Lawyer Muhannad Jabara: A dangerous regulatory plan aims to cancel the industrial zone in Wadi Al-Joz and impose a new reality with no economic benefit

Lawyer Muhammad Alian: The occupation municipality in Jerusalem is rushing to demolish commercial facilities without waiting for the court’s decision

Khalil Tafakji: “Silicon Valley” is one of the most dangerous settlement projects in Jerusalem and is part of the plan to Judaize the city

Hatem Abdel Qader: The "Silicon Valley" project is a new settlement invasion and there must be a legal political move to thwart it

Ihab Al-Mash’ash’: The “Silicon Valley” project threatens my livelihood, kills the economy of Jerusalem, and harms citizens and their interests

For years, the occupation municipality in Jerusalem has been planning to establish a Jewish project, called "Silicon Valley" in the east of the Old City of Jerusalem, as a high-tech project, claiming that it can create thousands of jobs for the Palestinians of Jerusalem. The project is scheduled to be established on about 30 dunams of Jerusalemite land in the industrial zone in the Wadi al-Joz neighborhood, and has passed new approvals from the occupation municipality, in preparation for the start of its implementation.

Land and settlement expert Khalil Al-Tafakji believes that the occupation authorities are seeking to establish this project, which is scheduled to be implemented between 2024 and 2028 at a cost of about one billion dollars, to make Jerusalem indivisible, as they are taking preemptive steps by establishing settlement outposts within Palestinian neighborhoods “within a completely clear program that aims primarily to surround, divide and separate Palestinian neighborhoods, and Silicon Valley is part of this program.”

Removal of workshops and garages without finding an alternative location

The office of attorney Muhannad Jabara, an expert in real estate, planning and construction affairs in Jerusalem, representing the vast majority of owners of workshops, interests and properties in the Wadi al-Jaw industrial zone, recently submitted a comprehensive administrative petition against the so-called “Silicon Valley Project” to the Jerusalem District Court, through which he demanded the cancellation of this project in its entirety. He is also pleading on behalf of about thirty petitioners before the Municipal Affairs Court regarding dozens of demolition orders submitted by the Jerusalem occupation municipality, which affect workshops and businesses in the area.

Jabara told “Y”: “We are talking about a very dangerous regulatory plan that the occupation authorities are trying to impose on the residents and owners of businesses and interests in the industrial zone, in Wadi al-Joz in particular, and on the people of Jerusalem in general. The occupation municipality, or what is called the Development Authority in Jerusalem, is seeking two things:

First, the cancellation and termination of this industrial zone, and the complete cancellation of the workshops, businesses and garages in it, without finding any alternative location for these businesses and businesses, as is the practice in developed cities and even in Israel itself.

He added: The second matter is imposing a regulatory reality on the area that is devoid of any economic feasibility for any investor to implement and build any of the buildings proposed through the project, as the project includes the construction of between 8-14 floors for high-tech offices with the possibility of building for housing only with 10% of the rights, which was later amended to 20% through the objections that were submitted in this regard.

“What the occupation municipality in Jerusalem is not saying is that if this project is approved, the property owners and the rights holders concerned with the lands will not be able to submit any detailed planning plan on their own, as this plan requires the planning committees to work according to it for the next twenty or thirty years, which prevents any possibility of submitting a planning plan that contradicts this plan, such as a request to build a modest residential building, for example, with five floors,” Jabara continued.

There is a real possibility of the project failing and being aborted.

“The important thing about the issue is that there is a real possibility of thwarting and aborting this project, and preventing it from being implemented, through agreement and solidarity between the owners of the properties in the area, and those disposing of these properties, especially since the vast majority of the properties in the area are owned by different families or a family trust for a specific family, and the disposal is under the rights of the Tenant Protection Law, and usually there are disputes between the owners of the properties and the tenants, as the owners seek to get rid of the tenants to reclaim the properties and benefit from them, and here lies the danger, which the occupation municipality seeks to promote, following a policy of divide and rule between the owners and the tenants,” Jabara said.

He pointed out that the occupation municipality is working to spread false justifications to the owners that they must stand by the project to "get rid" of the tenants who have been "tampering" with these properties for many years, with the aim of evacuating them and opening the door for the owners to advance in these huge construction projects.

He said: “The important thing about the issue is that during the joint meetings we held with all rights holders, including owners and tenants, and after consulting the appraisers, engineers and investors, we succeeded in revealing that this project cannot be economically feasible for any investor to agree with him to enter into any investment partnership with any owner of any plot in the project’s areas, as it became clear that there is a need for the percentage of residential construction to be at least 50-60% of the total building to be constructed in order for there to be economic feasibility for progress in the project.”

The project is not economically viable.

Attorney Jabara confirmed that “through the pleadings we made before the Central Court in Jerusalem in the petition against the project, we explained the economic futility of the project even for the property owners themselves who own the rights, which was objected to by the lawyers for the occupation municipality in Jerusalem and the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee, and aroused the astonishment of the judge who asked that we publish news about the existence of the petition demanding the cancellation of the project before the court, and that we invite everyone who believes that he agrees with or is interested in the project to join the court, and all of this through publication in two Arabic-language newspapers, and through large banners that are placed in the area for more than thirty days, and this is what was done.”

Jabara pointed out that "what is shocking about the issue from the perspective of the court and the occupation municipality in Jerusalem is that not even a single property owner or landowner in the area submitted any request to the court, which was clear to everyone that the property owners understood the truth, and that even for them there was no point in approving this project, which deprived the municipality of the opportunity in its miserable attempts to market that this project has an economic benefit for the owners at least."

Imposing a new reality and emptying the region of its owners

Lawyer Jabara added: “Today it has become clear to everyone that what the Palestinian Jerusalemite wants first and foremost in Jerusalem is shelter and housing before anything else, and that it is unreasonable to talk about projects to build high-tech offices in the historic Palestinian neighborhood of Wadi al-Joz before we secure shelter and housing for the Palestinian, because anything other than that means the forced displacement of the Jerusalemite from his home and from his business from which he earns his living.”

“It is very important to clarify that this project does not involve confiscating land from its owners, and that the owner of the land cannot be forced to build according to what is stated in the project if he does not wish to do so, as the occupation municipality is only trying, by issuing demolition orders for dozens of buildings in the area, to impose a fait accompli to empty the area, and open the way for the owners to submit building permits to erect fictitious buildings in the project,” he continued.

“What should be done by going to the local affairs court is to expose the above municipality policy,” Jabara stressed. “In my opinion, from a legal standpoint, the municipality cannot claim that there is a necessity or public interest to demolish the building that was built before the occupation in 1967 for the purpose of establishing the ‘Silicon Valley Project,’ which the owners have no desire to implement. So what urgency and urgent necessity are we talking about?!”

The occupation municipality in Jerusalem is trying to impose a new reality

For his part, lawyer Muhammad Alian from the "Saint Yves" Foundation confirmed to "Y" that the occupation municipality in Jerusalem imposed a new reality by demolishing commercial facilities in the East Jerusalem area, as part of implementing a new industrial settlement called "Silicon Valley."

Alian explained that the court has not yet decided to cancel these projects, but the occupation municipality rushed to implement the demolition without taking into account the results of the possible legal procedures.

Alian pointed out that some of the demolished structures date back to before the establishment of the occupying state, while others date back to the period of Jordanian rule in East Jerusalem. Although the court may issue a decision to invalidate the entire plan, which would eliminate any justification for demolishing these structures, the municipality did not wait for the court’s decision and proceeded with the demolitions.

Lawyer Alian pointed out that the municipality even ignores court decisions, which are often in its favor, but this time it did not commit to waiting.

However, Alian confirmed that his legal team was able to freeze a number of demolition orders that were issued without the knowledge of the owners of the facilities, noting that the court sessions related to these orders are scheduled for the beginning of the new year.

Alian concluded by saying: “These measures come in the context of the new government plan to Judaize Jerusalem and attempt to erase the Arab and Palestinian identity in the city,” expressing his hope that the Central Court will be able to invalidate this settlement plan before the end of the year.

Establishing settlements surrounding Palestinian neighborhoods

In turn, settlement expert Khalil Tafakji confirmed that the Wadi al-Joz project, known as “Silicon Valley,” is one of the most dangerous settlement projects in East Jerusalem, especially in the Wadi al-Joz area and the surrounding center.

Tafakji explained that this plan coincides with the "Central Plan" project, and aims primarily to Judaize the surrounding Palestinian neighborhoods and dismember them, which enhances Israeli efforts to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Tafakji pointed out that the Israeli project depends on establishing settlements surrounding Palestinian neighborhoods, then penetrating them with settlement outposts to fragment them.

He mentioned, for example, the Sheikh Jarrah and Wadi al-Joz neighborhoods, which were isolated from different sides, such as the nature reserve in al-Sawani to the east, Hadassah and French Hill to the north, and West Jerusalem to the west.

Tafakji also explained that Israel is working to link these settlement areas together, such as linking the Hadassah area with Wadi al-Joz and the “Moskowitz” project in Karm al-Mufti, which meets with eastern and western Sheikh Jarrah, with the aim of consolidating Israeli control over East Jerusalem.

Judaization, not "development"

He added: "Israel is promoting this project under the slogan of 'development', but its reality lies in an Israeli security vision that aims to Judaize the entire region."

He pointed to the establishment of Israeli sovereign institutions in the region, such as the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Social Affairs, the National Police Command, and the National Insurance Institute, to promote this plan.

He stressed that these projects lead to the destruction of Palestinian neighborhoods through the demolition of homes and the prevention of the construction of new housing, which exacerbates the housing crisis in East Jerusalem.

Tafakji pointed out that despite raising the percentage of construction allowed in the area after submitting an objection to the project from 10% to 20%, the real goal is to control the land and freeze Palestinian development in the area.

Ending the Palestinian industrial presence in Wadi al-Joz

Hatem Abdel Qader, Secretary-General of the Islamic Christian Commission for the Defense of Jerusalem and Holy Sites, told Al-Masdar Online: “The Silicon Valley project is a settlement plan that the occupation municipality is trying to market as if it were a development of one of the neighborhoods of the city of Jerusalem. He pointed out that it aims to distort the city’s landscape and bring about a demographic change by replacing the Palestinian Arab industrial presence in Wadi al-Joz with Israeli companies and institutions.”

According to Abdul Qader, the project is one of the most dangerous schemes that the city of Jerusalem is exposed to, stressing the need for a legal political move to thwart the project, because it aims to seize hundreds of dunams of Palestinian land and properties in Wadi al-Joz, most of which are private properties, and the need for a great effort from all Jerusalem institutions and Palestinian officials to thwart the project and prevent Israel from implementing it.

Either stop the demolition decision or find an alternative

For his part, Ihab Al-Mash’ash’, one of those affected by the Silicon Valley project, said: “I have owned a car garage for 35 years in Wadi Al-Joz and I work in it, but I received an order to vacate the shop, so I went to human rights organizations to stop the eviction process.”

He added: "The project will cut off my family's livelihood and distract the shop's customers, and the competent authorities have not provided any alternative. Their goal is to collect taxes, as we have licensed the shop."

He stressed that "the project does not benefit the people of Jerusalem, but rather kills the city. The industrial zone in Wadi al-Joz is an economic resource in the city, and it is a tributary that drives the country's economy, as it contains grocery stores to meet the needs of the people of Jerusalem, and the project is harmful to the citizens."

Al-Mish’ash’ expressed his hope that the court would issue a decision to find an alternative to the industrial area in our favor, or to stop the demolition and eviction decisions, because until today there is no alternative before us.

He added: The institutions working on the project are Israeli institutions, and I do not imagine that they will serve the people of Jerusalem.