The problem inherent in the proposed development of "Har Homah" (Jabal Abu Ghaneim) can only be understood in the broad context in which the construction is planned. This background is explained at length in B'Tselem's report, "A Policy of Discrimination: Land Expropriation, Planning and Building in Jerusalem," the summary and other segments of which are presented here.

1. Since the annexation of East Jerusalem in 1967, the Israeli government has adopted a policy of systematic and deliberate discrimination against the Palestinian population in Jerusalem in all matters relating to land expropriation, planning, and building.

2. Examination of municipal documents and statements made by city policy makers indicates that Jerusalem's urban development is based, first and foremost, on national-political considerations. One central goal has dictated municipal planning policy: to create a demographic and geographic reality that will preempt any future effort to challenge Israeli sovereignty in East Jerusalem.

3. The Israeli authorities promote extensive building for Jewish neighborhoods, at an enormous investment, in the annexed area. At the same time, by their acts and omissions, the Israeli authorities choke development and building for the Palestinian population, who are perceived as a "demographic threat" to Israeli control of the city.

4. The means to ensure demographic control include, inter alia:

* Land Expropriation: Seventy thousand dunams [70 km2] were annexed to the Jerusalem Municipality after the Six-Day War. Since then, 23,500 dunams, more than one-third of the area annexed, has been expropriated pursuant to the Lands Ordinance (Acquisition for Public Purposes), 1943. Since no land-settlement arrangement was in effect for most of the expropriated property, no exact records of the owners' identity exist. However, the data available to B'Tselem indicate that the majority of the expropriated land was privately owned by Arabs.

The land expropriation policy in East Jerusalem has over the years been pursued exclusively for the benefit of the Jewish population; the housing shortage and the basic urban needs of the city's Palestinian population have been ignored. The expropriations have significantly reduced the amount of land held by Palestinians, and the housing shortage among Palestinians in the city has increased. On the expropriated lands in East Jerusalem some 38,500 housing units have been built for Jews, but not one housing unit was for the Palestinian population.

* Town Planning Schemes: The planning authorities prepared town planning schemes which, instead of contributing to the development of these neighborhoods and easing the residents' housing shortage, served, in reality, as an additional means - legal and efficient - to limit development, reduce the areas designated for Palestinian building, and strengthen Jewish control in every part of the city.

5. This policy severely affects the housing shortage facing the Palestinian population, which currently constitutes about 28% of the city's population.

* Construction

- Some 64,870 dwellings, constituting some 88% of all housing units, built since 1967 were for the Jewish population (about one-half of them by public construction).

- Some 8,890 dwellings, constituting some 12% of all the housing units, were built for the Palestinian population (the large majority by private construction).

Since 1990, the gap in construction of housing units for Jews and Palestinians has widened:

- Of the 11,602 housing units whose construction was completed between 1990 and 1994, only 565 units, constituting 4.8 percent of those built during that period, were built in Palestinian neighborhoods.

- Of the 2,233 housing units completed in 1994, only 98 units, constituting 4.4 percent of all the housing units constructed that year, were built in Palestinian neighborhoods.

* Housing Density

At the end of 1993, the average housing density of the Jewish population was 1.1 persons per room, whereas the average housing density for the Palestinian population was 2.2 persons per room. This gap is twice as large as the gap in housing density that existed in 1967.

6. Housing Needs

Planners and architects expert in planning the city's Palestinian neighborhoods estimate that the housing shortage among the Palestinian population exceeds 20,000 housing units.

7. The High Court of Justice and "Har Homah" In 1994 the Israeli High Court of Justice was called upon to address the discriminatory expropriation policy in East Jerusalem, in the form of a petition filed by attorney Daniel Seidemann on behalf of residents of two Arab neighborhoods, Umm Tuba and Bet Sahur, and of the Israeli organization IrShalem. The petition concerned the land expropriated in April of 1991 to build a new Jewish neighborhood, to be known as "Har Homah".

The petition argued that the policy of expropriations in East Jerusalem since 1967 is illegal, since it benefits only the Jewish population:

"Although the Arab residents [of Jerusalem] are among the "public" whose property is vulnerable to expropriation (at a far higher risk than that faced by the Jewish population), they have never been included among the "public" that is entitled to benefit from the fruits of expropriation or its purposes. Maliciously or not, this concept of the term "the public" falls in the category of cognitive dissonance. In other words, the public on whom these "obligations" are imposed is made up (mainly) of Arab residents, whereas the public to which the "rights" accrue - those who will enjoy the fruits of the expropriation - is always composed exclusively of Jews. The expropriations are always in East Jerusalem, and in the majority of cases, the land was owned by Arabs, yet the expropriations are always intended to serve the Jewish population and have never had the purpose of meeting the housing needs of Jerusalem's Arab residents." The petition cites many statements by policy makers proving that the expropriation is clearly intended for a Jewish neighborhood. For example, Shimon Peres, the Finance Minister at the time, said in December, 1989 that the expropriation had "a dual national mission of fortifying Jerusalem and absorbing mass immigration." In March, 1994, during a discussion of the subject by the Knesset's Finance Committee, the director of the Housing Ministry's Jerusalem District, Ms. Rina Zamir, stated:

"The hill is situated in the southeast of Jerusalem... which is a completely exposed corner in terms of Jewish settlement and Jewish neighborhoods... It became clear that it was necessary to establish another Jewish neighborhood at that specific location." The petition also quotes from several documents dealing with the expropriation which reflect an approach that ignores the Palestinians' need for the expropriated land. For example, in the state's reply to a previous petition to the High Court on the same expropriation, Har Homah was described as "an independent unit, divorced from Jerusalem's other neighborhoods." In his letter, Peres said Har Homah was necessary "to close a gap in the urban space in the city's southeast." The petition argued, with reference to these and other documents, that:

"Har Homah can be seen as an area divorced from Jerusalem's neighborhoods only if the true meaning of the term "neighborhood" is "Jewish neighborhood." Har Homah is adjacent to an Arab neighborhood in Jerusalem, Umm Tuba, and in part constitutes the only land reserve available to the residents of that neighborhood." The court refused to deal with the contention that the expropriated land was earmarked for Jews exclusively, accepting the state's argument that the area's designation had not yet been decided. Since the expropriation was being done for a public purpose, the court rejected the petition:

"The question of populating the area is not relevant at this stage. As the respondents' answer notes, no criteria or restrictions have as yet been determined regarding the area's population. The question at issue at this stage is whether the finance minister was justified in appropriating the expropriated area for the public purpose underlying the expropriation, that is, in order to ensure the building of a residential neighborhood there. After it became clear that the expropriation was required in order to realize that public purpose, this is sufficient for the petition to be rejected. The time and place for any argument against the criteria that will be determined for populating the residential neighborhood to be built on the expropriated area is not in the petition against the expropriation." The court's reasoning is questionable: the state's argument that criteria for populating the neighborhood have yet to be determined and that "no restrictions have been set in this connection" is without foundation. The intention to build a Jewish neighborhood on the expropriated land is evident from official documents of the Jerusalem municipality and from statements by cabinet ministers included in the petition. In addition to these items, there are numerous proofs, not included in the petition, of the authorities' plans to build a Jewish neighborhood in this area. As early as July of 1991, two months after the formal announcement of the finance minister's decision to expropriate the area to build a residential neighborhood, the municipality published a document stating: "The forecasted growth of the Jewish population will occur primarily in four centers... Har Homah - 7,500 housing units with 27,000 inhabitants."

Thus, at the time of IrShalem's petition, there was no doubt as to the identity of the future population of Har Homah. Perhaps at the time of the hearing the precise criteria for populating the neighborhood had not been set, but the only real question was which type of Jewish population would reside there. This is clear from remarks made by Teddy Kollek at a Municipal Council meeting in September, 1993 to Mr. Avraham Kahillah, at that time the chairman of the Local Planning and Building Committee:

"[I want to comment on] what the Housing Ministries did not do during the past 12 years. They did not build for young people, or for new immigrants, or for discharged soldiers, and the fact is that because of that we are losing 7,000 or 8,000 more Jews who leave here every year, because around Jerusalem, or in its environs - now they are building on the road to Tel Aviv - the apartments are cheaper. We want Jerusalem to become stronger. And I am very much concerned that Har Homah will also be this kind of construction; and if it will be so expensive, then I am not sure I am enthusiastic about its being built. I want you to make sure that the conditions of the building there will be such that youngsters who have completed army service, young couples, new immigrants will be in a situation to purchase flats. That is the only thing that will bring more Jews to Jerusalem." The rejection of this petition is one more step in the discriminatory policy of land expropriation in East Jerusalem. The court, which was here asked for the first time to redress this discriminatory policy, refused to do so, thus placing a judicial seal of approval on such practices. The burning problem regarding housing in East Jerusalem is not the need to settle Jews on expropriated land to achieve political goals. The problem that must be solved is the severe housing shortage among East Jerusalem Palestinians, a problem resulting from Israel's long-term policy of discrimination and attempts to force Palestinians to leave the city.

B'Tselem urges the Israel government to stop this policy. The authorities must develop and implement building plans in general, and public building in particular, for the Palestinians. They must also annul the 1991 expropriation designated for building the Jewish neighborhood "Har Homah" or, alternatively, build a new Palestinian neighborhood on that land.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

B'Tselem is an Israeli independent, non-governmental organization established in 1989 to monitor human rights violations in the Occupied Territories. B'Tselem publishes reports, conducts advocacy campaigns, engages in public education and serves as a resource center.

B'TSELEM: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories 43 Emek Refaim St. Jerusalem 93141 Tel. 972-2-561-7271 Fax. 972-2-561-0756 e-mail: btselem@actcom.co.il web site: http://www.btselem.org