The New Imperial Hotel, Jaffa Gate, Jerusalem. (Wikimedia Commons)

I must confess that what triggered me to address the creeping encroachment of settlers deep into Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem was not only the fact that this is unashamedly part of an ongoing plan to thwart any possibility that parts of the city will become the capital of an independent Palestinian state. This particular time it was the visit last week of officials from Israel’s Supreme Court to the New Imperial Hotel in Jaffa Gate with the sole purpose of serving an eviction notice against the Dajani family, which has managed the establishment since 1948.

The eviction notice was served following a ruling last month that the disputed 2005 sale of this historic 40-room hotel to one of the most radical settler organizations, Ateret Cohanim, was valid. It might be valid in the eyes of Israeli law and the judges but, since it is occupied land, it is not valid according to international law. Moreover, the immorality of this act is alarming and the wisdom of it extremely questionable.

As recently as last October, I stayed in this hotel and enjoyed the most wonderful hospitality of the Dajani family and the rest of the welcoming staff. The years that have elapsed since it was built in the 19th century by the Greek Orthodox Church have not taken anything away from its grandeur, and have probably added to it. Although the management has changed several times over the years, it has been managed continuously by the Dajanis — first by Mohammed Dajani, the father of current manager Walid — for more than 70 years, and they have been renting it from the church. Strategically located in Jaffa Gate, it is at the entrance to the Armenian and Christian quarters and set away from the Jewish area. It leads to the Old City’s labyrinth of alleyways that are lined with Palestinian shops and restaurants, which constitute the very nature of Jerusalem’s Palestinian social landscape.

Organizations such as Ateret Cohanim, which runs a yeshiva and settles Jews in the Old City and East Jerusalem, are exploiting both the economic predicament of Palestinians and, in some cases, the greed of individuals to execute their strategic aim of changing the demographic balance in the Old City in favor of the Jewish community. In the short run, it is more a case of provocation, establishing precedents and normalizing the purchase of property from Palestinians.

An investigation by the Israeli daily Haaretz revealed that most of the donations to another organization with similar aims, Elad, have come from companies registered in global tax shelters like the Bahamas, Virgin Islands and Seychelles, and it is unclear who controls them. Similarly, the purchase of the New Imperial Hotel and the nearby Petra Hotel was done through a shell company registered in the Virgin Islands, all in the name of “Judaizing” East Jerusalem in its entirety. These zealot Jewish nationalist and religious movements thrive on conflict and discord, not only with the Palestinians but the entire world, believing that God is on their side.

The case of the New Imperial Hotel is especially worrying, as it has all the hallmarks not only of the Israeli government and the settler movement in all its shades, with their determination to ensure that Palestinians will never enjoy self-rule even in parts of Jerusalem, but also of the Israeli courts’ role. If, in the past, Palestinians could find some remedy for their predicament with the Israeli Supreme Court when their very basic rights were violated by Israeli authorities and settlers, this recourse seems to be a quickly diminishing possibility.
Zealot Jewish nationalist and religious movements thrive on conflict and discord, not only with the Palestinians but the entire world.

Yossi Mekelberg

Meanwhile, not all is well with the Greek Orthodox Church in Palestine and how it runs its vast real estate portfolio. Yet, from the very beginning of this purchase, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem has claimed that the deal was illegal. And, when news of the sale of both properties to Ateret Cohanim was released, it provoked an instant uproar in the church, ending in the unprecedented dismissal of then-Patriarch Irineos Skopelitis.

The very idea that anyone in their right mind, or anyone with even a shred of integrity, would sell any building in such a strategic location with all its historical importance and symbolism was unconvincing from the outset. If the Dajanis are to be evicted, not only will it be the sad end of an era but, worse, instead of a place that welcomes people from all corners of the world regardless of religion or ethnicity, the hotel will be confined to religious Jews only.

Furthermore, the battle of the New Imperial Hotel against its takeover by Jewish settlers is not the only one of its kind. Last month, the Jerusalem District Court rejected an appeal filed by the Siyam family, Palestinian residents of the Silwan neighborhood, and ruled that the family would be evicted from its apartment and neighboring shop and yard for the benefit of settlers of the Elad association. The family’s failed, costly, two-decade battle to save their home was labeled by the Israeli human rights and peace organization Peace Now as a symbolic loss for one of the main leaders of Silwan, Jawad Siyam, a social worker who has established community centers for children and families and who is “someone considered a pillar of the community and a defender of the defenseless in the face of the pressure from settlers and the authorities.”

When one adds this to the Israeli courts’ recent approval of the demolition of a cluster of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem’s Sur Baher due to their proximity to the security wall, the inevitable conclusion is that Palestinians are wasting their time and money if they look for justice in Israeli courts.

Israel’s main concern for its security shouldn’t be about how close Palestinians are to the security wall, but about the resentment, hurt and even hatred that its actions inflame among those it is leaving without homes and/or livelihoods. It is the maltreatment of innocent citizens that, in the cases of the New Imperial, Sur Baher and Silwan, is posing a genuine threat to Israel; and it is a threat that is self-inflicted.

Yossi Mekelberg is professor of international relations at Regent’s University London, where he is head of the International Relations and Social Sciences Program. He is also an associate fellow of the MENA Program at Chatham House. He is a regular contributor to the international written and electronic media. Twitter: @YMekelberg

Content retrieved from: https://www.arabnews.com/node/1533051.