The occupation municipality building and organizing committee ratifies the building of new 640 housing units in illegal settlement of "Ramat Shlomo" over confiscated lands from Beit Hanina and Shufat towns north occupied Jerusalem.

The Israeli newspaper "Haaretz" published that the land where the new units will be built are Palestinian confiscated lands under the claims of "state's lands".

The building and organizing committee refused the rejections applied by "Ir Ammim" Israeli institution, "Ir Ammim" is demanding to keep an open air area between "Ramat Shlomo" and Beit Hanina, But the committee refused the objection claiming that the land belong to Israeli and Palestinian owners, and at the time of carrying out the construction , Palestinian owners will be forced to sell their lands to settlers through the Israeli supreme court (this is what the building  committee had discussed).

According to "Ir Ammim" institution, instead of distributing building rights between real owners, the building and organizing committee chose to carry out the plan in a way that excludes Palestinian owners.

 "Ramat Shlomo" settlement is inhabited by religious Jews, built over confiscated lands from Shofat and Beit Hanina towns. "Ramat Shlomo" expands from time to time using surrounding lands originally belong to Palestinians, but the Israeli occupation confiscated them for (public services), then changed that to get along with their colonial plans.

In the recent years, number of assaults carried by "Ramat Shlomo" illegal settlers against Palestinians of Shu'fat like (writing racist phrases on walls and cars, burning millennial trees and destroying Palestinians' properties"

 This shows the racist practices of the occupation's municipality, when the lands are in the hand of its real Palestinian owners they prohibit building in them, then they confiscate them and build illegal settlements on them.

Such practices are a violation of international law and United Nations decrees that consider east Jerusalem Palestinian occupied lands in 1967.

Legal Feedback:

The constringing policy by the Israeli occupation authorities of confiscating Palestinian lands in order to  build illegal random outposts and settlements can only be regarded as a violation of all international conventions and agreements like:

The Geneva Fourth convention relative to the protection of civilian persons in the times of war:

Security council resolution 242 year 1967:   Withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict; and  Termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgement of the sovereignty, territoial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force.

Security council resolution 446 year 1979:   Determines that the policy and practices of Israel in establishing settlements in the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967 have no legal validity and constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East;

Security council resolution   452 year 1979: the resolution once again denounced Israel's settlement activities in territories occupied in 1976 including (East) Jerusalem, this activity constituting a violation of the Fourth Geneva convention, and called on Israel to cease planning and construction of settlements

Security council resolution 465 year 1980: calls to dismantle the existing settlements and in particular to cease, on an urgent basis, the establishment, construction and planning of settlements in the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem; Calls upon all States not to provide Israel with any assistance to be used specifically in connexion with settlements in the occupied territories;       

Security council resolution 478 year 1980:  Censures in the strongest terms the enactment by Israel of the "basic law" on Jerusalem and the refusal to comply with relevant Security Council resolutions, Those States that have established diplomatic missions at Jerusalem to withdraw such missions from the Holy City.

This case study is part of Kan'aan Project