Judaizing Jerusalem
Introduction:
We hear a lot about Judaization, especially when it comes to Jerusalem. Judaizing Jerusalem is a set of measures and policies the Zionist occupation and Jewish associations implement, in order to change the urban and demographic Arab and Islamic nature if the city, and give it a Western Jewish nature. They do this so that the City of Jerusalem becomes entirely Jewish. They work on 3 areas: the man, the land and what’s above and under it, and the holy sites.
Judaizing the Population:
The Zionist occupation has taken a lot of measures to empty the City of Jerusalem from its people. They killed a lot of Jerusalemite people and expelled many others since 1948. They continued their activities using various wats. They withdraw the Identity and Residence cards from the Jerusalemites. Also, they impose laws and conditions like the ones that have considered the people of Jerusalem as immigrants. Moreover, they raise heavy taxes in order to force the Jerusalemites to leave their shops and city. This would eventually lead to empty the city from its people.
Judaizing the Place:
Since the time the occupation took over the entire city of Jerusalem, in 1967, Judaizing measures started to be implemented, aiming at Judaizing Jerusalem spatially. This means demolishing houses and preventing building ones. It started with the archeological Islamic Al-Magharibah District and expelling its people. It was a real massacre, where the occupation built on its ruins a big plaza they’ve called the “Wailing Plaza”. The name is Jewish too, so that they can claim that the Western Wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque is connected with the Jewish culture. There is a series of demolishing houses and real estates and orders to prevent granting building permits and restoration of houses.
Judaizing Education:
When the Zionist Entity occupied Palestine, and took over the city of Jerusalem in 1967, it worked hard to erase and conceal the Islamic and Arab identity, and even the national culture. Also, it made sure to impede the delivering of any moral or national value to students. The occupation’s way to do that is to abolish the Arab curriculum and replace it with an Israeli one, to be studied by the students of Jerusalemite schools. Thus, it would control the education of the Jerusalemite schools’ students, and therefore; impose a certain style of cultural alienation.
Announcing Jerusalem as a United Capital of the Occupying State:
After the occupying state occupied the eastern part of Jerusalem in 1967 and combined it with the western part, it declared Jerusalem as the united capital of the state. Despite the international resolutions that rejected it back then, the occupying state ignored them, and it to even more extreme act, which is the declaration of Jerusalem as an eternal capital to what’s called Israel. In 2017, the American President Trump issued an acknowledgement, from his state, of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Based on this decision, the arena is evolving a lot.
Changing the Historic Landmarks of the City:
The Israeli government and the settlement associations are working to change the urban and architectural identity of the city. They do so by demolishing Arab and Islamic buildings, like what happened in Al-Magharibah District, or As-Sharaf District and its mosques, schools, corners, and market. They forced its people to go out, replaced them with Jewish residents, and called the place “the Jewish Quarter”. There are other Judaizing scenes that are going on.
Changing the Names of Places, Streets, and Buildings:
The Israeli government consistently changes the Arab names of the landmarks and streets of Jerusalem, replacing them with Hebrew names. They aim at erasing the existence of Muslims and their civilization there. They are named by a governmental committee for names, where it names places based on alleged historic or political Zionist considerations or other falsified Torah ones. Based on these names, maps and tourist guides are issued.
Judaizing Al-Aqsa Mosque:
Despite the sacredness and religious status tat Al-Aqsa Mosque enjoys, it hasn’t been safe. Yet, it was the first attack target. It was the target of burning and bombing attempts. Also, the occupation took over parts of it and turned them to their best interest. One of these parts is the Junblatiyyah Dome that was turned into an Israeli police station. The excavations are considered of the most dangerous things that Al-Aqsa Mosque, in particular, and Jerusalem, in general, suffer from. Moreover, there is the danger of the break-ins and the time and spatial divisions of the mosque.
Prohibiting the Call for Prayer – Adhan – in Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Other Mosques in Jerusalem:
It is a new law that was submitted by the extreme right wing, in order to ban the Adhan during night hours, whether in Al-Aqsa or other mosques in Jerusalem and the Palestinian towns within the Green Line. It was approved in 2017, under the pretext that the sound of the Adhan disturbs the Israelis. The Adhan is forbidden from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., i.e. the call for the Fajr prayer is specifically forbidden. This represents a clear fight against the Islamic existence of Al-Aqsa and Jerusalem.