Amana Announces First East Jerusalem Settlement Project in Controversial Sheikh Jarrah Area

Amana, a prominent Israeli settler organization currently under British and Canadian sanctions, has proposed building 122 homes in the Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem, according to the Israeli nonprofit organization Ir Amim. This project would mark Amana’s first settlement initiative in the area, which has been a focal point of longstanding tensions between Israeli settlers and Palestinian residents.

The plan calls for the demolition of existing residential structures at the historic Shepherd Hotel compound to make way for a new 12-story development, while preserving the hotel building itself. The 1.4-acre site in northeastern Sheikh Jarrah is still in its early planning stages, with an initial hearing scheduled before Jerusalem’s Local Planning and Building Committee on November 11.

Aviv Tatarsky, a researcher at Ir Amim, explained that the Sheikh Jarrah proposal is part of a broader strategy by Israeli government entities, including the Ministry of Construction and Housing and the Jerusalem Development Authority, to construct thousands of homes for Israeli settlers rather than local Palestinian residents. According to Tatarsky, this systematic effort reflects a deliberate attempt to transform the neighborhood from a Palestinian community into an Israeli settlement.

The Shepherd Hotel property, historically linked to Jerusalem’s mufti, was originally owned by the Palestinian Husseini family before Israel’s Custodian of Absentee Property seized it. It was later transferred to Ateret Cohanim, a settler organization active in East Jerusalem, which constructed several dozen homes adjacent to the hotel that have remained unoccupied. Recent land registration processes have transferred portions of the property to the custodian and others to a company believed to be connected to Ateret Cohanim.

Amana’s involvement builds on its decades-long role in facilitating settlement expansion across the occupied West Bank, supported by Israeli government funding and collaboration with state authorities. The organization’s leader, Ze’ev Hever (known as Zambish), is a former member of the Jewish Underground, a group implicated in terrorist attacks against Palestinians during the 1980s. More recently, Amana has supported the establishment of settler-run herding outposts across the West Bank, which according to Peace Now have claimed control of approximately 247,000 acres in Area C, displacing Palestinian farmers and herders.

Source link