Paper 74, "Israeli Economic Plans in East Jerusalem: Impact on the Two-State Solution," reviews and analyzes key Israeli economic plans and government decisions in occupied East Jerusalem since 2010. It aims to uncover their connection to Israeli Judaization policies, seeking to solidify the notion of a "Unified Jerusalem as the capital of Israel" on the ground, hindering the potential future designation of East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state.
The paper, authored by researcher Abdul Qader Baddawi and spanning 48 pages, examines how successive Israeli governments employed various tools to "manage" the lives of Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem, aligning with their strategy of Judaizing the city. This involved intensifying settlement activities, facilitating settler migration to established settlements, tightening control over East Jerusalem residents, escalating land seizures, demolishing homes, and simultaneously imposing an economically and politically burdensome "quality of life" on the residents, particularly in housing and construction matters.
The paper details numerous instances illustrating the adoption of a policy of assimilation and control over Jerusalem's Palestinian population by successive Israeli governments. Recognizing that the development of the "Jerusalem economy" hinged on the integration of its residents, they first sought to incorporate them into the Israeli education system. Concurrently, they opposed Palestinian curricula and schools, offering incentives to institutions teaching Hebrew and promoting the Hebrew language. Simultaneously, incentives were provided in Hebrew universities to encourage Jerusalem residents to enroll, positioning them as a cheap labor force, ensuring the growth and prosperity of the Israeli job market.
In conclusion, the paper asserts that Israeli policies aimed at reproducing the Palestinian space through planning and settlement operations. In parallel, Palestinians were treated as residents managed under a deliberate plan to curb their demographic growth. These policies created a new reality that would be challenging to reverse unless international pressure is exerted. By reshaping the "two-state solution" through an integrated Judaization system (settlement associations, government decisions, and programs), Israel aimed to distort the sacred character of the holy city, ultimately transforming it into a Jewish Zionist entity. This aligns with the fanatical pursuit of eradicating the Arab (Islamic-Christian) character within the context of "turning Jerusalem into Yerushalayim," encompassing political, economic, cultural, and religious dimensions.
It is noted that this paper was completed in collaboration with the Negotiations Affairs Department of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
