Settler monster is stealing Jerusalem’s authentic tale

As diplomatic envoys and politicians are trying to bring a ceasefire to Lebanon and possibly then to Gaza, the right-wing Israeli government is using this preoccupation with the north and the south to strengthen itself in the center.

Jerusalem, the jewel in the crown for the Palestinians, is witnessing an unprecedented and largely unreported campaign to make the Old City and the nearby surroundings more Israeli. While Israeli religious fanatics are looking to set foot in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound (possibly by taking over the Bab Al-Rahma Mosque area), the bigger campaigns are happening in Silwan and Musrara.

Silwan, which is the closest highly populated Palestinian housing area to Al-Aqsa, has been a target of the settler movement for years. Palestinian homes and centers are being demolished and replaced by Jewish settlers and institutions. Naturally, with every house taken over by the settlers, an army of guards, cameras and fences are created, taking over even more property.

In Silwan, Israel has delineated the nearest built-up area to the Old City of Jerusalem, Al-Bustan, and marked it for takeover using a variety of legal and administrative means. Among the homes and centers that the Israelis have demolished using a different legal justification was a cultural center that the French government had been supporting for years. Last week’s destruction of the center brought a quick and strong French response. French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine expressed concerns over the action, calling it “part of the Israeli colonization policy which is illegal under international law and threatens the two-state solution and the status of Jerusalem.”

Palestinian homes and centers are being demolished and replaced by Jewish settlers and institutions

Daoud Kuttab

Another location that has been the target of Israeli settler activity is the Musrara shopping area just outside the Damascus Gate. This area received a jolt when the Israeli authorities evicted a small coffee shop that had been operating in the same location for decades.

Castro Cafe in the Musrara neighborhood might not have been known to many Jerusalemites, although they must have passed by it on their way to or from the Old City. This modest cafe catered to customers who were either passing workers or people waiting for someone to call them to do a quick job. However, for many, it has now become symbolic of the Palestinians’ struggle for the city’s identity and its tolerant, pluralistic character, as opposed to the monolithic, intolerant character that dominates.

Mohammed Awda Castro had owned the small business in the Musrara neighborhood since 1954, when he rented it from the Jordanian government, which ruled East Jerusalem at the time. Castro says that, in 2010, an eviction order was issued by the Israeli authorities. After he appealed the eviction, the Israeli Central Court issued an order allowing him to remain, while denying him the tenant protection rights that apply to Jerusalem. But settlers, along with the Israeli authorities, continued to go to court to evict him from the cafe and they finally got what they wanted when the Supreme Court issued a decision to evict him.

This decision came after the General Custodian saw an opportunity to evict Castro because he was carrying out renovation work. With time and general weather conditions, the cafe’s walls had become dilapidated. Without realizing he needed to get a permit to fix the wall, Castro fell afoul of a legal loophole. Him carrying out renovation work without permission was considered sufficient justification to request his eviction.

After several legal battles, the Israeli High Court approved the eviction decision and, on Sunday, Israeli police came to the small cafe and took away all its contents in trucks. It is unclear who will take over the location, but the likely new tenant will be a settler, causing yet another point of provocation for all the other shops in the area.

The Israelis are rushing through their actions while the world is busy with the ceasefire talks in Lebanon and the war on Gaza

Daoud Kuttab

It is known that Musrara, which is considered the first entrance to the Old City, is a historical neighborhood. It is considered to be one of the first neighborhoods built outside the walls of the Old City after the Ottoman Empire allowed it in 1830. So, its buildings are characterized by the Ottoman architectural style, like in other neighborhoods that were built outside the Old City, such as Katamon and Sheikh Jarrah.

In the Roman era, the area was used as a slave market. It was also called the Aqbat Al-Manzel Road in the Ottoman period, as it connected Jerusalem and Hebron.

The Castro Cafe will not be the last of the shops, homes and centers to disappear from the areas outside the city walls. Israel is replacing an entire Jerusalemite Palestinian neighborhood with Jewish settlers.

Along with the campaign against Silwan, the Israelis are rushing through their actions while the world is busy with the ceasefire talks in Lebanon and the war on Gaza. With these actions, it is not only physical buildings that will disappear, but also the story of a city struggling over its narrative. Jerusalem will lose its authentic tale in the face of this monster coming toward it with the clear aim of changing it, literally under Palestinian feet and in front of their own eyes.

The overarching Israeli goals are completely divorced from the natural development that most cities witness. The lesson is primarily aimed at the Palestinian people of Jerusalem — namely that the city they would like to see as their capital will never be theirs.

• Daoud Kuttab is an award-winning Palestinian journalist and former Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University. X: @daoudkuttab