Local Planning and Building Committee in the Israeli municipality in Jerusalem began working on implementing the second phase of the “light rail” project which aims at linking the eastern and western parts of Jerusalem with a private Israeli transportation network and dividing its neighborhoods.

This Judaization project comes primarily within the framework of a large and dangerous Israeli plan aiming at judaizing Jerusalem, imposing the force of its occupation, and attempting to change its Islamic and Arab character and its cultural face.

According to the occupation municipality, the project is considered one of the most important projects that link the transportation network for Jerusalem with all parts of the Israeli entity through the light and large trails, as Jerusalem will be linked to Tel Aviv, Jaffa, and Haifa in the north, while, at the same time, linking the settlements with the Holy City to each other.

Project details

The project includes three phases, the first, which starts from the Shuafat area to the western part of Jerusalem near Ein Karem, was completed ten years ago, as researcher in Jerusalem affairs, Fakhry Abu Diab, said.

Abu Diab told Safa that the second phase of the project starts from the town of Issawiya, the French Hill settlement and near the Hebrew University, and reaches the western part of Jerusalem, passing through the Talpiot industrial zone to Beit Safafa and up to the Gilo settlement southwest of the city.

The length of the light trail, in its second phase, will extend over a distance of 22 kilometers, and 47 stations will be established along the so-called green line, which will meet with the regular train to transport settlers from Jerusalem to the Palestinian coast.

The aim of the new railway line is to link settlements in the north and the south of Jerusalem through a network of transportation aiming at flooding the city with settlers and facilitating their movement, as it represents an important link for the Israeli entity, according to Abu Diab.

Israel, through its plans, is working to impose what is called the unified Jerusalem project, and it is the eternal capital of the Jews. Therefore, its Judaization projects begin by linking the eastern part of the city to its western part, so that there is no separation between them.

This project is part of the strategic roads system that extend from north to south of Jerusalem to serve the general settlement project.

According to the project, changes will be applied to traffic and parking arrangements in the Gilo settlement, as part of the construction work of the so-called Green Line of the Light Rail.

The Israeli municipality said that it is preparing to complete this new line as soon as possible, as it would implement the government's plan to connect the settlements, expecting that, by 2023, all settlers in Gilo will be eligible to use the light trail.

Tearing up the neighborhoods

The implementation of the second phase of the light trail project will lead to the division of Arab Jerusalem neighborhoods, changing the features of the city, and confiscating thousands of dunams of citizens lands and homes, especially in Issawiya, Beit Safafa and many neighborhoods, as well as penetrating this line to the main roads in City.

This will greatly affect the traffic flow and the Arab transportation companies in Jerusalem, which have thousands of Jerusalemite workers, and may lead to the suspension of their work, which will further hold the Jerusalem economy back.

The occupation authorities had confiscated thousands of dunams of Jerusalemites lands in Shuafat, Al-Misrara and Beit Hanina, in order to establish the first phase of the light trail.

This Judaization project will threaten the security of Jerusalemites as a result of the intensive deployment of the occupation forces and settlers security guards in the area, which will lead to more arrests and violations.

As for the third phase of the project, which is called the Brown Line, it will start from Sur Baher and Jabal Al Mukaber in the south, passing through the town of Silwan, Ras Al Amoud and Sheikh Jarrah, to Beit Hanina and "Atarout" in the north. It will also include the seizure of thousands of dunams and homes.

Abu Diab stresses that the Israeli government allocates billions of dollars to transform Jerusalem into a different architectural, civilizational, and cultural character, and to create aspects that are far from the Arab, Islamic, and historical values of the city.