Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign: Cliff Hotel Confiscated by Occupation Forces in Abu Dis

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Cliff Hotel Confiscated by Occupation Forces in Abu Dis
Latest News, PENGON/Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, May 9th, 2004

Above: The Apartheid Wall beside one of the houses confiscated and now occupied by settlers in Abu Dis. A settler security vehicle can be seen patroling the area.

Occupation forces last week confiscated the Cliff hotel in Abu Dis, located in South East Jerusalem, and owned by the Ayyad Family from Abu Dis. The hotel was under repair when the Occupation forces declared it empty and abandoned and should therefore fall under the custody of the so called "guardian of absentees property." This then allowed the Occupation forces to take over the roof and top floor of the hotel, practically taking over the whole hotel.

The area where the hotel is built is in the West Bank, however, in 1994, the Occupation municipality of Jerusalem widened its borders annexing the lands where the hotel was built.

In the last months, the owners of the hotel have been sleeping in their house, some hundred meters away from the hotel until the repairs were completed. It was at this time that the hotel was confiscated. Seven months ago, the Occupation forces issued an official decision stating that the hotel was constructed on ‘Jerusalem lands’ and that if its owners did not use it, it would fall under the custody of 'Absentees property'.

Now Occupation soldiers have taken over the hotel, and turned into a military compound. The Apartheid Wall is not yet completed in this particular area, but it is expected to surround the hotel from the east, separating it from Abu Dis along with another 12 houses all belonging to Ayyad family. Three households of the Ayyad family have West Bank identification cards, meaning they are not allowed to stay in, or move to Jerusalem, though with the Wall in place they will be isolated from Abu Dis, and the West Bank.

Moreover, a group of settlers recently Occupied another two Palestinian houses in the same area, as an introductory step towards establishing a new settlement in Abu Dis’ lands that are to be isolated behind the Wall. The new settlement, named 'Kidmat Zion', was approved by the Occupation government as soon as construction on the Wall around Abu Dis was started.