![Children of Israeli settlers wave a national flag near the settlement of Bat Ayin in the occupied West Bank on 21 June 2021, as right-wing activists and settler leaders hold 14 simultaneous marches to stop "Arab control" in Area C. [EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-1233580964.jpg?fit=1200%2C790&ssl=1)
Palestinian MP from Jerusalem, Ahmed Attoun, said yesterday that Israeli occupation forces are waging an open war in the holy city in order to erase its Arabic and Islamic heritage, Assabeel newspaper reported.
In a statement, Attoun said that the danger of the Israeli measures in Jerusalem is that “it is carrying out a demographic war aimed at decreasing the number of Palestinians in the city and replacing them with settlers.”
According to Attoun, the Israeli occupation is “racing” to demolish homes, “expropriating lands and building new settlement blocs.”
For Israel “it is the best time to carry out its plans laid down since 1967,” noting that Israel’s dream since the occupation of the city is to rid it of its Arab residents in order to achieve a Jewish majority.
“But so far, Israel has failed to achieve this goal,” he said, stressing that “Jerusalemites will remain in their land because they recognise the essence of the battle with the Israeli occupation.”
Since the illegal Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967, Israel has demolished more than 2,000 Palestinian homes, and built tens of thousands of settlement units for illegal Jewish settlers.
READ: Jewish-American groups urge Israel to end settler ‘terrorism’