Jerusalem and its residents are under fierce attack from occupation

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[ 20/02/2009 - 06:09 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--
Dr. Ahmad Abu Halabayya, deputy head of the Jerusalem Committee in the Palestinian Legislative Council, said that the Aqsa Mosque and other holy places in Jerusalem are under a fierce attack by occupation.

He said, in a press statement on Thursday, that "January this year witnessed many violations against the citizens of Jerusalem, their families, homes and land by the occupation institutions and its army and police."

He pointed out that those violations included, demolition of home, bulldozing lands, land confiscation as well as assaults and arrests against Jerusalem citizens causing many confrontations between those citizens and the occupation army.

He added that his press statement coincided with the start of activities to celebrate Jerusalem as the capital of Arab culture 2009, for which a national committee has been formed.

Abu Halabeyya added that Jerusalem has recently witnessed acceleration of settlement activities and land confiscation, adding that the Israeli occupation is uprooting Palestinian families from Jerusalem using various pretexts and then confiscating their property.

He sighted the example of the Israeli occupation government refusal to hand back the Jerusalem ID cards to Jerusalem members of the PLC.

He called upon the Muslim and Arab people to act to save Jerusalem and its holy places before it is too late.

Meanwhile, the Zionist municipality of Jerusalem is seeking to transfer 1500 Palestinian citizens from the Silwan neighbourhood, according to Haaretz newspaper on Friday.

The paper reported that the Mayor of Jerusalem will try to convince 1500 Palestinian residents of the neighbourhood, which is close to the Aqsa Mosque, to voluntarily move out of the neighbourhood.

The municipality intends to demolish the homes of those Palestinians under the pretext that they were built without a permit.