution that can (a) placate the international community, by avoiding immediate evictions; (b) deliver a huge victory to the settlement enterprise in East Jerusalem by creating a legal precedent for settlers to take ownership – and, eventually, possession – of a large number of homes/properties across East Jerusalem); and (c) bolster the Israeli narrative that what is happening in East Jerusalem is merely a real estate dispute, while rebutting claims that Israeli rule in East Jerusalem involves occupation/apartheid policies that systematically dispossess and disenfranchise Palestinians, while in parallel promoting the interests and aspirations of settlers.”

Haaretz columnist Nir Hasson wrote:

“In the end, the Sheikh Jarrah legal battle revolves around one question. Is it simply a real estate dispute, as the settlers assert, or is it part of a campaign by the state – its official arms (the custodian general, Land Registry, the Israel Police) and its unofficial ones (the Nahalat Shimon Company) to dispossess the Palestinians and Judaize the neighborhood? If it’s the latter, it’s a campaign based on discrimination and unjust laws. Needless to say, for the rest of the world, apart from Israel, the Palestinian viewpoint is the one that is accepted; the view that it’s a private dispute is rejected. The three justices struggled to decide where the court stood on this question. On the one hand, they are clearly not happy reopening a discussion on the legal substance of the affair. On the other, they also very much do not want to order the eviction of hundreds of people from their homes – at least not now, when Sheikh Jarrah is the focus of media and diplomatic attention.”

Israel Housing Ministry Moves to Advance Atarot Settlement Plan

The Walla news outlet reports that the Israeli Housing Ministry has placed the Atarot settlement plan on the agenda for the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee, which is scheduled to convene in December 2021. The plan for the Atarot settlement – which calls for 9,000 units to be built on the site of the former Qalandiya airport (located at the northern tip of East Jerusalem) – is at an early stage in the approval process. 

According to the Times of Israel, Prime Minister Bennett was not notified in advance of the Ministry’s move – which is surprising given the sensitivity of the plan (which is opposed by the international community and strikes a deadly blow to the prospects of a two-state solution). Bennet is scheduled to head to Washington, D.C. soon – a trip originally scheduled for August, but now delayed until September.

The Atarot settlement plan dates back to 2007. It was pursued by the Israeli government in 2012 but shelved under pressure from the Obama administration. The plan came back into consideration in April 2017 (a few months following the inauguration of President Trump) when it was rumored to be included on Netanyahu’s master blueprint of settlements for which he was seeking U.S. approval. In February 2020, following the publication of the Trump Plan – which designated the area that would be used for the settlement as a “special tourist zone” for Palestinians –  the Atarot settlement plan was formally introduced. In January 2021 then-Prime Minister Netanyahu dangled the advancement of the plan as an incentive for parties to join his flagging coalition in order to remain in power. At the time, Jerusalem expert Daniel Seidemann noted that the plan faces significant legal obstacles and predicted that it will not come to fruition “anytime soon.”

In its current form, the plan provides for up to 9,000 residential units for ultra-Orthodox Jews (assuming, conservatively, an average family size of 6, this means housing for 54,000 people), as well as synagogues, ritual baths (mikvehs), commercial properties, offices and work spaces, a hotel, and a water reservoir. If built, the Atarot settlement will effectively be a small Israeli city surrounded by Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhoods on three sides and Ramallah to its north.

There are currently 15 Palestinian families living in buildings on the land slated for the settlement, part of which is privately owned by Palestinians. Other land in the area has been declared “state land” by Israel or belongs to the Jewish National Fund. To solve the problem of Palestinian land owners, the Israeli government will need to evict the Palestinians living there and demolish their homes — a step that will be facilitated by the fact that all of the homes lack Israeli-issued building permits (which are essentially impossible for Palestinians to receive). The private Palestinian landowners will then be subjected to a non-consensual process of “reparcelization,” in which Israel will unilaterally reparcel and then redistribute the land amongst its owners on the basis of the value of the land (as determined by Israel) and the percentage of their ownership claim.

 The Atarot airport site is an important commodity and, during past negotiations, it was promised to the Palestinians for their state’s future international gateway. Israeli development of the site as a settlement would — by design — not only deprive a future Palestinian state of the only airport in a Palestinian area, but also dismember Palestinian neighborhoods in the northern part of the Jerusalem, and sever East Jerusalem from a Palestinian state on this northern flank of the city (acting like E-1 on Jerusalem’s northeast flank, and like Givat Hamatos on Jerusalem’s southern flank).

Report: Jewish National Fund to Approve “Review” of West Bank Land/Property it Claims to Own but Not Have Registered

Haaretz reports that the Board of Directors of the Jewish National Fund is set to approve an institutional review of approximately 17,000 assets it claims to own but failed to register  (or take possession of) in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Many of these properties are Palestinian homes, whose residents the JNF refers to as “squatters”. The JNF’s legal review could reportedly take five years to complete, and could result in the eviction of Palestinians if the JNF is found by Israel to rightfully own the land (given the track record of Israeli courts with respect to property disputes between Israeli organizations and Palestinains, such a finding is a near certainty), is then permitted to register the land, and then chooses to pursue the eviction of those Palestinians.

Of the total (17,000 assets), the JNF claims:

  • It has documentation showing the purchase of 360 properties.
  • It has a contract proving ownership of 170 properties
  • It has legal claim to 2,050 plot currently under the control of Israel’s General Custodian (the body set up by the Israeli government to take control of land and properties “abandoned” by Palestinians in the 1948 war).

Peace Now said in response:

“The Jewish National Fund is becoming the Settlers’ National Fund. The registration procedures in the Occupied Territories and in East Jerusalem could bring to massive dispossession of Palestinians, like in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, and expansion of the settlements. The JNF- KKL is a national institution for the entire Jewish people which should not serve one side of the political map as it puts facts on the ground that endanger the state of Israel. We call upon all the organizations which are party to the JNF- KKL board, including Maccabi, Hadassah and Naamat and others: don’t be political organizations, don’t let your representatives vote for deepening the occupation and the settlements.”

As a reminder, established in 1901, the JNF devoted itself to buying land for Jews. Today, the JNF owns about 15% of all the land inside the Green Line (a figure which stands to increase if the review process leads to more properties being registered to the JNF). In addition, the JNF has used two subsidiary companies – both called Himanuta – to purchase land in the West Bank, even though the stated JNF policy (until now) did not support such purchases. Peace Now reports that the JNF, via Himanuta, has already purchased over 160,000 acres (65,000 dunams) across the West Bank; settlements established on some of those lands include Itamar, Alfei Menashe, Einav, Kedumim, Givat Ze’ev, Metzadot Yehuda (Beit Yatir), Otniel and more. At the same time, the JNF and the settler group Elad have been partnering together to pursue the mass eviction of Palestinians from East Jerusalem neighborhoods, including Silwan.

New Petition Against Construction on the Ruins of Lifta

On August 4th, a new petition was submitted to the Jerusalem Administrative Court challenging the issuance of a tender for construction on the ruins of the Palestinian neighborhood of Lifta in West Jerusalem. The tender was issued for 259 luxury housing units, commercial buildings, and a hotel. The petition was submitted by Adv. Dr. Sami Arshid on behalf of refugees from Lifta  and experts/activists who have been protesting for the conservation of the site, which is on the UNESCO Tentative List of World Heritage Sites.

The Israeli NGO Emek Shaveh writes that the petition was submitted with three expert opinions, one from a civil engineer, a second from an ecologist, and a third written by a team of five architects and conservation planners. All of these opinions object to the construction plan. 

While FMEP’s settlement and annexation report focuses on settlement building in areas located over the 1967 Green Line, the story of Lifta – and of other Palestinian villages forcibly depopulated by Israeli forces in the 1948 – is another facet of the Israeli government’s policy of erasure of Palestinians via the establishment of Jewish Israeli communities. You can read one Palestinian’s account of forced her forced displacement from Lifta, here.

Members of Congress Seek Codify Trump’s Green Line-Erasing Labeling Policy Into Law

On July 27th, U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) and 5 Republican colleagues introduced a bill to “require the maintenance of the country of origin markings for imported goods produced in the West Bank or Gaza, and for other purposes.” Under this legislation, products made in the West Bank and Gaza would be legally required to be labelled “Made in Israel” for the purposes of importing to the United States. 

In a tweet following the introduction of the bill, which has been referred  to committee, Sen. Cotton released a statement  and tweeted:

“Left-wing activists abuse county-of-origin labels in order to stigmatize products made in Israel. Our bill will defend the integrity of the Jewish State by ensuring that Israeli products may proudly bear the label ‘Made in Israel’ 

As a reminder, in the waning months of the Trump Administration, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced new U.S. guidelines that require products made in all areas under Israeli control to be labelled as “Made in Israel” (or iterations thereof) when being exported to the U.S. This was a massive and highly consequential shift in U.S. policy, boiling down to U.S. recognition of Israeli sovereignty not only over settlements (as the Trump Administration has previously done) but over all of Area C – some 60% of the West Bank), irrespective of whether or not Israel officially annexes the land. This Trump-era labeling policy remains in effect today, as the Biden Administration has not publicly reversed it. Notably, this policy – as laid out by Pompeo – would in principle require even Palestinian-made goods originating from villages in Area C to be labelled as “Made in Israel”. Roughly 150,000 Palestinians live in Area C, where they are subjected to an escalating Israeli campaign to make life untenable for them via discriminatory planning policies and demolitions. 

For more, please see (and subscribe to receive) Lara Friedman’s weekly legislative roundup.

Bonus Reads

  1. “Why we went to the UN Security Council about East Jerusalem” (The Times of Israel // Yudith Oppenheimer of Ir Amim)
  2. “Ted Cruz blocks bill advancing Israel-Arab normalization, citing pressure on Israel to reach two-state solution” (JTA)
  3. “WATCH: Settler grabs Israeli soldier’s weapon, fires at Palestinians” (+972 Magazine)

Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement & Annexation Report. To subscribe to this report, please click here.

July 16, 2021

  1. The E-1 Settlement is Back on the Agenda
  2. Tender for Israeli Construction on Ruins of Lifta Stirs Controversy as Plan Barrels Forward
  3. Likud Submits Annexation Bill for all of West Bank
  4. Bonus Reads

Comments or questions? Email Kristin McCarthy – kmccarthy@fmep.org.

The E-1 Settlement is Back on the Agenda

The Israeli government has announced that the E-1 settlement plan – long understood to be a “doomsday” settlement by those hoping to achieve a two-state solution – will be discussed by Israel’s West Bank planning authority on August 9th.  Given the highly sensitive nature of the E-1 settlement, the international community has long engaged intensively to dissuade the Israeli government from advancing the plan.

Map by Ir Amim

The E-1 settlement is at the planning stage where objections filed by the public against the plan will be heard and discussed by the Israeli High Planning Committee (a body within the Israeli Defense Ministry responsible for regulating construction in the occupied West Bank). Several Israeli NGOs – including Peace Now, Ir Amim, and the Association of Environmental Justice in Israel – jointly filed an objection in August 2020 against the E-1 plan, citing a litany of problems including several dire economic repercussions as well as the inherent inequality and discrimination of planning this community for Israelis. Those objections will be part of what the Planning Committee will discuss if it meets on August 9th. Once all objections have been dealt with (e.g., rejected, or addressed via changes in the plan), the Committee can grant final approval for construction.

In its current form, the E-1 plan provides for the construction of 3,412 new settlement units on an area of land located northeast of Jerusalem. The site is home to several Palestinian bedouin communities, including Khan al-Ahmar, which Israel has already undertaken many attempts to forcibly displace. Long called a “doomsday” settlement by supporters of a two-state solution, construction of the E-1 settlement would sever East Jerusalem from its West Bank hinterland. It would also  cut the West Bank effectively in half,  foreclosing the possibility of drawing a border between Israel and Palestine in a manner which preserves territorial contiguity between the northern and southern parts of the West Bank. Israel’s “answer” to the latter criticism has long been the argument that Palestinians don’t need territorial contiguity, and that new roads can instead provide “transportational continuity.” To this end, Israel has build the “Sovereignty Road” – a sealed road passing through the E-1 area, that is wholly under Israel’s total control (meaning Israel can cut off passage through it at any time). In January 2021, then-PM  Netanyahu promised to increase funding for the Sovereignty Road as part of the drive to get E-1 built. 

As a reminder: there have been attempts to promote the E1 plan since the 1990s, but due to wall-to-wall international opposition, the plan was not advanced until 2012, when Netaynuahu ordered it to be approved for depositing. Following an outcry from the international community, the plan again went into a sort of dormancy…until Netanyahu put it back on the agenda in February 2020 when he was facing his third round of elections in the two years. Also, as a reminder: under the Trump Plan (which the Biden Administration has yet to comment on), the area where E-1 is located is slated to become part of Israel.

Commenting on the imminent advancement on the E-1 plan Peace Now said: 

“This plan poses a real threat for the chance for peace thus has gained sharp opposition in Israel and internationally. The Bennett Lapid government has glorified itself in turning a new page with the world and the citizens of Israel, but promoting the plan in E1 shows the opposite and will bring us back to the dangerous policies furthered by Netanyahu. The Minister of Defense can and must freeze this plan so that the Israeli interest is safeguarded and a wrong prevented.”

Tender for Israeli Construction on Ruins of Lifta Stirs Controversy as Plan Barrels Forward

A disagreement between the Jerusalem Municipality and the Israel Land Authority might help activists in cancelling (or at least delaying) the issuance of a tender for the construction of luxury highrise apartment buildings and a hotel on the ruins of the Palestinian neighborhood of Lifta in West Jerusalem. The tender is scheduled to be issued on July 29th. The Municipality says that the tender is being issued without its support, and that the Mayor of Jerusalem, Moshe Leon (Likud) wants to reexamine the plan. Palestinians have been actively protesting and inhabiting the lands of Lifta – as well as preparing a legal challenge to the plan – in an attempt to stop the construction of a new Israel neighborhood that will no doubt be an inhospitable and economically inaccessible place for Palestinian citizens of Israel and Jerusalem ID holders.

Sami Arshid, a lawyer who represented the families of the refugees previously, said: 

“At this stage, the battle has been renewed through a request to the Israel Land Authority, the Jerusalem Municipality and the regional planning and building committee with a request to cancel the new tender and to carry out new planning based on the findings of the preservation survey of the Antiquities Authority. At the same time, we demand to act to strengthen the existing structures to prevent the continued collapse of cultural assets. If this request is not honored in the next few days, we will once again be forced to turn to the courts.”

Emek Shaveh’s Yonathan Mizrachi told Haaretz: 

“You don’t need to be an archaeologist to enjoy the history that the remnants of the village of Lifta recount. Generations of Israelis who came to the site in their childhood brought the village back to life in their imaginations, understood how the agricultural and architectural culture of the land looked in the last hundreds of years, and no less than that, gained a deep and direct understanding of the story of the land.”

While FMEP’s settlement and annexation report focuses on settlement building in areas located over the 1967 Green Line, the story of Lifta – and of other Palestinian villages forcibly depopulated by Israeli forces in the 1948 – is another facet of the Israeli government’s policy of erasure of Palestinians via the establishment of Jewish Israeli communities. You can read one Palestinian’s account of forced her forced displacement from Lifta, here.

Likud Submits Annexation Bill for all of West Bank

On July 13, the Likud Party presented a bill for the annexation of the West Bank to the Knesset’s committee on Legislative Affairs, which is slated to hold a first vote on a bill on July 18th. The bill was authored by Likud MK Miki Zohar, who has previously submitted other – more limited – annexation bills, as well as a bill to prevent the government from dismantling any settlements.

Zohar is a fervent supporter of annexation and settlement growth. Zohar has participated in events hosted by the Sovereignty Movement – an offshoot of the pro-settlement Women in Green organization – which has established and expanded its influence with Israeli politicians and public discourse over the past two years. Zohar has also participated in the movement to reestablish the four settlements in the northern West Bank – Sa Nur, Homesh, Ganim, and Kadim – which were dismantled by the Israeli government as part of the 2005 Gaza Disengagement.

Bonus Reads

  1. “Israeli settlements should be classified as war crimes, says UN expert” (United Nations Human Rights Council)
  2. “Israeli Soldiers Shoot at Palestinian Shepherd Outside West Bank Settlement” (Haaretz)
  3. “JOINT MILITIAS: On a Single Day in May, Israeli Settlers and Soldiers Cooperated in Attacks That Left Four Palestinians Dead” (The Intercept)
  4. “‘It will be easier for our government to work with the current US administration’” (Israel Hayom)

Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement & Annexation Report. To subscribe to this report, please click here.

May 13, 2021

  1. Knesset Advances Three Key Annexation Bills
  2. Israel’s Official Maps of Jerusalem Land Expropriations — Discrepancies and Room for Interpretation
  3. Israel Advances Plan to Build On the Ruins of Lifta, a Historic Palestinian Neighborhood in West Jerusalem
  4. In Victory for Settlement Companies, Canadian Appeals Court Reverses Settlement Product Labelling Ruling
  5. <New Campaign in Norway Pushes for State Pension Fund to Divest from Occupation
  6. Bonus Reads

Comments or questions? Email Kristin McCarthy – kmccarthy@fmep.org.

Knesset Advances Three Key Annexation Bills

Notwithstanding surging protests and violence across Israel and the territories it belligerently occupies, the Israeli Knesset voted on May 10th to give preliminary approval to three incendiary bills: one would grant retroactive legalization to 70 unauthorized outposts; a second would rescind the 2005 Disengagement Law, thereby allowing Israel and its settlers to re-establish four settlements in the northern West Bank which were dismantled under that law; and a third bill would empower the Knesset to override decisions by the Israeli Supreme Court and reinstate laws the Court ruled to be unconstitutional (like the Settlement Regulation Law, which is the key target of this legislative effort). FMEP has previously explained these bills here. Ahead of the vote, Defense Minister Benny Gantz asked Prime Minister Netanyahu to intervene to delay the bills, citing the rising violence and unrest.

With the vote to advance the bills on May 10th, the Knesset will need to pass the bills through three more readings. The three bills have long been high on the wish list of many Israeli politicians who support Israel’s annexation of West Bank land.  

Israel’s Official Maps of Jerusalem Land Expropriations — Discrepancies and Room for Interpretation

Following years of advocacy by the Israeli group Bimkom: Planners for Planning Rights, the official maps drawn by the Israeli government when it annexed (illegally) lands around Jerusalem have been released in their entirety for the first time. Though bits and pieces of the maps had been released in the past by the Israel Lands Authority in response to specific inquiries related to land expropriations, the state had kept the maps hidden from the public until now. 

With the maps in hand, Bimkom has launched a website where the maps can be analysed. On the significance of the maps and the ability of the public to access them, Bimkom writes:

“The original expropriation maps were drawn by hand, as was customary at the time. The manual drawing and the passage of years however, have led to defects and distortions in the original paper documents. In many places there is a discrepancy between the hand-drawn maps and contemporary mappings made with the latest technology, and their reading leaves room for interpretation. Hiding the expropriation maps from the public allowed the state authorities to be the sole interpreters of the maps. But now, with the help of the interactive on-line tools offered on Bimkom’s new site, interpretation of the maps will be in the public domain.”

Israel Advances Plan to Build On the Ruins of Lifta, a Historic Palestinian Neighborhood in West Jerusalem

On May 10th (Jerusalem Day), the Israel Lands Authority announced that on July 4, 2021 it will open bidding on construction plans to build a new neighborhood on the ruins of the Palestinian neighborhood of Lifta, located in West Jerusalem. While FMEP’s settlement and annexation report focuses on settlement building in areas located over the 1967 Green Line, the story of Lifta – and of other Palestinian villages forcibly depopulated by Israeli forces in the 1948 – is another facet of the Israeli government’s policy of erasure of Palestinians via the establishment of Jewish Israeli communities. You can read one Palestinian’s account of forced her forced displacement from Lifta, here.

Lifta is the last Palestinian village in Jerusalem to remain partially intact. Israel has prevented Palestinian refugees and landowners from returning to it, but has not yet demolished all the original structures (55 out of the original 400 structures still remain), or opened up the area for Israeli re-development. In 2017 the ruins of Lifta were named by the World Monuments Fund as one of 25 at-risk sites around the world.

The plans being advanced call for the construction of 259 apartment units, a luxury hotel, and other commercial buildings. Former-Jerusalem Municipality council member Yair Gabbai told the Jerusalem Post that a synagogue will be added to the development plan – leaving no doubt about for whom the housing is intended.

In Victory for Settlement Companies, Canadian Appeals Court Reverses Settlement Product Labelling Ruling

On May 6th, a Canadian federal appeals court reversed a 2019 ruling that had prevented Israeli companies based in settlements from labelling their products as “Made in Israel.” The new ruling by the appeals court found that the 2019 decision had been made “improperly,” and sent the case (which was initiated by the Psagot settlement winery) to Canada’s Food Inspection Agency – which had previously allowed the products (wine) from settlements to be labelled as “Made in Israel.”

Psagot Winery is a willing legal test case, as part of an ongoing international campaign led by Israel and its defenders to erase any/all distinction that foreign countries might want to make between the territory recognized by the world as the sovereign state of Israel, and Israeli settlements built in the occupied territories, which are illegal under international law. By convincing countries to treat settlements products as products of the state of Israel, this campaign seeks to secure de facto recognition of Israeli sovereignty over its settlements.

For a deep dive in the history of the Psagot settlement and the significance of former Sec. of State Mike Pompeo’s visit there in the waning days of the Trump Administration – check out this FMEP podcast with Dror Etkes, Fadi Quran, and Lara Friedman. 

New Campaign in Norway Pushes for State Pension Fund to Divest from Occupation

This week two well-respected organizing groups in Norway –  the Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees and Norwegian People’s Aid – have launched a campaign calling on the Government Pension Fund (the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world) to exclude from its investment portfolio 64 companies that are “involved in activities that support and profit from illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as well as the occupation economy, in general.”

The campaign website explains:

“The campaign aims to shed light on how investments made by the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), popularly known as the Norwegian oil fund, can contribute to the occupation…Businesses play a key role in supporting the construction, maintenance and expansion of the illegal settlements. International and Israeli companies are found in many business sectors, including banking, tourism, security, technology, construction, real estate, extractive industries, telecommunications, agriculture, transport and industry. Various UN bodies have stated that the close link between settlements and violations of human rights and international law make it practically impossible for a company to do business with the settlements and be compliant with international law and international standards for business and human rights. For this reason, some of these companies have already been excluded by other Norwegian and international financial institutions. We believe that the oil fund should do the same. The oil fund has recently taken steps to look more closely into portfolio companies that operate in high-risk conflict areas. Despite this, investments in companies with activities in occupied Palestinian territory have increased.”

Bonus Reads

  1. “EU Court Backs Group Opposed to Imports From Israeli Settlements” (Reuters)
  2. “Co-existence in Jaffa Could Cost Arab Residents Their Homes” (Haaretz)