December 7, 2010

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Statistics published by the land research center of the Arab studies society stated that Israel have demolished 995 Palestinian homes and displaced 5,783 individuals, including 3,109 children in occupied Jerusalem since the start of 2000.

These data was published in a book issued on Monday by the center under the title "Jerusalem under occupation."

According to the book, the Israeli demolition of structures in the "western" part of Jerusalem is confined to walls, garages and cottages.

Since Israel occupied the "eastern" part of Jerusalem in 1967 and until 1984, it has not issued construction permits to any Palestinians, but afterwards it issued only 33 permits in 2008 and 2009, researcher Waleed Habbas said in the book.

The researcher pointed out that 34 settlements have been constructed since 1967, and there is only 12 percent of the land in east Jerusalem for Palestinians, while 38 percent for the Israeli settlements and 50 percent is green areas reserved for the building and expansion of settlements.

He also gave brief information about the history of demolition, saying that 16 out of 19. 5 square kilometers were occupied at the end of the British occupation in 1948, while 39 Palestinian villages were erased and 98, 000 Jerusalemites were displaced.

In 1967, Israel destroyed three Palestinian villages in addition to Ash-Sharaf neighborhood in the old city of Jerusalem and annexed 71 square kilometers to what is known now as the boundary of the Israeli municipality.

In another context, the secretariat of the Arab League called on everyone invited to the ceremony which the Israeli government intends to hold in east Jerusalem on the occasion of the Christmas to boycott this event that represents a clear violation of international law.

The Arab League warned that attending this event would encourage the Israeli occupation to persist in its violations of international law that considers east Jerusalem an occupied territory, saying this Israeli step poses a threat to the peace and stability in the region.

The Arab League also hailed in its statement the governments of Brazil and Argentina for recognizing the Palestinian state within the borders of June 1967.