Ethnic Cleansing in East Jerusalem
This graffiti on the wall opposite to the Silwan, Community Centre sums up the Palestinian struggle. Silwan, in the Wadi Hulweh, is a Palestine village close to Jerusalem old city walls, home to 10,000 Palestinians and 450 heavily guarded illegal settlers.
I went back there after three years to find that ethnic cleansing is ever increasing.
Ethnic cleansing might seem too strong an expression, but when of 55,000 units for Israelis have been given in East Jerusalem; in contrast, to fewer than 600 for Palestinians and 100 houses in Al Bustan's Silwan area are under threat of demolition in order to create a King David's Garden tourism park, it doesn't seem so.
Ouda from the centre points out the latest demolition opposite the centre
I went back there after three years to find that ethnic cleansing is ever increasing.
Ethnic cleansing might seem too strong an expression, but when of 55,000 units for Israelis have been given in East Jerusalem; in contrast, to fewer than 600 for Palestinians and 100 houses in Al Bustan's Silwan area are under threat of demolition in order to create a King David's Garden tourism park, it doesn't seem so.
Ouda from the centre points out the latest demolition opposite the centre
Digging around for the City of David
Tunnelling for the evidence of a 3,000 year old city to legitimise Jewish ancestry still proceeds causing untold damage to Palestinian homes. No actual artefacts for this period have been found as yet.
Lawyers have been fighting for years to halt the excavations but "the Israeli authorities are refusing to let a surveyor into the tunnels and underground spaces to produce a professional report to use it in court." Article here.
Jerusalem is ours is the bold internet password in the Educational Bookshop*, but when demolitions in 2017 East Jerusalem account for a third of the 321 in the whole of the West Bank, this would seem an aspiration impossible to realise.
*The mission of the amazing Educational Bookshop in East Jerusalem: As the world around us keeps changing, we are continually looking into ways in which we can elevate the level of our services not only to our customer, but also to our beloved city. However, our mission has always been about building a strong, stable and vibrant cultural hub in our city. Through different initiatives and activities, we hope the Educational Bookshop will contribute to a renewal in the drive for social, political and economical change
Lawyers have been fighting for years to halt the excavations but "the Israeli authorities are refusing to let a surveyor into the tunnels and underground spaces to produce a professional report to use it in court." Article here.
Jerusalem is ours is the bold internet password in the Educational Bookshop*, but when demolitions in 2017 East Jerusalem account for a third of the 321 in the whole of the West Bank, this would seem an aspiration impossible to realise.
*The mission of the amazing Educational Bookshop in East Jerusalem: As the world around us keeps changing, we are continually looking into ways in which we can elevate the level of our services not only to our customer, but also to our beloved city. However, our mission has always been about building a strong, stable and vibrant cultural hub in our city. Through different initiatives and activities, we hope the Educational Bookshop will contribute to a renewal in the drive for social, political and economical change
