BRUSSELS (Dispatches) – The seizure of a plot of Greek Orthodox land by Zionist settlers and troops could “pose a serious threat to the peaceful coexistence” of Muslims, Christians and Jews in Al-Quds, the European Union (EU) has warned.
On Tuesday this week, dozens of settlers stormed a five-dunam (5,000-square-meter) piece of land owned by the Greek Orthodox church in the Palestinian Silwan neighborhood of the Old City in occupied East Al-Quds.
The settlers then fenced it off and installed surveillance cameras, with the protection of the police.
Silwan residents rushed to the scene to stop the land confiscation but were assaulted by Zionist troops. Three young Palestinians were arrested, according to local media.
“Attempts to take over the property of Christian Churches must be halted”, the EU said in its statement, stressing its “deep concern over the implications of this action on the property rights of the Christian Churches in Jerusalem.
“The EU calls to protect the Status Quo and the Holy Sites, including Christian ones. The special status and character of Jerusalem and its Old City must be preserved and respected by all,” it read.
The Greek Orthodox Monastery owns the land in Silwan, which is part of the city’s Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, according to Wadi Hilweh Information Center, which monitors Israeli violations in the area.
Silwan, home to more than 60,000 Palestinians and strategically located south of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Western Wall, has been the target of Zionist settler expansion for years.
Hundreds of families in Silwan face the threat of expulsion, either through lawsuits by powerful settler groups or eviction orders by the Zionist-run Al-Quds municipality, which is seeking to build tourist parks.
The occupying regime control of East Al-Quds, occupied since 1967, violates several principles under international law, which stipulates that an occupying power has no sovereignty in the territory it occupies and cannot make any permanent changes there.