Bimkom and Ir Amim's joint analysis paper examines the current status and dire ramifications of the State of Israel’s formal registration of land ownership in East Jerusalem. Officially known as “settlement of land title (SOLT),” this state-led process in East Jerusalem is being carried out unimpeded in an alarming fashion.
Data collected over the past five years reveal that these procedures are being exploited as a new and potent tool of land theft. It appears to have become a new mechanism to expand and finalize state and settler appropriation of territory across East Jerusalem, while increasing the threat of Palestinian dispossession and displacement.
In 2018, the Israeli government allocated 50 million NIS to formally implement the process in East Jerusalem as part of Government Decision 3790 to “Reduce Socioeconomic Gaps and Advance Economic Development in East Jerusalem.” The absence of registered land rights for Palestinians has been one of the primary obstacles to advancing formal urban development in East Jerusalem. Certain workarounds emerged over the decades, but the process of obtaining building permits has remained extremely difficult. Although the SOLT process was depicted as a measure to rectify this situation, it rather serves as a guise under which Israel is seizing more land in East Jerusalem for Jewish settlement, while curtailing any possible establishment of Palestinian rights to their lands.
According to the data, SOLT is almost exclusively being initiated to finalize ownership rights in existing or planned Israeli settlements, settler enclaves in the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods, areas with state-deemed “absentee property,” or lands allegedly owned by Jews before 1948. Of the various examples cited in the paper, one of the most alarming is in Wadi Hilwe, Silwan where the process is underway in 15 blocs. Wadi Hilwe has been targeted for decades and has become the hub of the Elad settler group. The blocs appear to have been deliberately drawn to include most of the settler homes and tourist sites, including the City of David archeological sites and the plot intended for Elad’s massive Kedem Center opposite the Old City Walls. Some of these blocs also include Palestinian homes, now at extreme risk of dispossession. For more details, see the full paper.
Based on monitoring conducted by Ir Amim and Bimkom, as of today, the SOLT process has been initiated in 201 blocs with the overwhelming majority directly designated for state/settler benefit. Of the 22 blocs in which the SOLT process has been completed, 90% advance state/settler interests. Thus far, there is not a single bloc undergoing SOLT that is clearly for the benefit of Palestinian residents. Moreover, the workarounds that had once enabled Palestinians to self-initiate plans and/or request building permits have been canceled and replaced with stringent requirements in line with SOLT, making urban planning and building virtually impossible. This only exacerbates the already existing housing injustice in East Jerusalem due to systematic suppression of residential development in Palestinian areas, juxtaposed with the heightened acceleration in Israeli settlement advancements.
Beyond the humanitarian consequences, the settlement of land title process is a flagrant violation of International Law and has severe geopolitical ramifications. Once this process has been completed, little to no avenues will remain to dispute state or settler ownership of land or to advance Palestinian claims to properties within East Jerusalem. Settlement of land title likewise carries the grave potential to determine the end game of the conflict by cementing Israeli control of East Jerusalem and foreclosing the possibility of an agreed political resolution on the city. We therefore call for an immediate end to the settlement of land title process in East Jerusalem.
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