PASSIA: Jerusalem Chronology

1994

Jan. 1: Arnona tax collectors raid the boutique of Al-Qaysi on Salah Eddin Street and confiscate goods for non-payment of NIS 10,000.
Jan. 6: Israeli border patrols kill Imad Kallab, 20, near Shufat RC after a stabbing of an Israeli soldier in East Jerusalem.
Jan. 1994: The Israeli High Court drops the case of the Palestinian anti-arnona committee demanding that arnona should not be the same in West and East Jerusalem, given the different levels of income.
- Israeli authorities uproot 150 olive trees in Qattana to build a road.
- Israeli authorities confiscate over 10,000 dunums in the OPT, mainly in the Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Ramallah area.
Feb. 18: After a raid by IDF, Ratib Ghoshi from Hizma dies of heart attack.
Feb. 23: Right-wing Israelis prepare to launch a raid on Orient House, accusing the Palestinians of surreptitiously converting Orient House into a government headquarter. Police Min. Moshe Shahal says the Israeli police "will not hesitate to raid Orient House if they are sure of its illicit activities."
Feb. 24: Abu Dis witnesses large-scale Israeli fire power as the army ambushes two Palestinians who allegedly had participated in the killing of 9 Israelis over the last months. In the 10-hour gun battle Mohammad Abd a-Rahman, 23, is killed and Ahmed Amoudi, 19, injured. A curfew is imposed on Abu Dis, restricting also the residents of neighbouring Izzariyeh and Sawahreh to their homes.
Feb. 25: Israeli soldiers shoot dead Amjad Shaheen, 17, in the Dome of the Rock after clashes erupted in protest of the Hebron massacre. Several others are injured.
Feb. 26: Israeli forces shoot dead Fadi Tareq Ahmad Mustafa, 17, in Issawiyeh, during confrontations following the Hebron massacre.
Feb. 27: Settler group Ateret Cohanim rampages through the Old City, smashing Palestinian cars and property. Subsequent clashes leave several Palestinians injured.
Feb. 1994: Israeli authorities tighten restrictions for Palestinians to enter Jerusalem, do not renew entry permits even for doctors, teachers etc.
- Mayor Olmert denies a permit to construct a school for the disabled in Sheikh Jarrah.
- A delegation from the Jewish-US B'nai B'reith group meets with a Palestinians at Orient House to discuss the peace process.
- 7 Israeli extremists try to pray in Al-Aqsa Mosque but were eventually ordered to leave by the police accompanying them.
March 2: Palestinian photographer Awad Awad is shot in his leg while performing his work in Jerusalem. March 16: Israeli authorities bulldoze a 12-dunum plot in alJib, belonging to ad-Duqqa family and planted with olive trees, to expand Givat Ze'ev settlement.
March 18: An Israeli settler who allegedly felt threatened kills Abdel-Rahman Hamash, 44, of Dheishe RC, near Gilo settlement.
March 20: WJM officials raid the Sanitary Tools shop in East Jerusalem seizing goods and demanding $15,000 property tax.
March 26: The WJM announces the plans for the new settlement "Har Homa" (2,500 housing units) on Jabel Abu Ghneim, involving Um Tuba and Sur Baher land.
March 29: Clashes erupt in the Old City as a group of Israeli extremists led by Gershon Solomon stage a march which intends to enter the Al-Haram Al-Sharif compound. At least 5 Palestinians injured.
March 1994: The WJM raids the Assassia residence near the Old City’s Jaffa Gate, confiscating furniture and appliances and demanding NIS 1,5 million in back arnona for the family's tile factory that is closed for 10 years.
- Israeli authorities announce the intensification of the closure for the upcoming Jewish Pessah holiday.
April 2: Israeli soldiers arrest two boys (14+15 years) at Damascus Gate for chasing a settler who had pulled a banana stalk from their cart, stumped on and ruining it.
April 3: Doctors, hospital staff and health institutions demonstrate at Dahiat al-Barid checkpoint in protest of being denied access to Jerusalem. 65% of East Jerusalem’s hospitals staff come from the OPT.
April 9: Israeli forces close Al-Hakawati National Theatre.
- Rabin prevents Hebron University from holding a conference on "30 Years Since the Establishment of the PLO" on April 8-10th in the Ambassador Hotel in Jerusalem.
April 11: An Israeli settler shoots dead Fatima Khalaife, 18, in the 3rd months pregnant, in her house in Al-Jib. According to eyewitnesses the settler opened fire randomly as he passed the village in his car.
April 23: In a secret meeting between Rabin and Clinton both sides agree that Jerusalem is and remains the capital of Israel.
April 27/28: On 27th April, the Palestinian Centre for the Dissemination of Alternative Information (Panorama) in East Jerusalem, and on 28th the Al-Quds College for Law hold a conference on the issue of Jerusalem. Both focus on suggestions for Palestinian strategies in defense of Arab Jerusalem and insist that no changes be made in the city before the final status is negotiated (according to the DoP)
April 1994: Israel institutes a complete closure of the OPT cancelling all entry permits for Jerusalem as needed security guarantee after recent military attacks against Israel.
- A poll issued by the Dahav Institute says 71% of Israelis did not go to the Wailing Wall in 1993.
- 380 dunums of Beit Hanina and Shufat land is seized as part of a plan ("project no. 3774") to complete construction of Route No. 1 linking north and south Jerusalem.
- The WJM plans to confiscate 64 dunums of land in Sheikh Jarrah and Wadi Joz to tie Ramat Eshkol settlement to Hebrew University and Ma'ale Adumim in the east.
- The General Federation of Palestinian Workers in the West Bank and Israeli peace activists demonstrate at Dahiet al-Barid checkpoint against the ongoing siege.
May 9: Israel celebrates "Jerusalem Day" stressing the manifest of its unwillingness to rediscuss the status of the city. Jerusalem is sealed off and the military presence is significantly increased.
- At the meeting of the Multilateral Working Group on Refugees in Cairo, Palestinian efforts to raise problems of family reunification in Jerusalem are met by strong Israeli opposition referring that this is to be discussed in the final status negotiation only.
May 10: In Johannesburg, Arafat calls for a Jihad to liberate Jerusalem. PM Rabin calls it a clear violation of the peace process and the Jerusalem city council responds by reiterating that Jerusalem is Israel's and will always will be it.
May 11: Israeli soldiers arrest Iman Abu al-Hayyat, 15, and her cousin Najla Abu Shusheh, 14, near the Wailing Wall where they had gone for a picnic, what was interpreted as a terrorist raid. The girls, after being taken to al-Moskabiya prison, beaten and verbally abused, signed confessions in Hebrew, a language neither reads.
May 19: Armed settlers raid Dargath Mosque in the Old City as Muslims were praying inside on the first day of the Eid al-Adha holiday.
May 28: PA announces its political programme reaffirming East Jerusalem as indivisible part of the OPT and the importance to liberate it.
May 31: Israeli undercover units execute unarmed Zuheir Radwan Farrah, 30, and Abd al-Men'en Mohammed Naji, 25 on a street in Al-Ram as they were wanted by Israel for killing Shabak leader Naom Cohen on February 13th.
May 1994: The WJM demolish the house of Ahmad Totonji in Beit Hanina, home to 20, for being built without a permit.
- Samuel Meir, Deputy Mayor of West Jerusalem and member of the extremist National Religious Party, says he will reward whoever kills Arafat and declare the person a "Honorary Citizen of Jerusalem". Israeli MK Hanan Porat suggests that upon Arafat's arrival Israeli shops should close and people should demonstrate in Jerusalem.
- Orient House, PECDAR and the Palestinian Environmental Protection Authority are ordered by Israel to move to autonomous Jericho or Gaza or they would not receive telephone lines and other facilities.
- The Union of Bus Companies in the West Bank says that 270 Palestinian busses are at a standstill due to the military closure that restricts moving in the OPT.
- The General Union of Palestinian Teachers in the Occupied Territories releases a statement condemning the ongoing Israeli closure, saying that the right to learn is above political manoeuvres. More than 25,000 students are prevented from attending their classes.
- According to a study released by LAWE, the WJM destroyed 81 Palestinian homes since 1988, 72 of them between 1992-93.
- Mayor Olmert freezes Orient House's bank accounts to force it to pay $300,000 in back municipal taxes. Orient House has refused to pay taxes for 4 years since it was closed by Israeli military order.
- Israeli advisor on Arab Affairs in the WJM, Amir Cheskin, reveals citing from a study completed in 1992 but kept secret that the municipality spends only 2-12% of its budget in the east part, where 50% have no sewage network, and half of the water network needs replacing. Maintenance work like garbage collection and street light installation are almost nonexistent. While the WJM has built 40,000 housing units for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem only 550 were approved for Palestinians.
- The WJM orders Mohammed Khalil of Beit Hanina, to destroy his house, home to 18 people, or else the municipality will do it since it was built without a permit.
June 1: Israeli media reports that numerous right-wing groups seized a number of Palestinian houses in Wadi Joz, Ras el-Amud and Sheikh Jarrah, supported by Jewish donors, and intend to inhabit them soon.
- Mayor Olmert decides that the approx. 2,000 houses built illegally in East Jerusalem be demolished.
June 6: Orient House issues a statement reconfirming Palestinian roots and rights in Jerusalem. East Jerusalemite notables authorize Faisal Husseini to create a Jerusalem Council to deal with the daily problems of Palestinians in the city.
June 7: Some 200 families concerned with house destruction in East Jerusalem attend a Orient House meeting to register their cases and protest the forced emigration of Palestinians out of the city.
- A study released by PHRIC says the area of East Jerusalem is 72,000 dunums of which 29,000 have been or are about to be confiscated. 35,000 dunums are not part of any municipal planning charts, preventing construction on them. Palestinian housing is allowed only on 14% or 10,000 dunums of the area.
June 11: Some 500 Palestinian-Israeli peace activists protest at Dahiat al-Barid checkpoint against the continued closure of Jerusalem.
June 15: The Vatican and Israel eslish full diplomatic relations for the first ever time. Palestinians are surprised, did not expect such a move unless occupation ends.
- On Arafat's request, the Organization for African Unity (OAU) votes for a resolution calling on Israel to withdraw from all Arab occupied territory, including Jerusalem.
June 19: Nengoot NGO conference in Jerusalem calls for more awareness of the city on agendas and in projects; states that Jerusalem is the capital of the Palestinian state.
- Saudi Arabia pledges $ 1 billion for development of Christian and Muslim religious sites in Jerusalem.
June 22: Deputy mayor of the WJM Uri Lupolianski (building and planning portfolio) announces the plan to build 3-4,000 units between Jerusalem and Beit Jala, and another 4,000 for the mobile home site at Givat Hamatos/Ha'arbaa, each time on expropriated Palestinian land.
June 24/25: At a IPCRI conference, WJM council member Sara Kaminker reveals that 40% of East Jerusalem real estate was expropriated, 200 acres of Palestinian land on the French Hill was confiscated, and Ras al-Amud land was expropriated to build a settlement.
June 25: Beit Sahur Arab Orthodox Club and Israel Committee against the Policy of Closure and Starvation jointly demand to lift the closure.
- PM Rabin orders his government to draft a law preventing Palestinians from practising any PA related actions in East Jerusalem or Israel, and to increase supervision on the implementation of laws that forbid PLO activities in East Jerusalem.
June 29: Israeli forces destroy the house of Khalil Sayah in At-Tur, for being built without permission.
June 1994: Israeli Foreign Min. Peres admits that he wrote a letter of secret assurances, dated October 11th, 1993, to the late Norwegian Foreign Min. Holst, committing to preserve Palestinian institutions and acknowledging the interests of the Palestinians in East Jerusalem.
- WJM Mayor Olmert announces in London that he will do everything to close the Orient House.
- The Islamic Waqf accuses Israel of digging a tunnel under the Via Dolarosa (Old City) that threatens Islamic property around Al-Aqsa Compound. Past diggings had led to the destruction of the entrance to the Waqf and the collapse of the roof of Othman's Mosque.
- Israeli army closes the Old City Orphans' School until further notice under the pretext that students had pelted a settler with stones.
- Israeli authorities forbid Sheikh Bitawi, a religious judge who was among the 400 expellees in Marj al-Zuhour, to enter Jerusalem.
- Israeli peace group Gush Shalom distributes leaflets in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, stating Jerusalem- Peace Capital of Two States, and "there is no national consensus on keeping Palestinian East Jerusalem under Israeli occupation for-in spite of legalistic trappings - that is what it is all about. We call on you to demonstrate, Israelis and Palestinians together for the only real peace solution: Jerusalem as city of peace with East Jerusalem the capital of Palestine, and West Jerusalem of Israel."
- Rabin announces he would not allow Arafat to enter Jerusalem for the next two years.
- The WJM says it plans to build 12,000 housing units for Jews on Palestinian land, mainly confiscated from Walaja village.
- The WJM publishes a list of 2,000 illeglaly built Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem that could be demolished at any time.
July 1: Hud Abu Sneineh of Wadi Hilweh/Silwan, is killed by extremist Jews as revenge for the killing of an Israeli in Tel Aviv a week before by a Palestinian.
July 2: 70-100 Israeli forces raid Augusta Victoria Hospital (Mt. of Olives), breaking doors, frightening and humiliating staff and patients without giving any explanation.
July 2/3: In West Jerusalem, thousands of right-wing Israelis protest Arafat’s arrival to Gaza. WJM mayor Olmert, among others, delivers a fiercy speech full of hatred under a banner reading Death to Arafat. Protestors later try to enter the Old City and destroy Palestinian property as police looks on. Then they retire to the PM's Office, shouting "traitors" and attempting to over-turn the ministers cars. Here, the police reacts promptly.
July 15: The Israeli High Court decides to allow Jews to worship at Haram al-Sharif the next day. Israeli patrols seal off the Old City, erect additional checkpoints and prevent Palestinians from entering.
July 16:Arafat urges East Jerusalemites not to sell their property to Jews; offers to personally buy real estate from Palestinians who need to sell.
July 18: The Israeli cabinet authorizes a bill prohibiting political activity by the PA inside Israel's borders, including Jerusalem.
July 20: Yediot Aharanot reports that the racist Kach group organises "patrols" in East Jerusalem to "impose law and order". The group uses rented cars of the type Israeli police uses, harasses residents and damages Arab property.
July 21: Israeli undercover units kill Murshed Zahde in Bir Nabala.
July 23: The Israeli government introduces a new law to prevent PA/ PLO from any political activity in East Jerusalem (sanctioned with $33,000 fines or a 1-year in prison). Accordingly, PA Min. Ahmed Qrei is denied entry to Jerusalem to participate in a conference.
- Israeli forces raid several Palestinian offices in East Jerusalem, allegedly being fronts for the PFLP. Orient House condemns the new law as it contradicts the spirit of the Oslo accords and violates Israeli guarantees not to harm Palestinian institution's activities in the city.
July 24: Israeli forces reseal the home of Kamal Tayyem - after being reopened by the Palestinian Center for Non-violence.
July 25: The Jahalin bedouin living near Ma'ale Adumim settlement receive an eviction notice from the 'Guardian of Absentee and Governmental Property' of the Israeli authority to leave within 14 days, not providing an alternative site.
- Israel acknowledges the special role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in the Muslim holy shrines in Jerusalem and says it will give high priority to that role in the permanent status negotiations.
July 28: The PLO asks the Arab League to confirm the sole Palestinian right to negotiate on the future of Jerusalem.
July 1994: Israeli bulldozers start to uproot trees on land owned by the Islamic Waqf near Beit Safafa.
- Israeli police arrest a group of Fatah youth in East Jerusalem who allegedly tried to start a Palestinian police force in the city.
- The WJM, its East Jerusalem Development Company and the Government Tourism Company announce a new settlement (Emek Hakidron project - plan no. 4693) east of the Old City, in Wadi Nar area and on the Mt. of Olives - on an total area of 333 acres. The plan implies the destruction of Arab houses and the Suwwaneh vegetable market, large land confiscation, and freezing of all Arab construction in the area incl. Maqassed Hospital, Hotels and Ras al-Amud Mosque.
- The Israeli Housing ministry is said to pay 6 mill NIS to protect the settlers in the Old City and Silwan.
- The WJM announces plans for a new settlement in the Wadi Joz and Mt. Scopus area.
- France confirms the status of Jerusalem as occupied territory.
- Villagers from Abu Dis, Izzariyah and Sawahreh a-Sharqiyya protest the Israeli closure policy.
- Palestinian leaders, incl. Hanan Ashrawi and Faisal Husseini, call for attention to Jerusalem. Husseini says "if anyone wants to kill this peace process he can do it on the issue of Jerusalem."
- The Greek Orthodox Patriarch expresses concern that negotiations over the future of Jerusalem may ignore the church’s participation which he demands.
- Israeli bulldozers level hundreds of acres of arable land of al-Khader village on the grounds that is needed to expand highway # 60, that will tie Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem to those in Hebron by-passing Palestinian residential areas and agricultural land.
- As Arafat's return from exile draws near, WJM City Hall - staff, offices and phones is transformed into the headquarters of an Anti-Arafat campaign. Some 100 Jerusalem residents sign and send a petition to Olmert's office protesting these actions which already cost the Jerusalem taxpayer about $35,000.
- Ir Shalom (Whole City) is formed in West Jerusalem, loosely connected with Peace Now; aims to build public opinion towards a compromise on Jerusalem, and to oppose actions designed to interfere with such an approach, like confiscation of Arab land and erection of new settlements in East Jerusalem.
Aug. 1: PM Rabin reconfirms that Jerusalem will be discussed in the final negotiation phase, although the city should remain united and under Israeli sovereignty.
Aug. 3: PA Min. of Social Affairs Intizar al-Wazir attends a womens’ conference in Jerusalem, marking the first official presence of a PA member in the city. - WJM approves the second stage of a tourism project in Silwan which will implies confiscation of Palestinian and Waqf land, destruction of houses, and removal of a school.
Aug. 5: At Fatah’s first conference in Balata RC, Marwan Barghouthi confirms that Jerusalem is the capital of the Palestinian state.
Aug. 9: The Moroccan government and King Hassan II confirm in a letter to Arafat that Morocco fully supports the Palestinian position regarding holy Jerusalem as the eternal capital of Palestine.
Aug. 12: Israeli police chase 4 Hamas activists from East Jerusalem to A-Ram. In Sheikh Jarrah, they shoot one dead while the other three flee after changing cars to A-Ram where they get caught. Tareq Abu Arafeh is killed and Ragheb Abdeen injured (dies later of his wounds).
Aug. 13: During the funeral of Abu Arafeh, Israeli army refuses to allow his body into Al-Aqsa mosque.
- PA Min. Nabil Shaath visits Jerusalem for the first time since 1946, prays at Al-Aqsa, tours the Old City. Aug. 17: Israeli authorities destroy the house of Zakaria Abu Kharroub in Kfur Aqab for being built illegally, not allowing the family to rescue any of its furniture.
Aug. 18: WJM approves a plan to construct 100 housing units and hotels on 275 dunums used for agriculture near Ramat Rachel kibbutz. The plan will connect Talpiot settlement to West Jerusalem.
- the WJM approves Ataret Cohanim member Erwin Moskowitch’s plan to develop a tourist site in Sheikh Jarrah, incl. reopening Sheperd Hotel as 5-star hotel.
Aug. 19: Israeli media report that the WJM, together with the government, plans to start a huge project ("The King’s Hill") around the Old City, incl. renovation work, a 4-acre park at Salawduha area, roads to the Church of Gethsemane, construction of "Rahma Gate" underneath Al-Aqsa Mosque, and a subterranean road from the Church of Gethsemane to the wall of Silwan.
- Israeli media reports plans for 200 new housing units south of Givat Ze'ev settlement to connect it with Jerusalem.
Aug. 23: Beit Hanina residents hold a sitin in front of their mosque to protest Israeli threats to demolish it if construction was not halted since it was unlicensed and the ownership papers were insufficient.
Aug.1994: The Israeli government’s plans at Abu Ghneim, incl. 4,500 housing units and new roads on 1,851 dunums of land expropriated in 1991, aims at closing the Jewish settlement ring around Jerusalem and Judaizing Bethlehem area.
- Extremist Kach members vandalize the Islamic graveyard at Lion's Gate near Al-Aqsa Mosque, destroy dozens of gravestones and paint "Death to Arabs" on others. On the Grave of the Unknown Soldier is written: "Death to Hussein".
- Mekorot Water authority diverts water to Ma’ale Adumim and Mecdar settlements, leaving Obeidiya village with no running water for three months.
- A piece of land falling between East and West Jerusalem (between Road #1 and American Colony Hotel) is returned to its Palestinian owners, the Nusseibah family, 25 years after confiscation. The Israeli High Court agreed to return the land plot since it was never used.
- Talking before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Foreign Min. Peres says the "declarations of Arafat concerning Jerusalem are, for me, not worth the peel of a clove of a garlic... the PLO wants an additional capitol. We completely reject this. Not only will Jerusalem not be divided, but there will not be two capitols."
- The Israeli Civil Administration orders dozens of Jahalin bedouin families to evacuate their site as the land is needed to expand Ma'ale Adumim settlement. The tribe refuses, saying they would return only to their original homeland near Beer Sheba.
- Jerusalem Waqf Director Adnan Husseini condemns the WJM plan for a tourist project on the Salhudha land south-east of Al-Aqsa Mosque, which includes the expropriation of 36 dunums of Waqf land, calling it a dangerous attack and desecration of Islamic shrines and graves.
- An elderly woman is injured as a group of Israelis stoned an Arab Bus driving on Road No. 1 in Jerusalem and carrying families to a prison visit.
- The Israeli Foreign Ministry reports that Bolivia, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic will move their embassies from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem; in return, Israel will not close down its embassies in these countries as announced.
- During his Jerusalem visit, Egyptian Foreign Min. Amr Musa meets Palestinian officials and confirms Egypt's position that Jerusalem is part of the OPT.
- Israeli authorities issue demolition orders for tens of Palestinian houses at Za'im A-Tur. 15 houses were already demolished, 40 more are due within a month.
- Israeli peace activist Uri Avneri suggests to resolve the Jerusalem issue on the basis of dividing the city into townships, each with an own municipality which then could come together in a higher council with Palestinian and Israeli representation The proposal of divided sovereignty in a united city is compared to the relation between Rome and the Vatican.
- The WJM reactivates a project to build a Yeshiva School on a 6-dunum area near the Nabi Daoud Tomb outside the Old City. Due to massive protest, the same plan had been stopped in 1988.
Sept. 3: Religious Jews attack and injure Armenian Priest Razlik Boghsian on the Via Dolorosa.
Sept. 4: After the stabbing of two Israelis at Damascus Gate, Israeli police arrest over 20 Palestinians although they believed that the activists fled to Ramallah.
Sept. 8: The Dajanis protest the desecration of the family tomb near Nabi Daoud mosque, calling for an instant seizure of drilling tools.
Sept. 10: Over 500 residents and Israeli peace activists demonstrate in the Za'im area to protest the planned destruction of 60 homes.
Sept. 13: Arafat, under financial pressure, drops his insistence that some funds should go to Palestinian institutions in East Jerusalem and agrees no Israelis and Palestinians "shall bring before the donor community political issues that are of disagreement between them."
Sept. 14-16: Palestinians are put under tightened siege during Yom Kippur, with intensified check-points around East Jerusalem and cancellation of all entry permits.
Sept. 18: The Israeli Department of Antiquities starts a project to turn the Nabi Samuel Mosque area, into a public archaeological garden.
Sept. 20: Israeli soldiers kill Jahid Ali Addali, 22, from Biddu village as he tried to pass Dahiet al-Barid checkpoint and ran away when the soldiers’ ordered him to do.
Sept. 22: WJM mayor Olmert asks to start talks on Jerusalem immediately to reveal the plans of the Israeli government's which he fears - after discussing the Golan and land return to the Palestinians may say that compromises on Jerusalem are inevitable to continue the negotiations. Israel should confirm that Jerusalem will remain unified.
Sept. 25: Jewish extremist group Temple Mount Faithful is allowed to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque to celebrate Sukkot but is prevented from entering by Israeli police to avoid clashes with Palestinians.
- Jerusalem Link holds a peace demonstrations on the invisible line between East and West Jerusalem, attended by dozens of Palestinian and Israeli peace activists who hang up a banner on the Old City walls that reads in Arabic, Hebrew and English: "A just solution for both peoples in Jerusalem."
Sept. 26: A settler waiting for a bus throws a large stone at a vehicle with West Bank plates on Road No. 1, smashing the car’s windshield and injuring the driver.
Sept.1994: Alan Goodman, sentenced to life for killing one and injuring 20 at Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1982, attempts to enter Al-Aqsa during his monthly 48-hour parole but is prevented by Waqf officials.
- The WJM's yearly project report exposes plans to construct 31,413 housing units for Jews in East Jerusalem and only 15,120 for non-Jews (Pisgat Ze'ev: 4,000; Har Homa/Abu Ghneim: 8,000; Ramat Bet Hakerem: 2,300; Shu'fat:2,200; Givat Shuat: 1,100; Gilo: 1,000; Givat Hamates:800; Ramat Rachel:1,200.
- The Islamic Waqf sends a letter to Rabin calling on him to halt construction of the WJM on a religious school on the site of Nabi Daoud mosque and the Islamic cemetery. The plan was stopped in 1988 but the new municipality restarted it.
- Israeli Knesset Security Committee head Uri Or confirms the arrest of an armed Jewish underground cell - incl. settlers from the Old City. They had planned to massacre Palestinians and attack Orient House.
- Yediot Aharanot reports that 8 heavily armed settlers were arrested outside Orient House.
- The WJM rejects a plan to -construct a new Palestinian school on the Mt. of Olives as the sie in question is claimed by a Jew who iplans to build a library for the Jewish Beit Orot School there.
- The economic talks in Paris end abruptly when the Palestinian side insists that funds for the support of educational and health institutions in East Jerusalem be included.
Oct. 3: Negotiations on Palestinian elections begin in Cairo with Israeli delegation head Danny Rothschild declaring that Israel will not except Palestinian opposition figures or Jerusalemites as candidates.
Oct. 4: Israeli forces remove the crescent and confiscate louspeakers and building material from Beit Hanina mosque which the WJM had ordered to destroy for it lacks a building permit.
Oct. 9: Two Izz al-Din al-Qassem members conduct a military operation in West Jerusalem's Nahalat Shiva pedestrian mall, killing 2 and wounding 14 Israelis before being gunned down by Israeli police. Israeli forces search for other perpetrators in East Jerusalem arresting several Arabs and closing off the Old City for hours.
Oct. 11: Sheikh Sulaiman Ja'bari, Mufti of Jerusalem, dies aged 82.
Oct. 14: 3 Hamas activists, Israeli soldier Nahshon Wachsman - who was kidnapped on Oct. 9 inside Israel -, and another soldier are killed when Israeli troops storm the hiding place in Bir Nabala.
Oct. 16: The PA appoints Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, 66, as new Mufti of Jerusalem; Jordan, insisting on its role in East Jerusalem, appoints Abdul Qader Abdeen as Mufti.
Oct. 19: Following a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv by a Hamas activist, which left 22 dead and more than 50 Israelis injured, anti-Arab marches take place in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem; the government decides a full closure of the OPT.
-PLO representative to the UN Nasser Qudwa reaffirms that Jerusalem is an integral part of the OPT and demands that the article in the Jor-danian-Israeli accord to be signed on Oct. 26, that gives high priority to Jordan’s role regarding Muslim shrines in Jerusalem, be omitted.
Oct. 23: The WJM destroys the house of Ata Baidoun in Wadi Qa-doum for lacking a license.
Oct. 24: Israeli extremists attempt to bulldoze the house of Yakoub Rajabi in Sheikh Jarrah, claiming it belongs to one of their grandfathers, though the Rajabi family has legal documents proving ownership since 40 years for the house.
Oct. 25: Speaking to students in Gaza, Arafat says that Jerusalem is the capital of the Palestinian state and whoever doesn't like it can "go drink Gaza sea water". As for the Jordanian-Israeli accord giving Jordan a special role regarding Muslim holy sites in the city, he adds that Jerusalem is not merchandise that can be bought or sold.
Oct. 25-27: As US Pres. Clinton visits Israel, Israeli authorities impose a total closure on the OPT cutting off Jerusalem; Palestinians respond with a general strike (26th).
Oct. 26: Fatah Higher Council, issues a statement criticizing the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty saying: "Jerusalem is indivisible from the political, religious, civil and national points of view" and attacking Jordan for allowing Israeli sovereignty to continue in the city.
Oct. 1994: The Israeli army affirms its openfire orders for Dahiet al-Baried checkpoint but saying that soldiers should shoot-to-kill only when their lives are in real danger.
- The Israeli Archaeological Authority launches a campaign to demolish Arab houses in Silwan on the pretext that they damage Jewish historical sites and are built illegally in the Jewish City of David. The WJM already ordered the demolition of Issa Qara'in's house.
- Rabin promises settlers from the Ramallah/al-Bireh area to improve their settlement network, to build a road to tie all settlements together and to connect them to Jerusalem without having to go through any Palestinian population center.
- MK Dedi Zucker accuses the government of delaying investigations into illegal takeovers of Arab property in the Old City by Israeli settlers (the investigation was initiated two years ago).
- Israel plans a new bypass road (no. 60) to link the settlements of the southern West Bank to Jerusalem, implying the confiscation of hundreds of acres of Palestinian land, mainly in the Bethlehem area, and destruction of several houses that fall within the boundaries of the confiscated property.
- The Central Court in Jerusalem orders the confiscation of Abu Ghneim land to build "Har Homa".
- Israeli MKs visit Haram ash-Sharif, allegedly to supervise illegal buildings. Waqf Min. Hassan Tahboob protest with other Waqf officials against this interference in Islamic affairs, calling the visit provocative. The initiator of the visit Matza (Likud) says the visit shall prove the world that Israel is responsible for whole Jerusalem, incl. Muslim sites.
Nov. 2: Israeli bulldozers demolish the house of the Abu al-Hawa family in Za'im without prior warning. 50 more houses in Za’im are thretened with demolition.
Nov. 3: A US Catholic Church group visits Al-Aqsa Mosque in solidarity with Palestinians. Five Christian Palestinians included in the delegation are banned by Israeli police from entering until Waqf Min. Tahboub's intervenes.
Nov. 4: Turkish PM Tancu Cillar's visit to Orient House and meeting with Palestinian officials causes Israeli anger as Israeli security is denied entry by Palestinian guards, and as the visit gives credence to Palestinian claims in the city.
Nov. 8: The Jahalin bedouins are informed that the Civil Administration will charge any of them with "criminal" trespassing on state land which surrounds their location.
Nov. 9: On a city inspection tour, WJM mayor Olmert appears at Orient House but refuses the invitation to enter after discovering that Faisal Husseini was not there.
Nov. 14: Leader of right-wing Tsomet party Rafael Eitan, visits Orient House, accompanied by police forces; tells reporters that the area is under Israeli sovereignty and jeopardizes the city of Jerusalem as eternal capital of Israel.
- 7 Jahalin bedouins are arrested at 4 a.m. by Ma'ale Adumim settlement police and hold 6 hours for trespassing on state lands.
Nov. 15: Four female MKs (Labor, Meretz & Hadash party) meet with a Palestinian women delegation at Orient House to express their support.
Nov.23: 50 right-wing Jews demonstrate outside Orient House, but are prevented from entering.
Nov. 24: Israeli police raid Nuzha Bldg. in East Jerusalem searching Palestinian offices to find out if they conduct political activities. Several staff are handed summons.
Nov. 27: Knesset passes two bills calling for the closing of Palestinian institutions in East Jerusalem incl. Orient House and Al-Quds University. Referring to the latter Police Min. Moshe Shahal says its existence needs a license from Israel's Council for Higher Education.
Nov. 29: The homes of the families of the kidnappers of Israeli soldier Nahshon Wachsman, Bader and Natsheh, are sealed, one in Ras al-Amud, one in Beit Hanina.
- Religious settlers from the "Alive and Well" movement attempt to break into al-Haram ash-Sharif compound.Group leader Yehuda Ezion, was previously involved with the Jewish terrorist underground and participated in the plan to blow up the Dome of the Rock for which he was sentenced to 7 years prison. The movement seeks to reestablish the Kingdom of Israel and to recapture the 'Temple Mount'. Ten members of the group are arrested.
- Jerusalem Post reports that despite all efforts to Judaize the city over 20% of the 45,000 new Jewish immigrants to Jerusalem have left the city in the past 5 years and that the percentage of new immigrants in Jerusalem is decreasing. While 74% newcomers arrived during 1990-92, only 53% did in 1993. Main reasons are employment difficulties and high cost of housing.
Nov. 1994: An interim ministerial committee that was working for 2 years on plans to develop metropolitan "Greater Jerusalem" reveals plans to construct two new high-ways linking the coast with Jerusa-salem: Highway 45 (Tel Aviv- Ram-allah-J’lem North) goes through areas that are expected to come under PA authority. Highway 39 (Ashdod-Bet Shemesh-Jerusalem Southwest) lies within the Green Line.
- Israel refuses to renew the annual permit for Augusta Victoria Hospital offering only a 6 months permit.
- The WJM prepared a report on urgent needs of the city’s Arab sector stating that infrastructure and social services are deteriorating. 120 km of roads, improvement of the water & sewage network is needed.
- After Palestinian leaders condemned Jordan for signing a treaty with Israel that notes Jordan's 'special role' regarding the holy sites in Jerusalem, King Hussein makes a conciliatory move saying he won’t compete with the PA over sovereignty in Jerusalem when they are ready to bear responsibilities of this kind. Crown Prince Hassan adds that Jordan will supervise the holy sites until an agreement on the final status of the city is reached.
- The Israeli ministerial committee on Jerusalem reads a 13-page report on Palestinian activities in the city stating that the lack of Israeli services offered to Palestinians has created a gap filled by Fatah and Hamas who run charitable and educational bodies. The report recommends to spend more money as Palestinian standard of living is much lower compared to Jewish settlers.
- Olmert says on Israel TV that he aims to prevent schools in East Jerusalem from adopting the Palestinian curricula and build 180 classrooms.
- Israeli land administration proposes to build 30,000 housing units in Jerusalem over the next 5 years,half of them in East Jerusalem.
- Abu Nijmeh family of Jerusalem, whose 6-room house near Ras al-Amud was demolished on Nov. 17, 1993, is ordered to appear in court Dec. 8, as the family’s present shelters - two shipping crates and two red cross tents are regarded "illegal structures".
- A WJM survey reports that the Palestinian population is growing faster than the Jewish: in 1992-93, the Arab population has increased by 0.4% (to 28.3%) and the Jewish decreased by 2.5% (to 71.7%).
Dec. 5: Temple Mount Faithful extremists demonstrate outside Orient House burning a Palestinian flag, chanting anti-Arab slogans and calling for an end to the peace talks.
Dec. 7: The signing of an agreement between the General Union of Workers in Palestine and the Israeli Histradut is cancelled as Histradut refuses to accept the Palestinian demand to include East Jerusalemite unionists and the creation of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital in the document.
Dec. 9: Unknown assailants raid the Arab Studies Society’s Land Research Centre and steal computer disks and files. They are believed to be part of the campaign against Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem.
Dec. 13: At Casablanca Islamic summit’s 7th opening session, Arafat is reelected as Deputy Chairman; Jerusalem topic is set as top priority in the resolution.
Dec. 17: Ma'ale Adumim settlement announces its expansion on 3,000 dunums of land.
Dec. 18: Israeli undercover units kill Nasser Hamdan, 27, in Anata.
Dec. 21: The new bridge opens at French Hill, linking Pisgat Ze'ev, Neve Yacov and Ma'ale Adumim with Jerusalem bypassing Palestinian population areas.
Dec. 26: The Knesset passes final reading on the Gaza-Jericho Agreement Implementation Law (limiting Palestinian activities in Jerusalem) by a vote of 56 to 6 with 32 abstentions. Any local or foreign institution which includes the PLO needs Israeli permission to work.
Dec. 27: On the 6th day of a sit-in protest against the expansion of Efrat settlement (Gush Etzion Bloc) on Al-Khader village land hundreds of Israeli soldiers are brought to clear the hill of demonstrating villagers, PA ministers, Israeli MKs, peace activists. Dozens are arrested, many injured.
Dec. 1994: After a meeting with Crown Prince Hassan, Faisal Husseini says Jordan should continue administering the Islamic sites in Jerusalem until the PA takes over.
- Eilan Bilan, Israeli Commander of the Central Area declares annexation of 800 acres of East Jerusalem land to build 1,500 housing units and 10 hotels in Ma'ale Adumim.
- Givat Ze'ev settlement applies to extend its land by annexing 4,500 acres of Arab land.
- The Palestinian Center for the Study of Non-Violence holds Israeli-Palestinian demonstration at Ras al-Amud checkpoint to protest the isolation of Jerusalem.
- The Islamic Waqf warns that digs conducted by the Israeli Ministry of Religion beneath Al-Aqsa mosque may lead to its collapse. Israeli official Ze'ev Rosenburg says the digs are only to conserve tunnels leading to the Wailing Wall. Waqf says Israeli workers use chemicals to dissolve the rocks since last summer. Other diggings in the past led to the collapse of a stone wall on Haram ash-Sharif and allow entry to the compound from tunnels.
- At the opening of the new French Hill bridge, Israeli Transport Min. Yisrael Kessar says some $166 mill will be invested in Jerusalem’s road system in the next 3 years to strengthen Israel's control of the city.
- Israeli police prohibites PECDAR from holding a conference at a East Jerusalem hotel planned on Dec.22 because it would involve Palestinian political activity.