Jewish settlement in the Old City of Jerusalem started after a long
break most probably in the 13th century A.D. during the Mamluk rule
in Palestine. It was then confined to a few scores of Jewish
individuals who were living on the charity of Jews in the Diaspora,
as reported by Jewish travelers to Palestine during the Mamluk and
Ottoman periods. In fact, Jewish presence in Jerusalem is closely
tied to the Muslim conquests. It is only after Omar bin al-Khattab
(the second orthodox caliph) took control of the city in the year
638 that Jews were allowed to live there after over six centuries
of banishment. Similarly, it is with Salah Eddin's liberation of
the city from the Crusaders in 1187 that a Jewish presence in
Jerusalem became a reality. Both Jewish migration (from the
Galilee) and immigration to Jerusalem intensified in the 19th
century and was concentrated mainly in the Jewish Quarter. By the
turn of the century, and with the growing influence of the Zionist
movement, this immigration drive had reached such proportions that
the small area within the Jewish Quarter could no more accommodate
the growing number of new arrivals. Jews began to expand beyond the
confines of the now-saturated quarter.
Mixed Quarters
Jewish demographic growth in the Old City was not necessarily
matched with a proportionate increase in the amount of real-estate
property. In fact, after an expansion in the number of Jewish-owned
property at the end of the 19th century, the ratio began to shrink
in the 20th century, due to the migration of the Jewish population
from the Old City to new neighborhoods outside the walls. These
neighborhoods boasted developed services and amenities, some of
which were restricted to Jews. This was not the case inside the
walls of the Old City, where the larger part of property occupied
by Jews was rented from Muslims, and to a lesser degree from
Christians.
When the 1948 war broke out, Jews possessed 192 properties inside
the Old City, most of which (105) was in the Jewish Quarter, while
the rest was spread among the various other quarters. These figures
are based on the Jordanian Custodian of Enemy Property records,
where all property belonging to Jews was registered with minute
accuracy after the division of the city as a result of the war. In
1948, Jewish property made up 0.6 percent of the total area of the
Old City of Jerusalem.
The various quarters in the Old City, including the Jewish one,
were not restricted to one ethnic or religious group, but were
mixed, naturally with varying proportions. A racist-ethnic
separation did not take place until 1967, when non-Jews were barred
from residing in the expanded Jewish Quarter.
Jewish Settlement after 1967
Once Israel seized control of the Old City in June 1967, and before
the curfew was lifted, Israeli generals, clerics and the mayor set
about planning the future of the Moghrabi Quarter that separated
the Western (Wailing) Wall and the Jewish Quarter, and the future
of the Haram al-Sharif. While the generals ignored the call of
rabbis, especially the IDF rabbi Shlomo Goren, to destroy al-Aqsa
Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, they agreed to the demolition of
the Moghrabi Quarter. In a matter of hours, bulldozers laid bare a
quarter whose history dates back to the 12th century, with all its
architectural fabric, its mosques, its houses, its sufi-zawiyas,
and its Moroccan heritage. As a result, 135 families, or about 650
individuals, were rendered homeless, in addition to the death of
three women under the rubble. War conditions made it impossible at
the time to verify the fate of other similar victims.
Then began the process of expulsion from the Jewish Quarter of all
its Palestinian residents irrespective of their status. Some were
original owners living in the quarter prior to 1948 and coexisting
with their Jewish neighbors, some were only tenants, and others
were refugees living in Jewish-owned property after having been
forced to leave West Jerusalem. In April 1968, the Israeli
authorities confiscated 30 hectares of Old City land under the
pretext of "public good," and for the rebuilding of the Jewish
Quarter. For this purpose, they applied the Public Good Law (a 1943
British Mandate law that, in effect, refers to the good of all the
residents), as well as the laws of absentee property,
notwithstanding that the bulk of real-estate property in this
quarter was non-Jewish, belonging either to Islamic Waqf
(endowment), or to family Waqf (inheritance), and that the
representatives of both Waqfs were present in the city in 1967 and
continue to be. Thus, all property, irrespective of whether it was
Arab or Jewish, private or Waqf, present or absentee, was
expropriated - naturally, only Jews benefited from the procedure.
Israel suggested a compensation of U.S.$ 500-3,000 for each
property. Those who agreed to be compensated were the tenants; the
owners have rejected compensation to this day.
Expanded Settlement
In 1975, approximately 1,500 Israelis were settled in the Jewish
Quarter, later followed by an expansion of settlement outside the
quarter. The "restoration" of the Jewish Quarter, or more precisely
its rebuilding, has transformed its historical image. From an
architectural perspective, it became a foreign body jarring with
the rest of the Old City quarters with respect to height, form,
function, building material, etc. A modern Jewish Quarter was thus
created and connected to West Jerusalem through a network of public
transport, with buses reaching it through Jaffa Gate, Zion Gate and
Dung Gate. All this allows the Jewish residents of this quarter to
live in total independence in an area where residence is denied to
non-Jews, and lacking any continuity with the rest of the Old City
quarters. Tourism to the quarter has been promoted through the
development of various attractions, with Jewish tourist guides
making up 99 percent of the total number of tourist guides working
in that area. All these factors have turned the Jewish Quarter in
Palestinian eyes into a symbol of the Israeli occupation of the
city.
Concurrently with the above-mentioned steps, the Israeli
authorities took possession of the Madrasa Tankaziyah that forms
part of the Haram al-Sharif western wall. This building is
considered one of the architectural masterpieces of Jerusalem. It
was built in 1336 by the Mamluk ruler of al-Sham (Greater Syria)
Tankaz al-Nassiri to be used as a Mamluk theology school in
Jerusalem. In this building, the Koran and Hadith were taught,
there Sufis lived and Mamluk dignitaries were hosted on their visit
to Jerusalem. Later, the place was used by the Higher Islamic
Council under Haj Amin Husseini and was also the site of a Muslim
religious court. The edifice overlooks the Silsilah Gate (one of
the gates of Haram al-Sharif), and its rooftop gives a commanding
view of the whole Aqsa compound. The building has now been turned
into an Israeli police and Border Police station from where Muslims
at prayer in the Haram al-Sharif get shot at.
In 1977, a new phase of settlement began outside the Jewish Quarter
under the slogan that "Jews have the right to settle in all parts
of the Old City." This drive was consolidated with the coming to
power of the Likud. The new government had for objective to control
the Old City and encircle it from the outside, not only with
settlement belts - as Labor had intended - but also through the
penetration of Arab neighborhoods, especially Silwan, the Mount of
Olives and, later, Sheikh Jarrah and Ras al-Amud.
Linking the Settlements
Settlement activity in the Old City centered along the Haram
al-Sharif western wall. Having taken control of the Buraq Wall (the
Wailing Wall) and later the Madrasa Tankaziyah, the Israeli
authorities spread their grip to al-Wad Road that runs parallel to
the Haram's western wall. The purpose was to connect all the
settlement points in order to encircle the Haram. Hence, settlement
sites were also established on the way to the Tariq Bab
as-Silsilah, Aqabat al-Khalidiyah, Aqabat al-Sarayah, the Qirami
Quarter, Bab al-Zahira (Herod's Gate) and Burj al-Laqlaq. Scattered
buildings in the Christian Quarter, the Sa'diyyah Quarter and Bab
Huttah were also confiscated.
It is equally important to note the activity that takes place under
the ground and over the rooftops of houses and markets (suks) that
is aimed at linking all the settlement sites with each other. Thus
the Jewish Quarter was joined with Aqabat al-Sarayah through the
rooftops of Suk al-Hussor and Suk al-Attarin with a view of
controlling the Sabra tract of land (the dilapidated extension to
Suk al-Khawajat). In a similar vein, the opening of the tunnel
parallel to the Haram western wall was construed not as an
uncovering of a historical site worth visiting, but as an attempt
to control what is beneath the ground and to link the settlement
sites with each other.
Extremist Aims - Modest Results
In spite of the drive for the control and penetration of
Palestinian space by Jewish extremists, who have consistently
enjoyed the support of the ruling political establishment, their
accomplishments in this respect were quite modest. The biggest
achievement of the settlement movement did not come as a result of
the millions invested, nor the forged title deeds, the connivance
of the ruling establishment, or the support of the Jewish lobby and
other groups in the United States. It came at the hands of
bulldozers in 1967, and as a result of confiscation laws enacted
after the occupation of the city. Nonetheless, the settlers were
able to seize only 78 properties outside the borders abutting the
expanded Jewish Quarter, and there is no doubt that a rational and
neutral legal revision of these transactions will uncover tens of
forgeries and illegal movements that were involved in connection
with these take-over operations. It is a known fact that the total
area of settlement sites inside the Old City, including the Jewish
Quarter with all its extensions, does not amount to more than 12
percent of the total area of the Old City.
A major problem is the intractable security situation that has
arisen as a result of these Jewish settlement sites inside the Old
City. The settlers there are not necessarily proponents of peace or
coexistence between the two peoples. To the contrary, the majority
believe in the absolute right of the Jews to all the Old City and
that a Palestinian presence there is a disfigurement of its
historical character. These Jewish settlement sites have thus
become military outposts, with fortifications, barbed wire and
guards armed to the teeth. The settlers strut around provoking and
harassing the Palestinian residents, exacerbating their
sensitivities with their flaunting of Israeli flags. A good example
is the house Ariel Sharon has appropriated at the beginning of
al-Wad Road. These sites heighten the Palestinians' sense of
insecurity, feeding rumors about further confiscations, and often
leading to confrontation with the settlers.
The Palestinian position regarding Jewish settlement in the Old
City rests on several factors, the most important being the legal.
In other words, what is the legal basis that allows Israelis to
retrieve the houses they owned or where they resided in the Old
City before 1948, while denying the Palestinians the same right to
return to their homes in West Jerusalem or even in the no-man's
land that separated the two parts of the city after 1948? In fact,
a great number of Palestinian-owned houses in West Jerusalem have
remained unchanged, yet, to date, no Palestinian has succeeded in
reclaiming his/her property. Israelis, on the other hand, whether
as individuals or through governmental bodies, have been able to
get back their property in East Jerusalem, particularly in the Old
City. How can this be justified in view of the fact that from the
legal perspective - at least from the Israeli one - the same
Israeli law applies in the "united city"?