Closing the offices of Jerusalem Foundation for Development in Jerusalem
The Israeli authorities closed down the offices of “Jerusalem Foundation for Development” located in the neighbourhood of Beit Hanina and Salah Eddin Street in Jerusalem. A large Israeli force including individuals from the Special Forces, police and Musta’ribeen units raided the foundation’s headquarters and completely searched the contents, and then closed them down for a year (until the 27th of October 2014). Meanwhile, another Israeli force raided the office of “Sanctuaries and Al-Aqsa building foundation” in the city of Nazareth as they broke in the office, searched its contents and confiscated the computers in addition to many documents and files; the forces also detained all of the employees and prevented them from doing any kind of work or even making a call. The director of Jerusalem Foundation for Development, lawyer Khaled Zabarqa, explained that the occupation’s intelligence evacuated the employees using force and hung an order to close down the foundation until the 27th of October, 2014 without disclosing the reasons behind the closure. He confirmed that this is the second time the foundation gets closed down pointing out that it provides rescue services and aids for needy families in Jerusalem. The foundation also supervises the houses’ renovation works and defends the detainees in the occupation’s courts. Zabarqa noted that the occupation considers this foundation to be a threat since it proves the steadfastness of Jerusalemites and reveals the crimes of the occupation.
