RAMALLAH, Tuesday, January 12, 2021 (WAFA) - The Higher Presidential Committee of Churches Affairs in the State of Palestine warned of the dangers of implementing projects of Judaization that are targeting the identity, history, and features of the Old City in East Jerusalem.

Ramzi Khoury, President of the committee and Director General of the Palestinian National Fund,  issued a statement regarding the settlement project, which came under the name “East Jerusalem City Center Plan No. 101-0465229” issued by the so-called District Planning and Building Committee in Occupied Jerusalem, changing the historical Arab, Islamic and Christian character of the Old City, in clear violation of all international resolutions related to the occupied city of Jerusalem, including UNESCO resolutions.

The committee called on all churches in Palestine and around the world to intervene and reject this project, which is a direct attack on the heart of Jerusalem, its neighborhoods, historic markets, streets, and landmarks, which affects 300,000 Palestinian citizens of East Jerusalem.

The committee indicated the need for Palestinian institutions to act and raise objections to this project before the end of the specified period ending on the 23rd of January 2021, to prevent the implementation of this plan, which comes as a continuation of the policies and procedures of Judaization, which will lead to more ethnic cleansing that is pursued by the occupying power since its occupation of the city in 1967.

The committee called on the international community and its institutions to condemn these projects and take practical steps to prevent their implementation, given that East Jerusalem is the occupied capital of Palestine according to international law and the Geneva Convention, which stipulates that the occupying power has no right to make changes to the occupied areas, which is currently seeking to change the features of the old city of Hebron under systematic campaigns.

T.R.