<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Shepherd Hotel demolished, to be replaced by&nbsp;settlement]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p class="byline"><abbr class="published" title="Sunday, January 9th, 2011, 11:25 am">Sunday, January 9 2011<span class="author vcard">|<span class="url fn n">Mairav Zonszein</span> | +972 Magazine<br />
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<p>Bulldozers razed a big chunk of the Shepherd Hotel in the East  Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah early morning Sunday to make way  for a new residential complex for Jews (a.k.a settlement).</p>
<div id="attachment_8251" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width:620px;"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-8251" src="https://i2.wp.com/972mag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/hotel-demolition1.jpg" alt="" width="620" height="415" /></p>
<p class="wp-caption-text">Shepherd Hotel in final stages of demolition. (Photo: Justin Randle)</p>
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<p>The Shepherd Hotel was owned by Jerusalem Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini  until 1967, when Israel expropriated it under the Absentee Property Law  (Read more about this law <a class="external" href="http://www.ir-amim.org.il/eng/?CategoryID=353" target="_blank">here</a>). In  1985 the property was sold to a company owned by American Jewish  billionaire Irving Moskowitz, notorious for his support of Jewish  settlement in East Jerusalem and specifically of the extremist Ateret  Cohanim group, responsible for most of the Jewish settlement in the Old  City’s Muslim Quarter and the<a class="external" href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/lador-to-barkat-evacuate-beit-yonatan-immediately-1.263321" target="_blank"> Beit Yonatan</a> building in Silwan.</p>
<p>Here is footage of the demolition from this morning:</p>
<span class="embed-youtube" style="text-align:center; display: block;"><iframe class='youtube-player' width='640' height='360' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/aL81ThmIyOc?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;' sandbox='allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation'></iframe></span>
<p>Plans to build on the site were approved by the relevant Israeli planning committees in July 2009 and <a class="external" href="http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/j-lem-planning-authority-okays-shepherd-hotel-plan-1.265306" target="_blank">final permits</a> were issued in March of this year. It is not clear why the bulldozers  were ordered to demolish today of all days and there may not be any  specific reason, however considering that all media in the US is focused  on the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, it is not  implausible to deduce that the timing was chosen so that it would not  get much attention in the US.</p>
<p>At a protest quickly organized by Israeli activists this afternoon,  protestors expressed their objection to Jewish settlement in Palestinian  neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, reiterating the slogans said at the  weekly Friday protests.  Although in the case of the Shepherd Hotel, it  is not legal court orders regarding pre-1948 ownership but rather  business ventures that have led to Jewish settlement in the area, in  both cases there is a clear political agenda to populate the area with  as many Jews as possible in order to unilaterally determine its  character and prevent it from ever becoming part of a future Palestinian  capital.</p>
<p>The unwillingness of the Israeli government to step in and stop  construction in the interest of public peace, security, morality (and a  little thing called its stated commitment to a two-state solution) is  yet another example of the gap between the Israeli government’s rhetoric  and actions, as well as its explicit endorsement of extremist settler  movements in East Jerusalem.</p>
<div id="attachment_8252" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width:620px;"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-8252" src="https://i0.wp.com/972mag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/protest-shepherd.jpg" alt="" width="620" height="465" /></p>
<p class="wp-caption-text">Protest in front of Shepherd Hotel. (Photo: Mairav Zonszein)</p>
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<p>There was actually a lot of press at the relatively small protest,  including a reporter from Fox News who interviewed me. When I asked him  when it would be aired, he said he had no idea since all the media in  the US would be busy with the Arizona shooting incident. The timing of  this demolition may not be coincidental after all.</p>
<p><a href="http://972mag.com/demolition-of-shepherd-hotel-makes-way-for-new-jewish-settlement-in-sheikh-jarrah/">Shepherd Hotel demolished, to be replaced by settlement</a>.</p>
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