November 2020- A Jerusalemite martyr…demolition, arrests and continuous incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque
Wadi Hilweh Information Center issued its monthly report for the month of November 2020, during which it monitored the Israeli violations in the city of Jerusalem.
The center said that the occupation authorities killed a young man at Al-Z’ayemmilitary checkpoint on suspicion of “attempting to carry out a run over attack.” The occupation authorities also continued daily arrests in the towns and neighborhoods of Jerusalem, and the occupation municipality continued its demolition policy, in addition to organizing incursions into Al-Aqsa by groups and institutions of the alleged structure.
Martyr
On 25/11/2020, the 36-year-old Nour Jamal Shqeir was shot dead at Al-Z’ayem military checkpoint by border guards at the checkpoint, and his body was buried after being detained for 5 days.
Young men documented with their mobile phones the pursuit of the occupation forces and the checkpoint guards of Shqeir. The forces stopped his vehicle several meters from the checkpoint, and then shot him even though he did not pose any danger to the forces, and this is what the young men said in an interview, and the video showed the voice of one of the soldiers saying “Do not shoot”.
Jamal Shqeir- the martyr’s father - explained that he went to Al-Z’ayem checkpoint accompanied by his son, after photos and videos were transmitted by social media, in which Noor's vehicle appeared, and he parked his vehicle on the other side of the checkpoint in an attempt to walk to the firing zone, but the occupation forces prevented them from approaching the vehicle, but they were able to verify the vehicle’s number, and the occupation forces refused to give the father any information about his son’s health status, seized his identity and arrested his son Yehya and summoned the father for investigation, and after hours they summoned the martyr’s brother, and released them after several hours.
On the evening of the 29th of last month, the occupation authorities handed over the body of the martyr Nour at the police headquarters in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, while imposing conditions and restrictions on the family by determining the funeral path and the number of participants, as it was transferred from the police station to Al-Maqased Hospital and then directly to Bab al-Rahma cemetery. Thirty people participated in the funeral, 20 of them were allowed to enter the cemetry.
After handing over the body of the martyr, the occupation forces deployed their forces in the streets and roads of Jerusalem, especially along the walls of the Old City, Lions Gate road and Bab al-Rahma cemetery, and deployed their forces at the entrances to the town of Silwan in particular, and prevented entry to the Old City through Lions Gate “from the time the body was delivered until the end of the burial process".
The occupation authorities suppressed the funeral of the martyr upon their arrival in the neighborhood of Al-Sowaneh, as the youths set off on foot behind the vehicle that transported the martyr, but the forces closed the roads in the neighborhood and dispersed them with sound grenades and followed them towards the village of Al-Tur.
Detaining martyrs’ bodies
The center stated that the occupation authorities continue to detain the bodies of four Jerusalemite martyrs in refrigerators, they are: Mesbah Abu Sbeih (since October 2016), Fadi al-Qunbar (since January 2017), Aziz Aweisat (since May 2018), and Maher Za’atra (since February 2020).
Al-Aqsa Mosque
Settlers continued their incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque, under the protection of the occupation forces, throughout the week, with the exception of Friday and Saturday, through Dung Gate, whose keys have been controlled by the occupation authorities since the occupation of Jerusalem.
In a new violation of the “Temple groups”and with official support from the occupation authorities, the afternoon incursions period was increased by half an hour, noting that the “morning”incursions period was (7: 00-10: 30), and the "afternoon" period was 12: 30-1: 30 p.m. in winter time. During the past days, the afternoon shift was extended until 2 p.m.
In another escalation, the "Temple Mount Heritage Foundation" sent a letter to the Minister of Internal Security in the occupation government demanding that religious schools be allowed to spend the entire period available for the incursions in learning about the Torah in the eastern square of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The extremist, Tommy Nissani, executive director of the Temple Mount Heritage Foundation, and the former head of the Students Organization for the Temple, called on Sheikh Mohammad Hussein, the Mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Territories, to "look for a new job" because he will not have a job in Al-Aqsa. He claimed that the work is ongoing with the Gulf countries to hold joint prayers for Muslims and Jews in Al-Aqsa.
Prevention and restrictions on the people of the West Bank
Over the course of last November, the occupation authorities prevented Palestinians that hold the West Bankidentity from performing Friday prayers in Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the occupation authorities took several measures in Jerusalem, including setting up barriers, deploying forces at all the gates of the Old City and Al-Aqsa, and checking the identities of arrivals to the mosque. All residents of the West Bank were prevented from entering and praying in it, and their identities were held for hours, and then they were taken by special buses to the military checkpoints at the entrances to Jerusalem, "Qalandia, Hizma and Rachel's Dome.”
According to the Israeli police, on November 13, it prevented about 2,700 worshipers from the West Bank from entering Al-Aqsa, and on November 6, it prevented about 2,000 worshipers from entering Al-Aqsa, under the pretext of “illegally entering Jerusalem."
Deportation orders
The occupation authorities continued to issue deportation and expulsion order against Jerusalemites. The center monitored the issuance of 21 orders, including 17 expulsion orders from Al-Aqsa, 2 deportation orders from Jerusalem, 1 order banning entrance to the West Bank and one deportation order from the Old City of Jerusalem.
Arrests
The occupation authorities continued to carry out arrests from the city of Jerusalem during last November, and Wadi Hilweh Information Center monitored 157 arrests. Among the detainees were 30 minors, 2 women, and 2 boys under 12 years old.
The information center indicated that the arrests were concentrated in the villages of Issawiya and Al-Tur, the Old City of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The center added that among those arrested last month was Engineer Khaled Abu Arafa - the former Minister of Jerusalem - who was summoned for investigation they extended his arrest and was turned to administrative detention for a period of 4 months. He has been deported from the city of Jerusalem since 2014, according to a decision by the Minister of Interior to withdraw Israeli residency from the deputies of the legislative council, they are: Mohammad Abu Ter, Ahmed Aton, Mohammad Totah, and Minister Abu Arafa, under the pretext of "their lack of loyalty to the State of Israel."
Last month, the occupation intelligence summoned the Minister of Jerusalem, Fadi Al-Hidmi, and warned him during the investigation of its intention to restrict his movement in Jerusalem and towards the West Bank.
The occupation authorities also continued to restrict the activities of activists in the city of Jerusalem. Last month, they summoned Shadi Mattour, the secretary of the Fatah movement in Jerusalem, several times, and handed him a decision preventing him from entering the West Bank, and a decision preventing him from participating / carrying out any activity in the city, and preventing the collecting or distributing of funds in Jerusalem.
Demolition
The occupation authorities continued to carry out demolitions and force Jerusalemites to implement the decisions to self-demolish their facilities, under the pretext of building without a permit, despite the difficult economic conditions due to the Corona pandemic on one hand, and the conditions set by the municipality to obtain a license on the other.
Wadi Hilweh Information Center monitored 16 demolitions in Jerusalem, including an under-construction building, 7 homes, 4 agricultural and animal installations, and 3 commercial facilities in addition to bulldozing and sweeping lands.
At the end of last month, the occupation municipality demolished the lower part of the stairs leading to the Yusifiya cemetery and Lions Gate road leading to the Old City and Al-Aqsa, in order to reach the Martyrs' cemetery and carry out excavation and bulldozing works, and start building a path for the "biblical garden."
Also, the Nature and Parks Authority and the municipality continued digging in the lands of Wadi Al-Rababeh in Silwan.
Notices
Last month, the Jerusalem District Court rejected the appeals submitted by 3 families from the town of Silwan to the decisions of the "Magistrate's Court" to evict them from their properties, in favor of the "Ateret Cohanim settlement" association, on the grounds that the Jews own the land on which the building is located.
The families of “Odeh, Shweiki and Dweik” live in two buildings located within the “Ateret Cohanim” scheme, to control 5200 square meters of Batn al-Hawa lands in the town of Silwan, under the pretext of their ownership by Jews from Yemen since 1881.
As part of the policy of pursuing institutions operating in Jerusalem, the occupation authorities renewed the decision to close the Palestine TV office, for a period of 6 months, for the third time in a row. They also stormed the "National Youth Club" in Shu’fat refugee camp in Jerusalem.
In early November, a settler tried to kidnap a boy while he was in the village of Umm Tuba, south of Jerusalem, while he was collecting plastic boxes, had it not been for the interference of one of the passing youths.
The boy explained in a recording published on social media that the settler told him: “Come with me to the house and I will give you 50 shekels, and I will return you to the place.” The young men called the police who came to the site and arrested the settler and investigated the incident.
