Neighbour of a settler

Ras Al-Amud sits on a ridge overlooking the Al-Haram Al-Sharif and Al-Aqsa Mosque, between Jerusalem's old city and the Arab villages of Silwan, Abu-Dis and Al- Izzariyya. As the world's attention focusses on the war in Iraq, the 11,000 Palestinians living in the village are bracing themselves for the imminent arrival of 400 families who will reside in a new settlement built on their doorsteps, reports Annika Hampson.

Azzam Abu-Saud's house overlooks the settlement. Pointing to the crumbling remains of an extension to his family's house, he explains how, the night before the Israeli elections, bulldozers came and destroyed part of his home. Israeli officials justified the move, arguing that the extension was illegal, as the family had not obtained an Israeli building permit, required for all construction in Jerusalem.

Saud, however, believes the reasons are not so straightforward, arguing that the move was political. "How can they talk about legal and illegal when settlement construction clearly violates the Fourth Geneva Convention and is in flagrant disregard of a string of UN Security Council Resolutions?" he demands. "They are concerned about the legality of my extension when there is an illegal housing complex across the road? No!" He believes the answer is simple, "Sharon just wanted the settlers' votes." People are now wondering what Prime Minister Sharon will do to appease the settlers once they move in.

The settlement, a 132-flat complex, surrounded by a two- metre-high concrete wall, overlooks, and effectively controls, the old route to Jericho that connects Al-Izzariyya and Abu- Dis with Jerusalem's old city and the city's eastern part. The project is the largest of the many settlements in Arab East Jerusalem. Similar settlements are underway in the Muslim quarter of the old city and the villages of Silwan, Sheikh Jarrah, and Abu-Dis.

Regardless of international condemnation, since 1967 Israel's East Jerusalem settlements have developed into large, heavily subsidised urban communities that sprawl over vast areas of expropriated Palestinian land. In 2001, the population of these settlements, in illegally annexed and expanded Arab East Jerusalem, reached 200,000 -- 50 per cent of all Israeli settlers.

The settlement in Ras Al-Amud has sparked concerns that settlers are beginning the process of the "Hebronisation" of Arab East Jerusalem. Realising that settlers' demands and expectations effectively invalidate their own rights, Palestinian residents of Ras Al-Amud expect the worse.

Ateret Cohanim, an ultra-nationalist Jewish group, is behind the project. The organisation receives much of its funding from Irving Moskowitz, a Miami businessman who has spent millions of dollars buying up Arab homes in disputed parts of Jerusalem. Building financing comes from the proceeds of a casino and bingo operations in Hawaiian Gardens, a suburb of east Los Angles. Moskowitz has a bloody record in Jerusalem: In 1996, he helped finance a tunnel in Jerusalem next to land considered sacred by Muslims, and the opening sparked days of riots that resulted in the deaths of 60 Palestinians and 15 Israelis.

It is not only Palestinians, though, opposing the settlers. Israeli members of Peace Now, which seeks peace through negotiations and mutual compromise, have also been protesting at the site, saying in a recent statement, "The creation of settlements in the heart of an Arab neighbourhood in Jerusalem and populating them with fanatical settlers will incite and inflame Jerusalem, harm chances for a peaceful future and destroy any chance for future normalcy in the area." Yisrael Cohen, who carried a sign that read "Ras Al-Amud will ignite Jerusalem!", said he was demonstrating to protest moving Jews into the middle of an Arab neighbourhood.

The wider political implications of the settlement are clear, but the Palestinian residents of the village are also worried about the immediate impact on their lives. Azzam Abu-Saud anticipates that the destruction of his house will be only the beginning of problems for the community. "We know how the people in Hebron suffer at the hands of the settlers," he said, "and know it will be very bad for us when they arrive on our doorstep." He shrugs his shoulders and adds emphatically, "Being the neighbour of a settler is no good."