[ 10/06/2010 - 09:50 AM ]
The sources said that Shalom visited the settlement outpost called the City of David at the main entrance to Wadi Hilwa neighborhood in Silwan area and declared his solidarity with the settlers there.
The visit included a tour inside the network of tunnels which extends from Silwan to the Aqsa Mosque.
Dozens of Palestinian young men were kidnapped lately in the district of Silwan at the pretext of their participation in the recent clashes against Israeli settlers and soldiers.
The Palestinian residents in Silwan said that these arrests were carried out to satisfy the Israeli settlers who seized by force homes belonging to Palestinians and turned them into settlement posts.
For his part, Hamas lawmaker Ahmed Abu Halbya, the rapporteur of the Parliamentary committee on Jerusalem affairs, warned of the daily violations committed by Israel and its settlers against the native residents of the holy city, which are aimed at displacing them.
In a ceremony organized by Al-Quds international institution in Gaza on Wednesday to mark 43 years since the occupation of Jerusalem, Abu Halbya stressed that the holy city is coming through the most dangerous stage of its history.
He added that Jerusalem is being exposed to a systematic Judaization plan aimed at obliterating its Arab identity and turning it into a pure Jewish city.
The lawmaker noted that Jerusalem needs attention from all Arab and Muslim officials and grassroots parties, especially with regard to the financial support, where the city needs every year about half a billion dollars to sustain the steadfastness of its people.
Al-Quds institution also organized on the same day another similar ceremony in Yemen attended by dignitaries, scholars and politicians.
One of the prominent speakers at the ceremony was the Yemeni minister of endowments and guidance Hamoud Al-Hattar who affirmed in a speech at the beginning of the ceremony that his country would never cease supporting the Palestinian people and their just national rights.
He also hailed the Jerusalemite people for their fortitude, attachment to their land and the sacrifices they made to defend their homes and the Islamic holy sites.
For her part, the noted Jerusalemite woman Umm Kamel Al-Kurd, the guest of honor at the ceremony, said that former Israeli minister of tourism Danny Ayalon offered her 15 million dollars for her home near the Aqsa Mosque, but she refused and confronted all threats of expelling her by force.
She explained to the audience how Israel sent thousands of soldiers to encircle the area where she lived before attacking her home to expel her along with her elderly husband from home, the thing which led to the death of her husband.
Umm Kamel also sent the regards of head of the Islamic Movement Sheikh Ra’ed Salah to the Yemeni people, and said he urges them to continue their support and solidarity with the Palestinian people.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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