Zionist Aggressions Against Arab Rights in Jerusalem

Dr. Hassan Sayed Suleiman

Introduction

Jerusalem has been a predominantly Arab city since it was established by the Yabousyyun, who were one of the Arab tribes migrating from Arabia with the Canaanites to Palestine in 3000 BC. They named the city Oresalem (the city of peace) The Hebrew and Eastern name of Orshalem was derived from the original name, but the Romans named it Elia Capitolina after their emperor Elia Hedrianus. Muslims conquered the city in 638 CE, and it was named Al-Quds and Beit Al-Muqdes (1) after Al-Qudous, which is one of Allah’s 99 names, because of its significant status in Islam. Actually, Jerusalem is the city of all heavenly faiths (2) because it is the only place in the world that contains holy places for all three faiths. The Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque are located there for the Muslims, the Church of Al-Qeyameh for the Christians, and the so-called Wailing Wall and Solomon’s Temple for the Jews.

  In addition, the city has intimate connections for Muslims. It was their first Qiblah; it was the location of Al-Isra’ (the Night Journey) of our Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) as mentioned in Surat Al-Isra’, verse 1; and there are specific instructions mentioned in Hadith that “Saddles should be prepared only for three mosques: Al-Masjed Al-Haram (in Mecca), Al-Masjed Al-Aqsa (in Jerusalem), and My mosque (in Medina).” Consequently, Jerusalem has a significant religious status in the Holy Land—Palestine, the land of prophets and messengers (peace be upon them all).

Accordingly, Jerusalem is an Islamic land because Islam is the universal faith of all prophets and the closure of the Heavenly faiths. Also, the city has quite a strategic location in the heart of the Arab world and a lot of natural resources. Owing to this, both Palestine and Jerusalem have been attacked by many foreign invaders, including Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Assurians, Babylonians and finally the imperial Zionism, which invaded Palestine through a series of international conspiracies. Thereupon, this brief paper springs from the fact that Jerusalem has been an Arab Islamic city until the advent of the Zionist Movement, when the city became a strategic target to establish the Jewish national State in Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital. In the process of realizing this objective, many Zionist aggressions have been carried out against the Arab and Muslim rights in the city. This plan passed through two stages—the British Mandate and then the division resolution—and at two levels—the local activities and the world support—the result of which manifested itself in the establishment of the Zionist State of Israel in 1948.

Next, this paper focuses on the Zionist aggressions against the Arab rights in Jerusalem since the Ottoman empire through the British Mandate, then the establishment of the Zionist State, which partially occupied the city and thereafter completely, since 1967, as well as the whole of Palestine. Finally, this paper addresses the situation in the city throughout the so-called peace negotiations.

Israel’s real intentions were disclosed in 1996 when the extremist leftist Netanyahu announced that Jerusalem was the eternal capital of Israel. As a result, the Israeli aggressions were escalated to realize his dreams in establishing “Greater Israel” and its capital, “Metropolitan Jerusalem”.

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The Zionist Vision for Jerusalem

The term Zionism is derived from the word Zion, which was mentioned in the Old Testament as the name of a mountain located in East Jerusalem. It was captured from the Yabousyyun by the Jews. This mountain is considered a holy place by the Jews because it is the home of the Jewish god Yahweh, and the Messiah Christ will appear again in this place to rescue the Jews and help them control the world. Moreover, the word Zion meant the city of David and the capital of the Kingdom of Yahutha, which was ruled by David and thereafter by his son Solomon (peace be upon them) for about 70 years and ended in the tenth century BC when Solomon completed his Temple on Mount Zion. Therefore, Zionism has been connected with Jerusalem by this Mount and the Temple.

The Zionist conspiracy against Palestine is dated to 1621 CE, three centuries before the Balfour Promise, when a book entitled The Great Revival of the World, written by Henry Fish, a Jew, called for the sons of Jacob in Diaspora to go back to Palestine and establish a State that could eclipse all other States. In addition, Rabbi Zeimy Hersh Calisher (1795-1874) published his book, The Search for Zion, in which he stressed that the work in the holy land is also holy and sacred, so he urged all Jews to come and settle in Palestine. Next, Moses Hess (1812-1875) published a book entitled, Rome and Jerusalem in 1862 in which he emphasized the fact that mixing of Jews in the local communities is not a practical solution for the Jewish matter, and the Jews were dispersed, hopeless, persecuted and disdainful people. He added that the Jewish race represented a separate Jewish nation, and he called for Jewish national restoration and for the establishing of colonies in the holy land with the support of France whereby Napoleon asked the Jews to migrate to Palestine, after he had invaded Egypt and Syria, in order to build their independent State and restore their previous glorious in Palestine. Finally, Theodor Herzl (1860-1904) became quite famous in Jewish ideology when he wrote his book The Jewish State in Berlin in 1896, in which he called for the restoration of the Jewish State and arranged with Heim Wiseman to hold the Zionist Conference in Basle in Switzerland in 1897. He did not insist on establishing the Jewish State in Palestine in the beginning, but it became necessary to gather the Jews from all over the world around Mount Zion to be in accordance with the Zionist principles. Consequently, they selected Palestine to be the home of this State. This Conference resulted in establishing the Jewish national State in Palestine, which followed the founding of the Zionist Movement (3).

It is quite essential to differentiate between theological Zionism and political Zionism because the former is concerned with the spiritual side of Zionism which represents itself in the dream of the return to Zion—the Promised Land—as it had been called by the Jews since they were taken as captives to Babylon in 586 BC. This notion was revived in the modern age in Russia and Eastern Europe in the nineteenth century because the Jews had been greatly persecuted.

On the other hand, political Zionism appeared in Western Europe where it stressed the formation of the Jewish State and therefore became the new nationalism of the Jewish people. Political Zionism made used of the Jewish faith to realize its aims in establishing the Jewish State based on the teachings of the Old Testament (the Torah), which described the Jews as the chosen people of God, in particular God’s oath to Abraham: “To your offspring I have given this land extended from the Egyptian River (the Nile) to the Great River (the Euphrates). This maxim has been taken as the religious foundation of Zionism. Heim Wiseman, the first president of Israel, said after the establishment of Israel on 15 May 1948 that religious feeling is the essence of Zionism and its source of power because it is based on the Jewish traditions and faith as well as on the oldest Jewish memories which had emerged in the early stages of Jewish life in which the Jews were completely free (4). It has been made obvious that political Zionism has used and has invested religious Zionism to realize its political aim to establish the Jewish State in which the two notions have been perfectly interwoven and well-organized by leading Zionists, in particular Herzl. Moreover, both sides have emphasized Jerusalem as key to their causes. Herzl said that he would destroy everything except the Jewish estates in Jerusalem if he were to live in the city, and as a result, there were rumors about destroying Al-Aqsa Mosque in order to build the so-called Solomon’s Temple on its place. Furthermore, all of the Zionist leaders from Ben Gurion through Netanyahu have emphasized that Jerusalem is an important city in the Zionist ideology in order to establish the Jewish State through immigration and building more settlements. Henceforth, Zionism has been known as a racial political movement aimed at gathering Jews from all over the world to establish their Jewish State in Palestine through the building of settlements supported by the imperial powers under the motto “Land without people for people without land.” In addition, Zionism could be defined as an extremist religious imperial trend believed in by the extremist Jews in order to put the entire world under the rule of David’s followers as mentioned in the Old Testament and to make all of the people servants to the Jews in accordance with the Protocols of the Wise Men Zionists, which allow the Jews to murder non-Jews (5). In order to achieve these goals, Zionism depends greatly on machiavellianism (the end justifies the means) and therefore Zionism utilizes vicious, bloody and cunning methods, regardless of their immorality, to capture Palestine, in particular Jerusalem. This methodology has been used to justify all of the bloodshed and violence which have been committed against the Palestinians since the emergence of the Zionist State, Israel (6). This is a summary of the definition of Zionism and its attitudes toward Palestine and Jerusalem, which reveal the hatred that lurks inside the hearts of the Jews caused by their being dispersed by other nations, such as the Babylonians and the Romans, and their being politically persecuted in Europe, where they used to live in private quarters called Ghettoes in Eastern Europe. For example, there was a time when a Jewish officer was charged with treachery in France and the persecution carried out by the Nazis in Germany against all Jews; however, Zionism did not pour all of its malice and hatred out on Europe where it had been persecuted but rather it sued for help and support from those European States in order to capture Palestine, especially Jerusalem, and banish the Palestinians from their home to destinations throughout the world. Consequently, the following goals of Zionism have become obvious to everyone:

1. The gathering of Jews from all over the world to Palestine.

2. The preserving of the pillars of the Zionist State, as well as its security.

3. The expanding regionally, via settlements, to establish Greater Israel and its capital in Jerusalem.

4. The controlling of the Middle East region.

In order to achieve its basic goal, which is establishing the Jewish State, the Zionist plans were carried out on two levels. The first level was the internal colonization of Palestine, which included encouraging immigration and purchasing land in order to build settlements to house the Jews. The second was the external colonization of Palestine through gaining the support of the imperial powers and gaining international recognition of the Jewish State in Palestine through establishing this State protected by international guarantees.

This paper will concentrate on the second stage, which began at the end of the Ottoman reign over Palestine through the Israeli occupation in 1948 and thereafter the expansion in 1967, including the Zionist aggressions against the Arab rights in Palestine in general and in Jerusalem in particular.

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The End of the Ottoman Reign

After the Ottomans defeated the Mamlouks at Marj Dabeq near Aleppo in 1516, they had been ruling Palestine for four centuries until the advent of modern imperialism, according to the Sikes-Picot agreement signed by Britain and France in 1916 and the Balfour Promise issued on 2 November 1917.

The emphasis will be on the latter part of this period, which marked the end of the Ottoman reign and the beginning of modern imperialism by the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, when the Zionist aggressions against Arab rights in Palestine became more obvious and serious, in order to establish the Jewish State according to the two above-mentioned stages. The first group to immigrate to Palestine and the first colony to be built were in 1882, but organized immigration began officially immediately after the Basle Conference in 1897 when the Jewish issue had become a nationalist matter. Its main goal was to establish a national State for the Jews by all means (7). Therefore this Conference had already decided the colonial aims for the Jews in Palestine as follows:

1. Planning to colonize Palestine through the farming and industrial workmen according to certain principles.

2. Organizing international Judaism and connecting it with similar organizations operating according to the standing orders and laws for each country.

3. Enhancing the Jewish patriotic consciousness and feeling.

4. Taking the necessary practical procedures to gain governmental approval to achieve the Zionist goals.

5. Making Hebrew the standard official language of communication all over the world.

These goals prove that Zionism has been led by cunning and clever brainy individuals who transformed Zionism from a religious trend into a political movement, and specified Palestine as a national homeland for the Jews. Moreover, it determined the methods of colonization via the farming and industrial workmen as well as enhancing the Jewish patriotic feelings and emphasizing the language and culture issues for the Jews.

As far as the second stage was concerned, the Zionist movement had connections with the powerful countries in Europe at that time, such as Germany, Russia, France and Britain, as well as the Ottoman empire because Palestine was under the Ottoman reign. Herzl sent a delegation to the Ottoman emperor, Sultan Abdelhameed II. The delegation held negotiations with the Sultan to allow the Jews to immigrate to Palestine. To reach this end, they tempted him by offering to give him a lot of money and to balance the debts of the Ottoman empire. However, the Sultan was determined in his reply when he said, “Tell Dr. Herzl that Palestine is not my own property but rather it belongs to all Muslims all over the world so I cannot give up any part of it even though this may lead to my death because Muslims had captured it and soaked its soil with their blood (8).” Then the Sultan ordered that the delegation was to be deported immediately.

Next, the Sultan issued orders to ban the Jewish immigration to Palestine. In response to this, the Zionists collaborated with the Turkish Party “Al-Itehad Wattaraqy” to overthrow the Sultan in 1908 (9) in order to allow the Jews to immigrate to Palestine. Then the Islamic Caliphate was canceled in 1924 by Mustafa Kamal Ataturk, who transformed Turkey into a secular State closely related to the West and so the Zionists cooperated with Britain to realize their goals to establish the Jewish State in Palestine.

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The British Mandate

Both the Zionist and the British interests merged in the Middle East. Zionism gave up the idea of establishing the Jewish State in Uganda as decided by the Sixth Zionist Conference held in 1903. Zionism insisted on Palestine as a final choice to establish the Jewish State, which was recognized by the basic law. Consequently, Britain expanded its colonies by taking over many of the Ottoman estates, especially after the First World War broke out in 1914, and by signing some treaties and agreements. The Ottoman Empire was known as the “Sick Man” whose legacy had to be divided by the powerful European countries. Owing to the Zionist support for Britain during the First World War, the latter issued the Balfour Promise one year after the Sikes-Picot agreement to realize the Zionist dreams by establishing the Jewish State against Arab interests and aspirations and despite the intensive letters transacted between Sharif Hussein ibn Ali and MacMahon in which Britain had promised to establish a united independent Arab State in the East, including Palestine.

As a result of this development, there was a conspiracy to exclude Palestine, which was internationalized as an initial step to establish the Jewish State under the British Mandate when Britain occupied Palestine with the approval of the League of Nations, and so this led to the second stage which ended by establishing the Jewish State according to the United Nations division resolution in 1947.

It is worth mentioning that Camppel Banreman’s report played an important role in connecting the British imperial policies with the Zionist plans because it warned against establishing a united Arab State. It also recommended separating the Arab world into two parts: one in Africa and another in Asia by creating a hostile powerful State against the local people near the Suez Canal (10). Consequently, the British Foreign Affairs Minister stressed this situation when he said: “Britain considers the establishment of the Jewish State in Palestine a good chance to develop the British policy in the area which enables us to defend the Suez Canal in the north, and this State will be a perspective junction.” On the other hand, Churchill emphasized that the foundation of the Jewish State on the banks of the River Jordan under the protection of the British Royal Crown had been in harmony with the British vital interests in the area (11). This revealed the essential British role in supporting the Zionist plans and preparing for the Jewish State in Palestine and its capital in Jerusalem, which was key to realizing the vital British imperial goals, and was carried out via the Balfour Promise and the British Mandate in Palestine. Next, the United States of America succeeded Britain in protecting the Zionist interests and so the American Congress approved both the Balfour Promise and the British Mandate in Palestine (12). Consequently, Britain had established the first Western consulate in Jerusalem in 1839 to sponsor the Jewish interests in Palestine (13).

The Balfour Promise was the first British document which supported the Jewish colonial plans in Palestine as a Jewish national State. The British Foreign Affairs Minister, Balfour, issued his political statement on 2 November 1917 in the form of a letter to Lord Rutchild, the representative of the Zionist Federation. Within the letter, he said, “The government of Her Majesty, the Queen, has been sympathetic with the notion of establishing a Jewish national State in Palestine, and we would do our best to facilitate this mission taking into consideration the religious and civil rights for all other communities in Palestine or the Jews political status in other countries (14).” Although this Promise was described as a promise of one who has nothing to one who has no rights, it gave political Zionism designed by the Mandate Charter the concept of the Jewish State, which was disguised as the Jewish national State. As a result, many Zionist aggressions against the Arab rights both in Palestine and Jerusalem took place. Intentionally, the Balfour Promise described the Arabs in Palestine as non-Jewish communities and it considered the Jews the original natives of Palestine and the Arabs as outsiders. It also stressed the civil and religious rights while ignoring the political ones, which virtually wiped out the Arab identity of Palestine in order to prepare for the Jewish State. Thereafter, the Jews would proceed to replace the Arabs throughout Palestine. Concerning the British Mandate Charter, which had been preparing for the establishment of the Jewish State for about 30 years before the division resolution in 1947, it was approved by the League of Nations in September 1922. This Charter approved the Jewish State focusing on the Jewish historical connections with Palestine, and it made the Arabs lose their right of political representation before the British government while it approved the Jewish Agency as a representative and reference for all Jews all over the world. This Agency was considered the consultative council on economic and social affairs which would lead to the Jewish State by immigrating more Jews and to invest in dead and public estates without harming the interests of other communities according to Article 6. On the other hand, Article 22 considered Hebrew one of the official languages in addition to Arabic and English while Article 23 observed the Jewish holidays even though the population of Jews totaled less than 7% (15).

The British Mandate officials were quite sincere in realizing the Balfour Promise so they took practical procedures which were the first Zionist aggressions against the Arab rights in Palestine as well as Jerusalem under full protection of the British government. The conspiracy began when General Allenby entered Jerusalem in 1918 after he had occupied all of Palestine to mark the end of the Ottoman reign. This occupation was approved by the League of Nations by declaration in its charter in 1922.

Meanwhile, Herbert Samuel, the first British Representative in Palestine announced that he was going to Palestine to carry out the orders and procedures of establishing the Jewish State in accordance with the Balfour Promise, and so the British administration in Palestine adopted the following policies and procedures to ensure the establishment of the Jewish State (16):

1. Enhancing Jewish immigration to Palestine in order to offset the balance with the Palestinians because the number of Jews totaled 50,000 (8%) at the beginning of the British Mandate but had risen to 700,000 (33%) when the British left Palestine in 1948.

2. Purchasing or confiscating the land necessary to house the new Jews by building more farming colonies. By 1945, the Jews were using 160,000 acres (17), which was made easy through the establishment of the British laws and regulations, especially the high taxes on the Palestinian farmers who were forced to sell their land as a result.

3. The absolute financial support for the Jews through fund-raising and donations in order to purchase the land and establish the necessary projects, and this was supported by the British as well as the Zionist organizations all over the world.

4. Appointing the extremist Zionists to the important positions and giving them the essential and vital investments needed, such as electric power supply in Jerusalem for 70 years to come and the Dead Sea Potash investment project.

5. Allowing the Jews to carry arms, especially after the emergence of the Palestinian resistance movement in 1920, in particular Al-Buraq in 1929, under the pretext of self-defense. This allowed the Jews to build up their armed forces under the supervision of the well-trained British officers.

6. At the political level, the British did not allow the Palestinians to rule themselves or even form any sort of legislative council as long as they had been the majority, but the revolution during the period 1935-1936 led the British to form a Bill Committee in 1937, which recommended dividing Palestine into two States: one for the Palestinians and one for the Jews (18). Thereafter, the Palestinian issue was referred to the United Nations, which was established in 1945 after the Second World War had already started.

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The Israeli Partial Occupation of Jerusalem (1948-1967)

Various proposals were submitted to determine the future of Palestine under the British Mandate in the light of the Zionist greediness and the revolutionary reactions of the Palestinians. The most prominent plan was the division resolution, which suggested that Palestine should be divided into a Palestinian State and a Jewish one based on the notion of two conflicting nations or peoples in Palestine where each group claims that they have historical, political and legal rights, and it is quite impossible for the two nations to live together so the land has to be divided between them. This proposal was first discussed by the Bill Committee one year after the Palestinian Revolution in 1936. Then the Committee put forward its recommendations in 1937. The proposal was adopted by the Zionists whereas it was rejected by the Arabs, which indicated that the Zionist plan had been successful in establishing the Jewish State in Palestine. As a result of the Second World War, Zionism did its best to declare the Zionist State so the British government referred the issue to the UN in 1947, and Zionism accepted this because the UN was controlled by the U.S., the intimate ally of Zionism that succeeded Britain after the Second World War.

The UN General Assembly referred the issue to an investigation committee on 28 April 1947, which held its first session on 29 November 1947, and issued resolution 181/1947, which was effected by the American influence. It dictated that Palestine had to be divided into an Arab State and a Jewish one, which took 56% of Palestinian land with a commercial federation between the two States and the internationalization of Jerusalem (19). Thus, the Zionist conspiracy against the Arab rights in Palestine had been fulfilled, and the Jewish State was recognized and declared on 15 May 1948. Thereafter, it was accepted as a Member of the UN one year later on 12 May 1948; therefore, the new State appeared as an integrated colonial entity (20).

In addition to the international legal situation supported by the U.S., the USSR was convinced by Zionism to recognize Israel. There were some practical elements that led to establishing such a State called Israel. The first element was the British attitude, which seemed to be neutral as far as the UN was concerned, but the British authorities withdrew from Palestine before 15 May 1948, enabling the Jews to capture all of the strategic cities, airports, military posts and weapons in order to support the Jewish State, whereas the Palestinian State did not have any of these advantages. Moreover, the terrorist operations against the disarmed Palestinians forced them to leave their land and estates. In addition, the Arab armies failed in the war in 1948, so a truce treaty was signed by the neighbouring Arab countries such as Syria, Egypt and Jordan in 1949. This treaty, in addition to the Western support, enabled the Jewish State to expand its territories and capture most of Palestine and West Jerusalem, as well as carry out innumerable ferocious massacres against the Palestinians, in particular the massacre that took place in Deir Yasin. In addition, thousands of Palestinians were deported and became homeless, and Eastern Jerusalem was controlled by Jordan.

Actually, the division resolution, which was rejected by the Arabs because it was illegal and against the principle of self-determination, was adopted by Zionism and was considered the initial step to realizing the Zionist dreams of capturing Palestine, especially Jerusalem. Therefore, Zionism applied the division resolution just because it was in harmony with its interests and it approved their independent State while the other items of the resolution, such as the Arab State, the economic unity between the two States, and the UN Committee to follow-up the resolution, were ignored and soon forgotten. Moreover, the Zionist gang known as Haganah occupied both Jaffa and Akka before 15 May 1948, although the two cities had initially been included in the Arab State according to the resolution issued on 29 November 1947. This was before the Arab States had intervened, which was taken as a pretext by Israel to annex more Arab land (21), including Jerusalem. Thus, Jerusalem was divided into two parts between the Arabs and the Israelis since 1948 when the Arabs ruled the Eastern part and the Jews ruled the Western part. That is why Israel had intentionally rejected the internationalization of Jerusalem in order to make it its capital, and the first step was in 1948 when Israel focused on West Jerusalem and prepared to capture the eastern part later on.

It is worth noting that Israel has been preparing to capture the whole city since 1948 up to 1967 by issuing regulations such as the absentees estates law issued on 31 March 1950, which prevented the Palestinians who had been deported after 1 September 1949 from going back to their homeland. Thus, the problem of the refugees emerged (22). On the other hand, Israel had increased the population of Jews in Jerusalem by committing multiple acts of aggression against the Arab rights in the city resulting in the total number of Jews in Jerusalem rising from 100,000 in 1948 to 190,000 by 1967, while the number of the Arabs decreased because the refugees had not been allowed to return to their homeland. As a result, only 25% of Arab land remained for both Muslim and Christian Arabs (23), while the Jewish quarter was established on an area of 6,000 dunums in East Jerusalem (24), which meant that Israel had been positioning itself to take the whole city as its capital. This became obvious immediately after the war on 5 June 1967 when in fact Israel did capture Jerusalem.

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Jerusalem Under Israeli Occupation (1967-1996)

Israel waged the war in June of 1967 against the Arab States by defeating the Arab forces with its military supremacy and simultaneously rooting the pillars of the Jewish State. Israel was able to expand its State by capturing more Arab territories, such as the West Bank, the Golan Heights and the Sinai, which was all in accordance with the ultimate Zionist goal of realizing the Israeli Parliament slogan of “the land of Israel is from the Nile to the Euphrates.”

This has been in sharp violation of Arab rights in Jerusalem in particular. Israel achieved its goals by unifying Jerusalem as its eternal capital. Despite UN resolution 2353 issued on 4 July 1967, which asked Israel to cancel all activities in conjunction with Jerusalem and not to make any further changes, Israel captured the entire city and had changed its real features. Thereafter, the Israeli Parliament issued its resolution which considered the city the united and eternal capital of Israel on 30 July 1980. Consequently, the Israeli Parliament, the Cabinet and the Supreme Court were moved to Jerusalem (25). The following will focus on the statements and the real practical procedures which have been carried out by Israel in order to Judaize the city from 1967 till the present.

1.         The aggressions against the Islamic Holy Places: After the city had been occupied by Israel on 5 June 1967, the Israeli Minister of Defense, Moshe’ Dayyan and a group of rabbis said their prayers before Al-Buraq, the western wall of Al-aqsa, also known as the Wailing Wall by the Jews. They consider this wall their property although it has been an Islamic property for ages, which was approved by an international committee during the British Mandate in 1930 (26). A meeting was held in Jerusalem by the Jewish rabbis from all over the world immediately after the war in 1967, and they appealed for the rebuilding of the Temple on the ruins of Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Israeli Minister of Religions said that the rebuilding of the Temple is non-negotiable but its time has not come yet. However, when it is due, an earthquake will destroy Al-Aqsa Mosque and thereafter the Temple will be built on its ruins. Rabbi Shlomo Gorin said that the Jewish Defense Association has to struggle violently in order to restore the Temple and remove all of the mosques, including Al-Aqsa Mosque. This had also been emphasized by Theodor Herzl, the founder of Zionism, as well as documented in the Jewish encyclopedia that the Jews have been planning to restore the Temple on the ruins of Al-Aqsa. Ben Gurion added that Israel is nothing without Jerusalem, and Jerusalem is nothing without the Temple. The most serious step carried out by Israel in this respect has been the frequent aggressions against Al-Aqsa Mosque, including, but not limited to the excavations which have been attempted around the Mosque since 1967 in a bid to look for any trace of Solomon’s Temple, which the Zionists claim had been built on the same location. There has been no evidence as such so far (27). Despite the lack of evidence, a special model of the Temple has been designed according to imaginary hypotheses as well as the technical specifications for the building. The first attempt to destroy Al-Aqsa was on 21 August 1969 when a demented man known as Rohan tried to burn down three parts of the Mosque simultaneously in collaboration with the Israelis, who intentionally cut off the water supply to the area. As a result, there were angry and indignant reactions all over the Islamic world and consequently, the first Pan-Islamic conference was held in Al-Rebat from 9-12 Rajab 1389 H (22-25 December 1969).

Next, more aggressions and violations against the holiness of the Mosque have been carried out by the extremist Jews and Israeli soldiers. Terrorist Zionist gangs appeared in 1968 to capture Al-Aqsa, then other movements, such as Kakh, appeared in 1972 and Beit Al-Jabal in 1983 in order to remove Al-Aqsa and rebuild the third so-called Temple and to Judaize the city as well (28). Undoubtedly, the excavations which have been carried out around Al-Aqsa since 1967 caused great damage to the Mosque, as well as the destruction of numerous Islamic estates in the vicinity, which have gradually deformed the features of the city (29). In addition, many of the Islamic names have been replaced by Jewish ones. These aggressions have also caused damage to a lot of Christian holy places, in particular the Al-Qeyameh Church.

2.         Aggressions against the Moroccan Estates: Israel has been destroying and confiscating Palestinian estates in order to force the inhabitants to leave their homeland, in particular Jerusalem. Many settlements have been built in the city and its surrounding neighbourhood on these illegally procured estates. Long-term plans have been laid to destroy many Arab buildings and confiscate a lot of land around the Holy Shrine in order to change the features of the city by erecting new castles and modern buildings to house the Jews. This plan has been carried out in four stages over a period of two years, but it is still in progress up to the present. The first step was carried out immediately after the war in 1967 when Israeli bulldozers began to pull down the Moroccan quarter on 25 June 1967, leaving 135 Arab families homeless. Then Israel captured three more quarters in southern Jerusalem: Al-Sharaf, Al-Selseleh and Al-Bashoureh (30). Thus, the process of destroying Arab buildings and confiscating their land has been continuous since 1967 in order to Judaize the city, while simultaneously deporting its natives and depriving those who left from returning to their homeland. Approximately 10,500 Arabs have been deported and replaced with Jews since 1967 in order to promote the Jewish flavour in the city, the ultimate goal being that the majority of its population will be Jews. Consequently, the Jews possessed most of the estates and land. In practical terms, the Jews used to possess only 4% of the land, the Arabs 94% and foreigners 2% in 1918; however, this percentage increased to 84% for the Jews, decreased to 14% for the Arabs, and remained at 2% for the foreigners as of 1985 (31).

This colonial policy by the Jews becomes more obvious by the Israeli declarations concerning this issue. For example, Abraham Kaheeleh, the mayor of Jerusalem, announced in July of 1993 that they had been planning to realize a Jewish majority in the city by encouraging the Jews to settle in the Eastern part of the city and wiping out the Arab flavour and features. At the time, the number of Jews totaled 158,000 while the number of Arabs totaled 155,000 for the first time ever (32). Moreover, the Israeli Minister of Settlement, Sharon, announced in his speech in July of 1991 that Jerusalem would become Metropolitan Jerusalem to home over 1 million Jews (33), and his colonial proposals to build more settlements around the city, which would be the eternal capital of Israel, had been unanimously approved by the Israeli Cabinet (34). These announcements lead to the next discussion concerning Metropolitan Jerusalem, which is considered the most serious aggression against Arab rights in Jerusalem. This proposal suggests expanding the city to cover one-third of the West Bank area, including five major cities: Ramallah, Al-Beereh, Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour, as well as 50 villages around the city, in order to isolate the city so that the Arabs in the West Bank, who are not allowed to enter Israel, cannot enter Jerusalem as well (35). Consequently, many settlements have been built during the time period 1967-1981. The second phase was started and completed in 1991, in addition to other phases during the 1990s. Consequently, Jerusalem will become an absolute Jewish city which cannot be divided into an Arab part and a Jewish one because of the colonial and settlement policies carried out by Israel against the Arabs leading to the building of settlements on four long lines:

1. The Jordan Valley level, starting from Beesan north to the Dead Sea south.

2. The mountainside level starting from Tobas north to Al-Khan Al-Ahmar south.

3. The mountaintops or peak levels starting from Jeneen north to Hebron south.

4. The Begin level starting from Tulkarm north to Ramallh, in addition to the great chain of suburbs around the cities.

In December,1981, Israel celebrated the last phase of these plans on completion of the last stage of the so-called Belt by bulldozing the suburb known as South Navi Jacob. On the other hand, the modern suburb located in Ma’aleh Adumim, between Jerusalem and Jericho, represents the Jewish political dimensions toward Jerusalem and a sharp reply to the Arab conference in Al-Rebat and its subsequent resolutions concerning the city. On the military level, they show that Israel has already firmly captured the city in order to be the eternal capital of Israel as revealed by the Israeli Parliament resolution 2064 issued on 27 June 1967, which also showed the earlier Israeli intentions to control the city.

The following table outlines the colonies which have been built around the city (36):

3.         The administrative and legislative aggressions: As we have already shown, these aggressions were started since the Israeli resolution to annex Jerusalem politically and administratively to Israel was issued on 27 June 1967, which was against the will of its citizens. The following is a summary of these legislative and administrative steps taken by Israel since 1967:

1. Canceling the Jerusalem Arab municipal council elected by the citizens and confiscating all of the records of real estate and property. Then the mayor of the city was deported on 27 March 1968 (37), the Arab council was changed to an Israeli municipality, and Jewish officials replaced the Arabs.

2. Canceling the Arab departments such as the courts, the health centres and social affairs, while some were annexed to similar Israel departments such as the postal service and the State hospital.

3. The citizens of Jerusalem had to refer to the legal Islamic court in Jaffa because none of these would be available or recognized in Jerusalem.

4. Canceling the Jordanian regulations and forcing the citizens to refer to the Israeli courts.

5. Applying the Israeli tax regulations on the Arabs in Jerusalem.

6. Canceling the current educational syllabuses and imposing the Israeli ones in all stages. However, Israel stopped this in 1970 except for the elementary schools. In addition, Israel has not allowed Arabs to establish an Arab University in Jerusalem although there is a Hebrew University in the city.

7. Issuing Israeli IDs for Arabs in Jerusalem by the Israeli Ministry of Interior.

8. Obliging Arab traders and craftsmen to register their names with the concerned Israeli institutions in order to get a license.

9. Closing the Arab banks in Jerusalem and confiscating their funds, forcing the Arabs to deal with Israeli banks in order to merge and mix the Arab economy with the Israeli counterpart.

10. Separating the economy of Jerusalem from the economy of the West Bank by establishing a system of multiple customs centres around the city.

4.         The political aggressions: The Zionist aggression against the Arab political rights in Jerusalem has been obvious in two directions: the first is represented by governmental public authorities and the second by diplomacy. The first direction has been made evident by moving the Israeli governmental and official departments to Jerusalem, in addition to the police department, the International Zionist Conference and the Premier’s Department, which showed that Israel was determined to take Jerusalem as its capital. Moreover, the visits paid by both Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1977 and his addressing the Israel Parliament there, as well as the visit paid by American President Bill Clinton to attend the meeting held by the Israeli Cabinet after the conference of Sharm Al-Sheikh, have promoted the Israeli political connection with Jerusalem concerning the legislative and executive authorities.

On the diplomatic level, Israel has been doing its best to convince all diplomatic corps in Israel to move their embassies from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Israel has also banned all diplomatic gatherings outside the city. The U.S. backed this political and diplomatic attitude, as well as all of the immense economic and military support, by suggesting the moving of the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.. This was made evident through the manifest issued on 15 November 1994 by the American Foreign Affairs Ministry concerning the building of the American embassy in Jerusalem. There have been a lot of talks and discussions about new installations and facilities in Jerusalem in 1986, but the American Congress banned all expenses in this respect; however, this ban was removed in 1988, but it had been necessary to specify the purpose either for an embassy or a counsel. In 1989, both Israel and the U.S. agreed to locate a suitable place in Tel Aviv and another in Jerusalem, but finally they agreed to be in Jerusalem. Consequently, plans and designs have been prepared and included in the schemes of the city. The building would be rented by the U.S. for 99 years at a rate of $1 yearly (38).

The American President could not hide his fervent and supportive attitude for Israel concerning Jerusalem after he had been elected when he declared, in an interview with Newsweek in 1992: “I recognize Jerusalem as the united capital of Israel but the matter of moving our embassy there is a matter of time, and because it may harm the peace negotiations which we have been courting for ages (39).” Moreover, Clinton declared before the Israeli Parliament on 27 October 1994, when he visited Israel, saying: “Your trip is ours and we will be at your side all the time.” In addition, the U.S. has always used their veto against any resolutions issued by the Security Council condemning Israel, especially the resolution issued in 1995 when all of the member countries approved it except the USA. Then the American Congress decided to transfer the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Moreover, the Israeli attitude toward the issue of Jerusalem has also been made obvious through the so-called peace process in the Middle East started by the Madrid Conference after the second Gulf war in 1991. This process led to the so-called principles declaration by signing the treaty of Gaza-Jericho first by the Palestinian Authority and Israel in May of 1994, which was based on the principle of land in exchange for peace. Then another treaty was signed by Jordan and Israel in October of 1994, as well as the Taba agreement concerning the implementation of the second phase of the autonomy signed by the PLO and Israel in September of 1995. The most remarkable point is that Israel insisted on postponing the issue of Jerusalem until the third phase of the final negotiations although the Israeli-Jordanian treaty stated that the religious liability in Jerusalem would be allocated to Jordan (Israel must observe the Jordanian role in preserving and protecting the Holy Places in Jerusalem, then Israel will give more attention and priority to the role of Jordan in protecting the Holy Places in Jerusalem during the final phase of the negotiations) (40). Thus, Israel has already decided the future of Jerusalem in its agreement with Jordan, ignoring the Palestinians who continue to insist on considering Jerusalem as their capital. In addition, Israel has restricted the issue of Jerusalem to religious protection only, ignoring it as an Islamic, Arab, Palestinian or political issue as stated in many UN resolutions. Finally, the Zionist goals of capturing Jerusalem and making it their eternal and united capital of Israel have thus far been obvious and declared by all of the leaders of the successive Israeli governments, in particular Netanyahu’s government in May of 1996. His attitude was quite conspicuous, in particular his three NOs concerning Jerusalem, the Palestinian state and the Israeli settlements. These three NOs remind us of the  three NOs declared at the Al-Khartoum Summit Conference which was held after the war in 1967. While these three NOs (No peace, No negotiations and No Recognition) have collapsed since the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt was signed at Camp David in 1978, Netanyahu still insisted on them, especially the dividing of Jerusalem, which should be the eternal and united capital of Israel under all circumstances. In addition to these statements, there have been several actual and practical procedures taken by Israel, including the closing of the Orient House in Jerusalem, the banning of political activities carried out by the PA in Jerusalem, allowing the Jews to pray in Al-Aqsa Mosque, continuing the process of estate confiscation and destruction, and the continuation of building more settlements, which emphasize the Israeli colonial policy in order to eventually Judaize the entire city.  

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CONCLUSION

All of the above-mentioned events concerning Zionist ideology and its historical development since the Ottoman era up through the present are evidence as to the seriousness and immensity of the Zionist aggressions against Arab rights in Jerusalem. This paper considers the Zionist viewpoint as the starting point in this respect because it has been related to Jerusalem through Mount Zion located in the city. Religious Zionism has emphasized the spiritual side of the matter by visiting the Holy Places in the city in order to promote the notion of the Jewish State as mentioned by Herzl in his book. In addition, Zionism has made use of the persecution carried out against the Jews in Europe in order to promote the idea of Jewish nationalism and the texts of the Old Testament to spread the claim of God’s Chosen People or the Land of Israel. Consequently, Zionism has stressed that Palestine and its capital-(Jerusalem) is the sole option for the Jews, who have been carrying out numerous aggressions against Arab rights under the motto “Land without people for people without land.”

These strategic goals of Zionism have been applied through several procedures on the local level, such as immigration and purchasing more land and estates, and on the global level in order to gain world recognition of the notion of a Jewish national State in Palestine as a cover for the Jewish State. Zionism failed to get this recognition from the Ottoman empire led by Sultan Abdelhameed II and so they diverted to Britain whose imperial interests were in harmony with those of the Zionist. Thereupon, the Balfour Promise was issued by Britain as the first document of recognition for the Jewish State by a superpower. Thereafter Britain carried out this promise through its Mandate over Palestine as a preparatory stage for the Jewish State, which was also supported by the U.S. in the UN resolution of division issued in 1947, which divided Palestine into two States: a Jewish one and an Arab one. The Jewish State passed through two stages during which it was possible for the Jews to capture West Jerusalem in 1948 then the eastern part of the city in 1967. All of the Israeli statements made by the successive Israeli governments and political parties, and the practical procedures carried out by Israel have proven that Zionism has been persistent in taking Jerusalem as their eternal capital of the Jewish State. This has also been evident through the gross and immense Zionist aggressions against the Arab rights in Jerusalem, which have been highlighted in this paper by outlining these statements and procedures on four levels or axes: the aggressions against the Islamic Holy Places, the Arab rights, the legislative and administrative aspects, and the political ones as well. All of these axes have been supported by factual examples and proofs which show the grossness and immensity of the Zionist aggressions against the Arab rights in Jerusalem.

On the other hand, this paper stressed the idea of considering Jerusalem as an integral part of the Jewish heritage as shown in the speech delivered by Issac Shamir, the ex-premier of Israel, before the peace conference on 31 October 1991: “There has been no nation or people showing such an intimate adherence and connection with their homeland in a way like the one the Jews have been exhibiting for thousands of years, and our people have kept reciting the hymn, singing, ‘I will never forget you, Jerusalem (Orshaleem), even I were to lose my right hand,’ and so we have been greeting each other by saying, ‘Next year we will be in Jerusalem….’ (41).”

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Endnotes

1. About the history of Palestine and Jerusalem, see the special issue of the magazine International Matters, an article entitled, “Palestine: the Cause and the Essence”, issue 261, 2 January 1995, pp. 6-16. Also, see some of the historical references such as Palestine—the State: The Roots of the Matter in Palestinian History, by Dr. Issam Sekhneen, first print, PLO Research Center, Nicosia, 1985. Next, see Analytical View in the History of Palestine, vol. 1, by Ahmed Sedqy Al-Dajani; “The Dawn of History”, Palestinian Affairs, issue 76, March, 1976; Jerusalem Detailed History, by Aref Al-Aref, Al-Andalus Library, Jerusalem, 1961; Palestine: History and Struggling, by Najeeb Al-Ahmed, first print, Dar Al-Jaleel, Amman, 1985; and Arabianism of Palestine through History, by Moh’d Adeeb Al-Amery, Modern Library, Beirut, 1972.

2. Raja’ Al-Jaroudy, Palestine is the Home of the Heavenly Messages, translated by Abdesabour Shaheen, Dar Al-Turath, Cairo, 1986.

3. About the notion of the Jewish State in the Middle Ages through Herzl, see the special issue of International Matters, Ibid., pp. 81-25; and concerning the Zionist Movement, see Dr. Moh’d Abdera’ouf Haleem and Dr. Sabry Jeryes.

4. Zionism between Politics and Religion, by Abdesamee’ Al-Herawy, Egyptian Book Board, Cairo, 1977.

5. Zionist Wise Men Protocols, by Attar Ahmed Abdelghafour, Dar Al-Ilm for Millions, first print, Beirut, 1976; Jewish Religious Ideology, by Hasan Zaza, Dar Al-Qalam, eighth print, Damascus, 1987; and Racial Zionism in the Old Testament, by Al-Saqaf Ahmed, Al-Rbei’an for publication and distribution, Kuwait, first print, 1984.

6. International Zionism, by Abbas Mahmoud al-Aqad, Modern Library, Beirut; and The Jewish Threat, Arab Book Establishment, Beirut.

7. Years Without Decision, by Moh’d Al-Farra, Al-Ahram for translation and publication, Cairo, first print, 1988, p. 2.

8. International Matters, Ibid., p. 24; and the summary of a book entitled Arabs and the Jews in the History, by Ja’far Al-Khaleely, Baghdad, second print, 1979, p. 108.

9. Sultan Abdelhameed, His Life and History, by Moh’d Ardekhan, Al-Khuloud Press, Baghdad.

10. Imperialism in Palestine, by Rafeeq Shaker, Dar Al-Jaleel for publication, Amman, 1984, p. 193.

11. International Zionism and the Arab Cause, by Ali Ben Ali Sabra, Culture and Publication Est., Sana’a 1975, p. 137.

12. Arab Palestine under the Zionist Occupation: American Strategic Region, by Ali Abu Al-Hassan, Dar Al-Farouq, Beirut, third print, 1991, pp. 14-18.

13. “Palestinian Cause in Forty Years”, organized by the Graduates Association in Kuwait and the Arab Committee for the Palestinian Cause, Arab Unity Study Center, Beirut, 1989, p. 27.

14. The Document of the Palestinian Cause, Arab League; and The British Mandate Policy in Palestine, 1922-1939, by Ibraheem Radwan Al-Jundy, Dar Al-Karmel publications, Amman.

15. See the two previous references.

16. The Palestinian Cause in the International Law and Current Situation, by Jaber Ibraheem Al-Rawee, Dar Al-Jaleel, Amman, 1985, p. 31.

17. Palestine before Being Lost, by Wasef Ayoush, Reyad Al-Rayes books and publication, 1985, p. 62.

18. The Palestinian Cause through its Various Stages, by Moh’d Ezzat Darwazeh, Modern Library, Beirut, 1951, p. 167.

19. The UN and the Palestinian Documents about this stage.

20. Land in the Zionist Sociological Ideology, by Kamal Al-Khaldy (1948-1973), Palestinian Writers’ and Journalists’ Union, Damascus, May, 1982. About the Israeli settlement policy in Palestine, see Prince Hassan ibn Talal, Al-Arabi, issue 19, 15 April 1988; and Zionism and its Pet, Israel, by Omar Rushdy, Al-Nahda Library, Cairo, second print, 1965.

21. Ali Abu Al-Hassan, Ibid., p. 19.

22. Palestinian Studies Magazine, issue 15, 1992 and issue 16, 1993; and International Matters magazine, issue 203, 1992 and issue 223, 1994.

23. The Israeli Violations Against the Arab Rights in the Occupied Territories, by Retired Staff Brig. Fayez Jaber, Dar Al-Beiraq for publications and distribution, first print, 1987, p. 95.

24. The Israeli Violations, Ibid., p. 103.

25. The Israeli Community: the Political, Economic and Sociological Developments, a periodical issued by the Political and Strategic Studies Center in Al-Ahram Daily Newspaper, Cairo, 1982, p. 98.

26. About Jerusalem, see The History of the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque, by Aref Al-Aref; Status of Jerusalem in Islam, by Abdelhameed al-Sa’eh; Our Way to Jerusalem: Islamic Vision, by Abdelhaleem Ei’weis; and Jerusalem During the Israeli Occupation, by Ra’ef Najm.

27. The Excavations Around Al-Aqsa Mosque, by Ghazi Al-Sa’ady, from the records of the Zionist Terrorism in Palestine—Massacre and Practices, second part, Dar Al-Jaleel for publication, Amman, first print, 1985, pp. 220-224; and The Documents of the Islamic Supreme Board in Jerusalem, by Sa’ad Al-Deen al-Alamy, 1967-1984, first and second parts, Arab Press, Amman, first print, 1984.

28. Excavations Around Al-Aqsa Mosque, Ibid.; and Violations of the Sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque, by Sa’ad Al-Deen Al-Alamy, Ibid., p. 67.

29. Fayez Jaber, Ibid., p. 98.

30. The Palestinian Cause and the Arab-Zionist Conflict, by Abdelazeez Al-Dury and others, second part, the Secretariat of Arab Universities, p. 433; and Jewish Settlement in Old Jerusalem, by Michael Dumber, Palestinian Studies, Beirut, issue 8, Fall, 1991, pp. 36-37.

31. Fayez Jaber, Ibid., p. 102.

32. Al-Mustaqbal Al-Arabi magazine, “The Summary of the Diaries of the Arab Unity”, Arab Unity Studies Center, Beirut, issue 175, September 1993, p. 173.

33. Palestinian Studies magazine, “Beg, Borrow, or Steal—the Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Land”, a report prepared by the Jerusalem Center for Information and Communication, Palestinian Studies Est., issue 8, Fall, 1991, p. 339.

34. “Settlement Under the Compromise Process”, by Khaled Ayed, Palestinian Studies magazine, issue 9, winter, 1992, p. 278.

35. Fayez Jaber, Ibid.

36. Fayez Jaber, Ibid., p. 103; The Israeli Colonial Settlements in the Occupied Territories, by Waleed Al-Ja’fary, 1967-1980, Palestinian Studies Est., Beirut, first print, 1981, p. 22.

37. Fayez Jaber, Ibid., p. 97.

38. Palestinian Studies magazine, issue 21, winter, 1995, pp. 211-212.

39. An interview by Al-Wasat magazine, issue 41, 9 November 1992.

40. The Jordanian-Israeli Agreement in 1994.

41. International Matters magazine, special issue 261, Ibid., p. 137.