Last update - 02:39 12/08/2003
By Akiva
Eldar
Tzachi divides Jerusalem
The division of (Arab) Jerusalem is taking place like a military diversion. While the entire world is bothered by the question whether the separation fence goes east of Ariel or leaves out the large Samarian city, the real action is taking place in the south.
The first wave of new expropriation orders were handed out in East Jerusalem two weeks ago, just as Abu Mazen was making his way to the White House. The first order said a 2.3-kilometer fence would go up in the heart of Tsur Baher.
A cursory glance at the map shows that hundreds of Israeli residents - Palestinians, not Jews, it's almost unnecessary to say - will find themselves on the eastern side of the fence. Their jobs, schools, hospitals, relatives and neighbors will be on the other side, in the west.
A similar order expropriates 950 meters of Abu Dis, in Jerusalem's east. The third order makes do with two dunams from the neighborhood of Sheikh Sa'ad, which is outside the official jurisdiction of the Israeli capital, but the only road exiting the neighborhood is under in territory Israel claims as its own. A resident wanting to leave his neighborhood will need a special pass - or a donkey.
The next wave of expropriations arrived last week, at the same time reports began coming in that the U.S. is considering discounting investments in the fence from the loan guarantees that it is making available to the Israeli government. Two new orders announced the expropriations of land along a 6.5-km route near Azzariyeh and Abu Dis.
According to a security source involved in planning the "Jerusalem envelope," the expropriation orders are an indication that the government intends to use the fence to create a broad, contiguous corridor around all of East Jerusalem. The source said that the missing sections of the fence, those meant to cross Jerusalem inside the jurisdiction of the city are waiting for expropriation orders from Public Security Minister Tzachi Hanegbi.
The corridor is meant to go from Anata in the north to Ma'ale Adumim and Michmash in the east, and form there to Har Homa in the south all the way to Gilo. By the way, the Housing Ministry is about to issue tenders to contractors for another 500 housing units at Har Homa.
Apparently that's the prime minister's way to fulfill his commitments to the road map made at Aqaba, where he promised to avoid creating any facts that could predispose the outcome of negotiations for a final agreement.
In two to three months, all of southeast Jerusalem will be cut off from the West Bank and thus the "Jerusalem envelope" program will be complete. Those Arab neighborhoods that are in the way of the fence, like Anata, will be simply shoved out.
Others, like Abu Dis, Azzariyeh, A Zaim, and Hizme, will be turned into enclaves. This some 20,000 residents of Jerusalem "with blue identity cards" from the other side of the fence and thousands others will be closed up in ghettoes, cut off from their cultural, social, political, and economic hinterland in the West Bank.
Attorney Danny Zeidman, who was a member of the Jerusalem team put together by Ehud Barak has long been an observer of changes in Jerusalem and says that not since 1967 has there been such a dramatic change taking place in East Jerusalem - without any public debate. "In a few months, maybe weeks, the lives of thousands of East Jerusalemites and their neighbors will, on the best of days, be far worse than anything they experienced before the intifada," he says.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has just received an up to date report from his consulate in Jerusalem on the new expropriation orders and has asked the government for clarifications.
By the time Sharon explains how the new map of the city fits in with the principles of the road map - a credible process, preserving the status quo, freedom of movement for Palestinians, and territorial contiguity - Hanegbi can divide Jerusalem. Well, the Arab parts of Jerusalem, because that's allowed.