Israel has continued to expand its ethnic cleansing of Palestinians this week as forced evictions continue to pose a risk to indigenous families in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah.
Israel has continued its crackdown on Palestinians outside the Old City of Jerusalem during Laylat Al-Qadr, one of the holiest nights of the fasting month of Ramadan, as tens of thousands of Muslims prayed at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said up to 90 people were injured on Saturday. This is in addition to 200 injuries reported on Friday after Israeli forces stormed the holy Al-Aqsa mosque and fired rubber bullets and stun grenades at Palestinians.
خلال اتصالي بأخي فخامة الرئيس محمود عباس أكدت له موقف قطر الثابت والداعم للشعب الفلسطيني الشقيق لنيل حقوقه الوطنية مع تنديدنا الشديد بالاعتداءات المتكررة لقوات الاحتلال الإسرائيلي على المدنيين العزل والمصلين في المسجد الأقصى المبارك، كما شددت على أهمية وحدة الصف الفلسطيني والعربي
— تميم بن حمد (@TamimBinHamad) May 8, 2021
Qatar’s Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani also condemned Israel’s attacks on Friday, calling for immediate international action.
“We strongly condemn the Israeli occupation forces’ storming of the courtyards of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and their brutal assault on worshipers in these virtuous days. We call on the international community to take immediate action to protect Palestinians and their holy sites,” said Al Thani in a tweet.
“Permission [to fight] has been granted to those for they have been wronged. Verily Allah has the power to help them,” the verse states.
“Dear leaders! Save Jerusalem, for it is the core of the Arab Palestinian Islamic cause. The issue does not require a summit or statements of denunciations as we are used to doing. Instead, Jerusalem needs serious action to stop this Israeli recklessness supported by your silence,” he said.
“Social media has been a tool to empower, bring justice and be the voice for the oppressed. This week we’ve seen it silencing and censoring the truth,” she said in an Instagram post.
Meanwhile, Qatar Youth Opposed to Normalisation [QAYON], an independent local youth body known for speaking up against any attempts at normalising with Israel, called on the members of the Shura Council to issue a statement expressing their rejection of the current attacks in Jerusalem.
“We, as the Qatar Youth Group Against Normalisation, are calling on the members of the Shura Council to issue a statement expressing the popular rejectionist position on what is happening in the occupied territories of Jerusalem by the [Israeli] occupation due to their responsibility towards the Qatari people and their representation, especially with regard to our clear and firm stance on the issue,” the group said in a Twitter thread.
QAYON also tapped into the threat of normalisation with Israel and urged for a full boycott of the country.
“The desecration of holy sites does not awaken the ummah, nor the abuse freedom moves the soul. During the days we were the best ummah, armies responded to the cry of a Muslim woman,” said Al-Harami.
Weekend attacks
The escalations began on Friday when Israeli forces violently dispersed a peaceful vigil by unarmed Palestinians at the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. The demonstrators were protesting the ethnic cleansing of the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood.
At least 205 Palestinians were injured during the Friday attacks, with Israel justifying its actions as a “response to violence” who had reportedly hurled rocks and other objects at the occupying forces.
On Saturday, Israeli troops stormed homes belonging to Palestinians, beating them up before detaining them.
As of now, up to 550 people are at risk of being forcibly evicted in Sheikh Jarrah, a neighbourhood that is home to 3,000 Palestinians, all of whom are refugees that were forced out of their homes in Palestine during the Nakba in 1948. The native population has resisted settlers since 1972.
Israeli authorities have been attempting to implement what it describes as a “demographic balance” in Jerusalem at a 70-30 ratio by illegally limiting the Palestinian population.
Gaining full control of Sheikh Jarrah would also place more obstacles to mobility for Palestinians.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs [OCHA], Israeli authorities demolished, forced people to demolish, or seized up to 292 Palestinian-owned structures across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem in the first quarter of 2021 alone. This led to the displacement of 450 Palestinians, of which 246 are children.
The numbers recorded in the first quarter of this year present a 121% increase in attacks against Palestinian structures and 126% in displacements.
On a monthly average, settler forces have demolished 97 structures, a 37% increase in comparison to 2020 numbers.
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