Ir Amim - landrättigheter i Östra Jerusalem

It would be impossible for interested Jerusalemites and the international community to keep track of settlement plans and developments in Jerusalem were it not for the work of organizations like Ir Amim. In the reporting period Ir Amim has been able to follow and draw attention to plans and trends, including the use of settlement of land title (SOLT) procedures as a way to initiate settlement plans, as well as how settlement activity in East Jerusalem has increased significantly under the cover of war; 31 plans involving 18,333 housing units in 2023 only, including eight brand-new settlements in the Jerusalem area. The Ir Amim tours have had over 4000 visitors in 2023, targeted towards the international community, educators, religious groups and the general public and Ir Amim's data and analysis has had great coverage in both social- and traditional media. Ir Amim also uses different advocacy tools to weigh in on planning decisions. For example they have managed to influence the development of the 5 year plan for Jerusalem adopted in August 2023 in several areas of importance to east Jerusalem residents, this includes reducing the importance of the settlement of land title process, influenced the allocation of additional resources to open a new public center for child development in East Jerusalem, increasing general budget of education and local initiatives and most significantly - the new plan increased the number of approved housing units for residents of East Jerusalem by at least 2,000 apartments on average per year, for a total of 10,000 units throughout the five-year plan The processes that Ir Amim follow and engage in regarding planning, demolition and evictions are slow, which makes it difficult to measure concrete results within one year. In addition, the general the trend is negative despite the work of Ir Amim and its partners. It is necessary to consider how the development would be without the watchfulness of organizations like Ir Amim. It is undoubtedly true that Ir Amim has alerted both local citizens and the international community to ongoing negative developments underfoot, and Ir Amim also acts within the system by submitting objections and appeals in the formal planning process and to the Israeli courts. Such actions do not always lead to favourable results for the Palestinian residents, but can often serve the purpose to stall negative development, sometimes for many years. International pressure has also contributed to holding back some of the more controversial plans, for example hearings scheduled on multiple occasions regarding plans to build settlements in the E1 area between Jerusalem and Maale Adumim were ultimately canceled. Moreover, promotion of the plan for the new settlement of Har Gilo West on al-Walaja land was also stalled. Continued pressure both from within and outside the system is required to pull the breaks on developments that, if left unhindered, would make a two state solution with Jerusalem as a capital for two people impossible Moreover, Ir Amim contributes to what they call the "de-demonization" of the other by bringing people together and increasing their understanding of each other. After the outbreak of war in 2023 Ir Amim engaged very actively on Campuses and elsewhere to promote understanding of both sides' perspective on the conflict. Ir Amim also brings neighboring Palestinian and Jewish communities together in dialogue and trust building. In the beginning of 2023 Ir Amim formed a network of Jewish and Palestinian Jerusalemite civil society organizations . This network became an important resource in the aftermath of the outbreak of war in October when it was used for concrete actions such as accompanying palestinian workers, delviering food and speaking out against police brutality directed towards Palestinians, especially after October 7. The argument driving these actions is that repression will not foster peace. To the contrary, policies that protect Palestinian rights and hold Israel accountable to International Law are the ones that twill decrease hostilities, restore calm, and promote peace. Ir Amim has dedicated particular efforts on increasing the understanding between religious groups. Several awareness raising activities have been carried out with the Haredi community of Jerusalem. During Ramadan 2023, Ir Amim led a media and social media campaign that presented to the Israeli public the month of Ramadan and the Muslim worship at the Mount from a religious and communal angle, which challenged the perspective of viewing it purely from the security angle.

Objective 1: Safeguarding the conditions for an agreed two state solution and the character of Jerusalem as the present home and future capital of the two peoples, while impeding unilateral and formal and de-facto annexation steps. Objective 2: Protecting the individual and collective home of Palestinians in East Jerusalem including their physical and communal space, socio-economic rights and their right to the city. Objective 3: Local and international target audiences are informed, mobilized and subsequently act with regard to on-the-ground developments that affect the current reality in Jerusalem and the prospect for a negotiated solution.