On Monday August 28, 2017, Israeli police and intelligence forces stormed Yabous Cultural Center located in Al-Zahara Street. The Center was forcibly shut down by Israeli forces in Occupied East Jerusalem on the excuse of banning a lecture about Al-aqsa mosque. The Occupation Forces closed the Center between the hours of 16:00 and 22:00.
The Civic Coalition for Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem (CCPRJ) is highly concerned about Israel’s active efforts to achieve a 'de-Palestinization' of Jerusalem.
The arbitrary closure of the Center is not an isolated incident. Since August 2001, Israeli authorities have permanently or temporary closed at least 35 Palestinian public institutions and NGOs in occupied East Jerusalem,i including the PLO headquarters (Orient House), the Jerusalem Chamber of Commerce, the Arab Studies Society, the Cultural Forum Society, the Agricultural and Industrial Chamber of Commerce, the Higher Council of Tourism, and the Small Projects Center established by the European Union.
The above closures were all enacted against public events aimed to serve Palestinian social, cultural, and economic development in Jerusalem.
Israel’s policy of closing Palestinian institutions and banning Palestinian public activities has systematically undermined Palestinian freedom of expression and assembly, and stifled Palestinian political, social, cultural, and economic development in Occupied East Jerusalem. It is a policy of persecution carried out against the organized Palestinian society which continues to resist the myriad of arbitrary and discriminatory laws, policies, and measures whereby Israel seeks to permanently annex the occupied Palestinian city and transform it into a predominantly Jewish-Israeli area.
(This news update has been compiled based on information provided by the Civic Coalition for Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem.)