Situation in the OPT/Jerusalem – Report – Note verbale from Jordan

NOTE VERBALE DATED 10 AUGUST 1977 FROM THE PERMANENT MISSION OF JORDAN TO THE UNITED NATIONS ADDRESSED TO THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

The Permanent Mission of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to the United Nations presents its compliments to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and has the honour to refer to His Excellency's note SO 144 (57-14) dated 21 July 1977 in which reference is made to General Assembly resolution 31/110 of 16 December 1976.

In compliance with his request, the Permanent Mission of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has the honour to submit the enclosed report, which had been communicated  to it by the Government of Jordan and which deals, primarily, with the situation in  the occupied part of Jerusalem.

The Government of Jordan will, in due course, transmit additional reports covering the situation of the rest of the occupied West Bank and the living conditions of the Palestinian refugees, in addition to those of the indigenous inhabitants.

In view of various references to Security Council resolutions on the subject-matter of the report, the Mission requests that this report be circulated as a document of the Security Council.

Annex

JERUSALEM UNDER ISRAELI OCCUPATION

The Israeli  forces  occupied the Arab   City of Jerusalem on 7 June  1967. Thereupon they immediately proceeded to Judaize the Holy City.     They embarked on the execution  of their plan by confiscating Arab  lands  and property;  obliterating Arab  and Muslim civilization;  liquidating Arab economy and the inclusion thereof in the Israeli  economy.     They proceeded to  alter the unique  characteristics  of the buildings which Jerusalem had enjoyed throughout  long centuries.  They launched a harsh  and stern  campaign of terrorism against the Arab  inhabitants  to  force  them to I;evacuate the  city, with  a view to  filling the  vacuum so  created by Jewish  immigrants.

The Israeli  authorities  further initiated a programme of diggings  and excavations under the historical Arab and Moslem buildings,  a process that ; resulted in the  damage  and cracking of hundreds thereof.     Not  satisfied with these machinations 3  the Israeli  forces  demolished hundreds  of historical Arab and Moslem Buildings.     To support their actions the Israelis put  forward several  allegations and unsound arguments.     They pretended that such  demolitions were necessitated by the need to widen and enlarge the open space near the Wailing Wall.  Another of their pretenses was the  allegation that those buildings were in  danger of falling down.     But the  fact  is,  however,   that those buildings   could have never been in such  a condition,  had it not been  for the  excavations  and diggings   carried out by the forces  of occupation.

By 11 June 1967 the  authorities  of occupation had already demolished the following:

1. One hundred twenty-five houses in Al-Magharibah quarter, adjacent  to Al-Aqsa Mosque. Those houses were inhabited by 650 Arabs.

2. Two mosques: Al-Buraq Ash-Shareef Mosque  and another mosque nearby.

3. A factory of plastics near the Armenian quarter within the walls  of Jerusalem. Two hundred Arab  labourers were  employed in the said factory.

4. Two hundred houses  and stores  outside the city walls.

Those acts  of demolition have led to the  dispersion of about  1,000 of the Arab  inhabitants  of Jerusalem.   Meantime,  the  authorities  of occupation had already caused the  dispersion of thousands  of the Arab  inhabitants,  immediately on the heels  of the occupation of Jerusalem.

The number of families  so ejected from their houses was 300.  We know their names but  see no need to narrate them here.  The plan of confiscating Arab lands and the  appropriation thereof is  still being carried out.  It will continue functioning until the last piece of Arab land in the  City of Jerusalem is confiscated.

In an effort to give a legal aspect to the programme to Judaize the City of  Jerusalem, the authorities of occupation drew up a scheme for the "Reorganization of the Holy City, within and outside the walls". This scheme is being carried out step by step.  The Israeli authorities have surrounded Jerusalem on all of its sides, by fortresses and citadels composed of large and high buildings, with a view to cutting off Jerusalem entirely from all Arab sectors in the Western Bank. The attached (supplement A) shows in detail the Israeli suburbs and settlements which were built on Arab lands in the City of Jerusalem.

On 27 June 196?, the authorities of occupation adopted a resolution whereby the Government of Israel was authorized to apply the "Israeli law" in any land area which it deems necessary to annex to Israel.

The Secretary of the Government of Israel proclaimed a decree (Law Number One for 1967) providing that "the area of the land of Israel, as shown in the supplement appended to the decree, is subject to the law of Israel, its jurisdiction and administration". The said supplement included the "Area of the organization of Jerusalem", namely, the municipality of Jerusalem.  This area was inhabited, prior to the Israeli occupation, by around 90,000 Arabs.  They have become, according to this decree, and without their consent, directly under Israel sovereignty. What was still worse, the Israeli Army dissolved the duly and legally elected Municipal Council of the Arab City of Jerusalem.

On 30 June 19675 "the military authorities abolished the Jordanian laws and regulations, replaced them by Israeli laws and regulations and set up an Israeli military body which subjected all the Arab inhabitants to its oppression and harshness.

On 4 July 1967, the Jordanian Government appealed to the United Nations against the measures and acts undertaken by the Israeli authorities. After their consideration of the Jordanian complaint, the United Nations adopted a resolution on 14 July 1967, a/ in which they:

1. Considered all the Israeli measures and acts to be void and illegal;

2. Called for the abolition of those measures and acts;

3. Demanded of Israel to refrain and desist from taking any such measure which would lead to a change in the status of the City of Jerusalem.

Nevertheless, Israel refused to abide by the United Nations resolution and persevered in its measures.  In the meantime, Arab accusations continued to appear before the United Nations and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).  Both bodies adopted several resolutions which strongly blamed the Israeli authorities, and called upon them to refrain from their measures and abolish them.

a/ General Assembly resolution 2254 (ES-V).

Yet the Israeli  authorities  of occupation continued the implementation of their programme to Judaize the  City of Jerusalem,  in the   following manner:

First:   Judaization of Arab  economy

With a view to enhancing the political  and administrative annexation of the City of Jerusalem, the  authorities  of occupation  cut  off and separated the  city from the  rest  of the Western Bank.  Establishing customs  offices  around the  city, the  authorities proceeded to  execute their plan  for the liquidation of Arab economy and the  inclusion thereof in the  sphere  of Israeli  economy.  They closed down the existing Arab banks 3 namely, the Arab Bank,  the Cairo Bank, the Jordan Bank, the Real Estate Bank, the National Bank and Intra Bank,  and seized their finances.  They replaced the Jordanian currency by Israeli  currency, the value of which has   fallen in a manner unprecedented, to the  detriment  of the Arab inhabitants who were  forced to  deal with Israeli  currency.

Hot  satisfied with the perpetration of those illegal measures,  the Israeli authorities  subjected the Arabs to the Israeli 'system of taxation,  including the supplementary tax and the defence tax which is collected from the Arabs  for the benefit  of the  Israeli  army which occupies  their land.   The  application of those measures  resulted in the paralysation of Arab  economy, and a continuous  Arab migration  from the  City of Jerusalem to the Eastern Bank of the  Jordan River.

Second

On 25 July 1967,  the  authorities  of occupation  conducted a census  in Jerusalem.  The  said authorities  considered all Arab  citizens of Jerusalem who were absent  from the  city  (for reasons of work,  education,  visits  or refugees  as  a result  of the war)  as  absentees  and deprived them of their right to  return to their city.  After the  completion of both measures,  namely,  the  annexation of Jerusalem and the  census, the Israeli authorities  of occupation hastened to enforce the  "Absentee Property Law"  on the Jerusalem Arabs  and proceeded to register both the immovable  and movable properties belonging to those Arabs  so considered as  absentees.  Consequently,  the  authorities  of occupation laid their hands  on large areas of what  remained of Arab land and property.  Those were either transformed into Jewish .property or placed at  the  disposal of the occupation authorities, exactly as was the  fate  of the properties  of the Arabs who had been expelled, or were outside the country, in the Palestinian sectors occupied in 1948.

Third:   confiscation and plunder of the property of Arabs residing in Jerusalem

The  Israeli  authorities of occupation were not satisfied with the Arab property and lands which they had seized through the  application of the  "Absentee Property Law".  They therefore confiscated other large areas  of Arab lands  and a big number of Arab buildings,  on the  grounds that they were necessary  for public services  and for forests  and roads.

During-the period 1968-1976, the authorities of occupation committed the following acts  of confiscation and plunder:

A. In 1968, 4,000  dunums  of land outside the  city walls were  confiscated.

Within the  city walls the authorities  confiscated 595 Arab buildings  composed of 1,048 residential  flats;  437 stores  and commercial centres  and 2 Moslem religious  sites.  They demolished and confiscated two mosques.

These buildings  and stores  fall in the  southern part of Bab-Al-Silsilah (known as Al-Magharibah Quarter);  Sharaf Quarter;  Sook Al-Bashorah and Sook Al-Husor.

B. In 1969  and 1970 the  authorities of occupation  confiscated 12,000 dunums portion of this  land falls within the  area of Jerusalem. The  other portion, which is the  greater of the two, was  confiscated from 10 Arab  villages  surrounding the City of Jerusalem,  namely, the villages  of Ar-Rarn,  Kalandiah, Beit Hanina, to the north; Nabi Samuel,  Beit  Iksa, to the west;  Beit Safafa,  Sharaft, Sour Baher to the south.

The Isreali  authorities  erased to the  ground all Arab houses  that were therein and drove out their inhabitants.

C. In 1971 and 1972 the authorities  of occupation  confiscated 53000  dunums of thelf lands of the villages of Anata and El-Azariyeh,  to the east of Jerusalem,  and on those   confiscated lands Jewish  residential quarters.

D. In 1973,  1974 and 1975, the authorities of occupation proclaimed the confiscation of 70,000 dunums of the lands  of "Al-Khan Al-Ahmar"  – between Jerusalem and the  city of Jericho.  They built  an industrial town, which is being enlarged at the  cost  of Arab lands.  They further confiscated 1,630 dunums of the Hebi Samuel lands  and commenced the building of residential quarters thereon.

With a view to joining the occupied Arab Jerusalem with the Israeli  sector occupied in 1948, the Israeli authorities proclaimed the Plan of greater Jerusalem".  This  plan purports the widening and enlarging of the present boundaries  of the  city of Jerusalem, to include in the north the  cities  of Ramallah and Beereh and the  adjacent Arab  villages;  in the south the  cities  of Bethlehem,  Beit  Jala and Beit Sahur with the adjacent villages; in the east the villages  of Abu Dis, Al-Azariah;  Tor, Anata Ram.  By means  of this plan the authorities of occupation acquired one third of the occupied Western Bank.

Fourth:   demolition and fracture of Arab property within the city walls resulting, from Israeli excavation

Pretending to dig  for antiquities, the  Israeli authorities  of occupation carried out various excavations within the city walls, and in particular under the buildings adjoining the southern and western walls of Al-Haram Ash-Shareef.

They presumed that they undertook those excavations for the purpose of digging the be foundations  and traces of the Temple of Solomon, and the antiques  and relics coonnected with Jewish history.

They carried out those excavations  for the purpose of damaging and fracturing the Moslem Waqf property above the excavations.  This  led to the  collapse of the said property and thereafter to the  demolition thereof. This Waqf property (buildings) was  used for residential,  religious  and  cultural purposes.  The demolition  of those buildings led to the expulsion  and homelessness  of a large number of the Arab  inhabitants.

The  aforementioned excavations  caused the  damage  of Al-Zawiyah Al-Fakrieh and 14 buildings  adjoining it.  The excavations  also  resulted in  damaging and fracturing another Zawiyah  (Ribat Al-Kurd)  and an old Moslem school (Al-Jawhariyah).

The  excavations were extended in width and depth,  until they reached under the southern wall of Al-Haram Ash-Shareef; the lower courts of Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa; masjid Omar,  and the  south-eastern halls  of Al-Qasa.  The said excavations  how threaten with  damage  and collapse the mosque (Al-Aqsa) which is holy to all Moslems.

UNESCO has  continuously censured the  authorities of occupation for those Excavations  and demanded an immediate stoppage thereof.  The said organization adopted a resolution to  stop  all its cultural, technical and financial  assistance to Israel,  as  a sentence against  its acts and the continuation thereof. Nevertheless, the  Israeli  authorities persevere  adamantly to ignore the sentence of UNESCO.   Israel still continues  its  excavation.

Fifth:  evacuation of the Arab inhabitants from lands and property, confiscated by force, and the establishment of Jewish quarters thereon

On 25 June 1974, the authorities of occupation announced a programme for the evacuation  of 18,000  Arab inhabitants residing within the city halls of Arab Jerusalem, particularly those residing near Al-Haram Ash-Shareef.

The Israeli newspaper (Davar)  reported in its  issue of 25 June 1974 the details of the  said programme  and that  it will be executed by the  following methods:

A. A local and world campaign  of propaganda to disseminate the pretension that the health standard at the Arab property within the  city walls  is below health  and sanitary requirements  and that therefore those buildings  ought to be pulled down.

B. Warnings to be  addressed by the  occupation  authorities  to the inhabitants  of those  quarters, to evacuate their homes,   stores  and workshops.     As previously mentioned,  the number of these people  is  estimated at  18,000.

C. The building of 750 residential  flats on Arab  confiscated lands  east of Jerusalem,   to be   given  to  some  of the   families   after their ejection   from the  old city.

Simultaneously with the continuation of this calamity, the authorities of occupation proceeded to build purely Jewish quarters on Arab lands confiscated in various parts of the Western Bank.  These quarters include two industrial, one military and one university, suburbs.  It must be mentioned, with special emphasis that a Jewish residential sector was built, within the city walls, on the debris of four Arab quarters.  The sector is to be inhabited by 5,000 Israelis, in lieu of the 6,000 Arabs who had lived there.

Sixth:  Israeli acts of aggression on Moslem and Christian holy places in the City of Jerusalem

These series of acts of aggression started with the burning of the holy mosque Al-Aqsa on 21 August 1969, with the aim of erasing this holy Moslem sanctuary, around which stand the Moslems in all regions of the world.

The authorities of occupation have already paved the way, preliminary to the occupation of this holy sanctuary, by adopting a series of measures and instigation inter alia, the following:

A. The confiscation, appropriation, demolition and mining of the Waqf buildings adjoining the Mosque Al-Aqsa, on the west and south.

B. The occupation of ;:Bab Al-Magharibah which is one of the main gates of Al-Haram Ash-Shareef, and the setting up therein of an Israeli military post.

C. The conduction of demonstrations and the holding of Jewish prayers within the "Haram" area, by members of the Israeli army, extremist Israeli organizations and fanatical religious bodies.

D. The deepening of excavations around Al-Haram Ash-Shareef, in spite of the fact that the international community has protested against those measures and censured the Israeli authorities of occupation for the perpetration thereof. These    authorities have, nevertheless, never refrained, not even for one day, from those  machinations.

On 29 January 1976, Israeli judiciary deteriorated and went down into a deep abyss of low standard, when they intervened to join other Israeli bodies in their efforts and activities to Judaize the City of Jerusalem and molest and violate the religious sanctity of its ho.ly sites.

Consequently, they vindicated a group of Jewish young men who had held prayers and caused agitation in the area of Al-Aqsa Mosque. This judgement left very violent repercussions among the Moslems and Christians, and was censured by the entire, world.

The Israeli acts of aggression on the Christian religious places had many aimS) the most significant of which are the following:

A. To molest and desecrate the Christian sanctuaries.

B. To bring pressure to bear, continuously, on the leaders of the big Christian communities, with a view to forcing them to relinquish large areas of their land and property in Jerusalem, either by selling them or by leasing them for long periods.

C.  To terrorize the Christian religious leaders.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was subjected to several acts of aggression and robbery.  In the last days of 19&7, several Israelis stole the crown of the Virgin Mary.  On 2h March 1970, the Israelis damaged the candle stands and destroyed the oil lamps hanging over the Holy Sepulchre.  On 12 April 1973, three Israelis endeavoured to steal the diamond crown of the Virgin Mary, near the Cross of Golgotha in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  They attacked a Franciscan monk who was beaten severely.

On 11 February 1974, four Christian centres in Jerusalem were burnt.

In the field of confiscating the lands of the Christian Arabs, the authorities of occupation were able to lay their hands, by confiscation, appropriation and leases, on the following properties:

A. The lands of the quarters of Al-Musallabeh, Katamon and Karra Arruhvan.  These lands, composing large areas of the City of Jerusalem, were the property of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate.

B. The "Schneller" school with large areas of land adjoining it.  The directors of the said school were enforced, under duress and threats, to sell the school and the lands. The Schneller school was founded in the middle of the nineteenth century as an industrial orphanage.

C. The land and buildings of the Russian (White) Church, in the middle of Jerusalem. The land area is wide and contains several large buildings.

D.  The "Fast" Hotel building in the centre of Jerusalem. Armenian Patriarchate. It was owned by the

Many Christian religious leaders were subjected to acts of aggression and were beaten and despised, at the hands of the Israelis. The following are outstanding cases:

A. On 6 February 1973, Bishop Vasilios (the second responsible leader in the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem) was beaten severely.

B. On 25 December 1970, Christmas Day, the monks of the Coptic Convent were beaten.

C. The arrest and detention of the Arab bishop (Elaryon Kabbushi).  He was later sentenced, after appearing before a court – which was a mockery – to imprisonment for 12 years.

D. The Christians in Jerusalem were subjected to oppression and continued pressure.  Thousands of those Christians of Jerusalem were forced to leave the city,

The following figures bear evidence to this fact.

The  emigration  of the  Christian Arabs   from Jerusalem is  still  continuous. The  same  is   also true of the  emigration of the Moslem inhabitants.

Seventh:  the  Judaization  of Arab  education

Soon  after the  Israeli  occupation of the  City of Jerusalem,  the  Israeli authorities  laid their hands  on all government  schools  and educational organizations.     They subjected those  institutions  to the  same  Israeli  curriculum •which had been  forced on Arabs  since  1948.

In their said programmes  of education the  Israelis have purposely ignored and left  out  s,ll subjects  and matters which the Arab  compatriot  really needs   for his  national  and religious  education.     The theory underlying this  step is  the desire of the  Israelis to prevent  the Arab   from cementing their attachment to their lands  and homes  and to estrange them from their basic culture and their historical  values.  In this  manner the Arab people will lose their original personality and entity, preliminary to bringing about  their amalgamation in the Jewish personality and the State of Israel.

B3y virtue of the  above-mentioned measures, about 20,000 Arab  students  in the City of Jerusalem are  forced and obliged to study the Israeli curriculum and the Hebrew history.  The  Israeli  educational programmes, are  rich with  Israeli   slogans such  as the Promised land"  and "The liberation of Palestine  from the Arabs". These programmes  are  devoid of any references to the history,  culture  and religion of the Arabs.  The  Israeli  educational programmes   forced upon Arab  students  in the occupied territories  aim to make the Arab  students believe in the pretensions  that 'Palestine'   is   Jewish  country since  ancient times,  in spite  of the historical facts  and realities that prove beyond any  doubt  that  "Palestine"   is Arab.

Furthermore,  the Israeli educational programmes tend to prepare the Arabs psychologically to  accept the  Israeli  expansionist  schemes to undermine Arab prestige,   to   shake Arab   self-confidence, to  exaggerate  the   Israeli  progress   in civilisation  and to minimize Arab progress   and advancement, with  a view to making the world believe that   Israel  carries  the  epistle  of culture  and   civilization in the  region.

Eighth:   the Judaization of official and Islamic judiciary

On the heels of the  Israeli occupation of Jerusalem on  7 June 1967, the Israeli  authorities  of occupation  closed down  all legal Arab  courts.   They removed the "High  Court  of Appeal"   from the City of Jerusalem to Ramallah.  They amalgamated the  courts  of peace  and the  courts  of first  instance  in Jerusalem with the  Israeli fcourts.     They  demanded of Arab judges  and employees to  submit  applications   for work with the  Israeli Law Ministry.  They thus terminated the official judiciary that lexisted in Arab Jerusalem and linked it  entirely to the Israeli judiciary.

The Arab  lawyers  refused to appear before Israeli official and military courts  and declared their refusal to recognize the  annexation of Jerusalem to Israel, while the judges  of the Moslem religious  courts  refused to  co-operate with the Israeli  authorities  of occupation.  In  consequence of this  stand, the authorities  of occupation  instructed all their organs   and bodies  to refrain  from the execution of any judgement or order emanating  from Moslem religious courts.   The authorities  ignored wholly any petitions  of complaint presented to them by the IfMoslem Waqf department  or by the  Chairman of the Moslem Committee in Jerusalem. The  said Committee was   formed after the occupation,  to attend to and advance Moslem affairs in Jerusalem and the West Bank.   The  ignoring by the  authorities  of the  decisions  and role  of the Moslem courts was  extended to the non-recognition of marriage  certificates,  the  judgements  and orders pertaining to divorce, inheritance, mandatory responsibility, Waqf and other matters of personal status  of the inhabitants,   including the  registration of births  resulting from a new wedlock. iThis   conduct  led to the  creation of many human  difficulties  and problems.

Ninth:  the exile of Arab citizens

Having carried out the plan of mass expulsion of Arabs, and having subjected the Arab  inhabitants  of Jerusalem to psychological, bodily and economic terrorism, the Israeli  authorities of occupation resorted to further heinous measures  to achieve the  Judaization of Jerusalem. With a view to evacuating the  city of its national and religious  leadership and weakening the Arab element in the city by depriving it   of technical  and artisan  capabilities,   of physicians,  engineers   and similar faculties,  the Israeli authorities  of occupation exiled the president of the Higher Moslem Committee,  the Mayor of Jerusalem, ex-ministers, notables  and deputies, physicians,  lawyers,   college  directors, teachers,  agriculturists   and journalists. The aim of the authorities underlying the  acts  of aggression and exile is to get  rid of some of the Arab political and popular leaders  and,  in general, weaken the  spirit of opposition and spread amongst the Arabs the   fear of being exiled.     By the means of exile,  the  authorities would avoid another problem,  namely, the problem of detention and imprisonment of some people.     The   continuous   detention  and imprisonment  of Arabs, without  any specific accusation or judgement,  give  rise to a great  consternation in the Arab world and local  and international pressure.     One other reason  for the  choice  of exile,  rather than detention or imprisonment,  is the feeling and knowledge  of the  authorities that the members  of the  families  of the persons  exiled will  soon  leave the  city and join them.

The manner in which the measure of exile is executed is inhuman and a violation of personal rights.  The person earmarked for exile is surprised after midnight by a visit of the soldiers who carry him away in a military vehicle and prevent him from taking with him any of the necessary personal clothes.  In some cases the person so exiled is thrown into the Jordanian side of the desert, from whence he has to walk to reach the nearest Jordanian "boundary post.  By the time he reaches the post he would be on the verge of death.

Tenth:  Arab citizens in the Israeli prisons

The treatment by the Israeli authorities of Arab prisoners and detainees, and the atrocities to which they are subjected, differ in no manner from the actions of the German Nazis during their occupation and domination of the peoples of Europe. The Israeli authorities apply several stern and harsh measures to break down the personality of the Arab citizen and his pride. They subject him to atrocious acts and brain-washing.

It was  established by the  International  Committee of the Red Cross  (ICRC) that the Israeli  authorities  of occupation resort to the usage of narcotics  and chemicals to  achieve their ends in their treatment  of Arab prisoners  and detainees.   The application of electrical  current  on prisoners  and compressing their organs  are an ordinary daily machination in Israeli  camps  of detention.   More than often news  emanates   from Israeli prisons,   carrying the omen of the  death of prisoners therein,  as  a result   of atrocities.  Over the last  decade,  35,000 Arabs were  sentenced or detained in the Israeli prisons.   People live in those prisons in a most bitter misery.   Sixty detainees  live in one small room.

Besides juass individual acts of detention which are  continuous  day and night, the  authorities pass mass  sentences  on  an entire  village or city.     They prevent the   delivery of food materials  to  such  a village or city.,   cut  off the  electrical current  from it,   and subject  it to  curfew orders.     The  Commission on Human Rights, an organ of the United nations , has   censured these barbarian  acts  and called upon Israel to  desist and refrain  from its practice.     The said Commission has  appointed a Committee  to  visit  the  Israeli prisons,   to inquire  into and investigate the hundreds  of complaints which have been  received by the  Commission on Human Rights and ICRC.     But  Israel  refused to receive the  appointed Committee and forbade its entry into the occupied territories,  on the premises that the matter violates Israeli  sovereignty.

Whatever is said about the Israeli prisons and the atrocious mistreatment of the Arabs therein, is still much less than the existing facts and realities. The news emanating from Israel, apropos of this question, is only a part of a whole.

Conclusion

The Israeli authorities of occupation were unable to achieve the minimum peaceful coexistence "between the Arab and Israeli occupations. Most of the Israeli Newspapers and many responsible Israelis have announced their recognition of this fact. As a result of the Arab determination to refuse the Israeli occupation, the city of Jerusalem has been transformed into what is equivalent to a prison for the Arab inhabitants.  They are being ceaselessly subjected to the plan of economic., Ipolitical and social strangulations, in addition to mass and individual acts of ietention perpetrated day and night by the authorities of occupation.

The confiscation of the lands around Jerusalem on the pretension that they are Itieeded for "public welfare"; the transformation of the remainder of Waqf property linto special zones and centres of antiquities, on the assumption of the organization j*of Jerusalem; the expulsion of thousands of Arab residents from the old city and Itheir replacement by 5,000 Jews; the endeavour of the Israelis to defend their •measures on the ground of the congestion of the population, on the one hand, and rthe alleged rights of Israel, on the other hand, which still needs a true jhistorical verdict, are all facts and ramifications that have carried the case of ; Jerusalem to the conscience of the world, and in particular to the conscience of 'Moslem and Christian peoples in the region. They have moved those peoples and , world conscience to protest and censure the goals of Israel and its inhuman ways 'and means to achieve its ends.  In spite of the fact that 10 years have elapsed

since the annexation of Jerusalem to Israel, the case of Jerusalem shall remain open before the international society.

The resolution adopted by Israel since the occupation, unifying the City of Jerusalem, was a void and an illegal political resolution.  It is now challenged and confronted by political resolutions from the world society, as well as by a continuous refusal thereof by those Moslem and Christian inhabitants of Jerusalem still living in the land of the Holy City.

SUPPLEMENT A

The Jewish, quarters surrounding the City of Jerusalem

Jewish quarters which encircle the Arab City of Jerusalem

* *** *