Muslim-Christian Organization: "Jerusalem is now different from what it was like some years ago"

A Jerusalemite organization has warned against continuous Israeli plots to Judaize Occupied Jerusalem, stressing that the Israeli authorities are “implementing a vast scheme for Judaizing the holy city; changing its Arab landmarks; obliterating its history and culture, and giving it an extremist Jewish nature.”

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The Secretary General of the Muslim-Christian Organization for Supporting Jerusalem, Hanna Eissa, said that “the scheme that Israel is intending to implement in the Wadi Helwa area in Silwan, adjacent to the al-Aqsa Mosque from the south (which is the area known by Israelis as the ‘Givati parking lot’) aims at excavating more tunnels under the Old City and Jerusalem’s walls, and portends an end to the Silwan neighbourhood and the displacement of its inhabitants.”

Eissa added that the Occupation’s Jerusalem Municipality aims at changing the Arab neighbourhood of Silwan into Jewish gardens, which threatens the Arab, sacred Muslim and Christian landmarks in the area.

In a press release, Eissa stated that the Old City, which is home to the world’s most significant Muslim and Christian sites, is now situated “over a network of tunnels, which has rendered the ground in this area so fragile and weak that it cannot bear any more excavations and Judaization.”

He noted that the Jerusalem Municipality ratified this decision a few hours after the Arab League demanded that the Israeli government cease settlement activity, particularly in Jerusalem, and accept the pre-1967 borders as a basis for a two-state solution. “This was a clear response from the Occupation’s government, which went ahead with settlement activity and Judaization, ignoring the Arab League’s demands alongside many other international demands, and eradicating any chances for peace and stability in the region.”

Eissa called on all pro-peace entities and organizations to urgently bring an end to Israeli Judaization schemes. “The city of Jerusalem is now different from what it was like some years ago; Jewish sites are spreading across the city, and they will soon dominate it unless an urgent intervention takes place.”