Gaza Genocide05 July, 20263 min read
Jerusalem Governorate Says Netanyahu Laying Heritage Center Foundation Stone Escalates Settlement Expansion
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Foundation stone for Heritage Center at Qalandia marks dangerous escalation of settlement expansion. Governorate says project entrenches annexation and targets Jerusalem's identity.
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Heritage Center in Qalandiya
The Jerusalem Governorate said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s laying of the foundation stone for the so-called “Heritage Center” at the site of the historic Jerusalem International Airport in Qalandiya, north of occupied Jerusalem, constitutes a dangerous escalation in settlement expansion and a flagrant violation of international law and relevant United Nations resolutions, including UN Security Council Resolution 2334. The governorate said the move reflects a shift from planning to the imposition of facts on the ground, aiming to seize “one of the most prominent Palestinian sovereign landmarks” and transform it into a facility serving the Israeli narrative. It added that the project is part of decisions adopted by the Israeli government on 17 May, coinciding with so-called “Jerusalem Day,” and includes converting the former airport into a cultural and ideological center that reinterprets the site’s history according to an Israeli narrative.
The governorate warned the plan goes beyond reuse of the building, extending to “the reengineering of historical memory” by promoting narratives related to “settlement history” and linking the site to Israeli political and military figures. It said the project coincides with wider settlement escalation in northern Jerusalem, including plans for a waste treatment facility on Qalandiya lands, the confiscation of hundreds of dunams, and the displacement or isolation of Palestinian families, alongside expansion of the Atarot settlement project aimed at establishing thousands of housing units.
Netanyahu on annexation
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News’s show, The Sunday Briefing, that some Christian villages in southern Lebanon had asked to be annexed by Israel for protection from Hezbollah militants. Netanyahu said, “Christian villages in Lebanon, some of them have actually asked to be annexed to Israel, because we protect them against the Hezbollah,” and he added that “we do the same things with Christians everywhere.”
The France 24 report said the mayor of the Christian village of Rmeish, Hanna al-Amil, was quoted by Lebanese public broadcaster NNA denying Netanyahu’s claim and saying that even contemplating the idea was “absolutely out of the question.” France 24 also reported that Netanyahu reaffirmed Israeli troops would remain in southern Lebanon “as long as necessary in order to protect the residents of the north and all the citizens of Israel.”
Facts on the ground
The Jerusalem Governorate framed the Heritage Center project as a practical shift from the planning stage to “imposing facts on the ground,” saying it is aimed at reconfiguring Jerusalem’s geographic and historical identity by seizing a Palestinian sovereign landmark and turning it into a space that serves the Israeli narrative. In the same press-release framing, the governorate said the project comes within a package of decisions taken by the occupation government on 17 May, on the occasion of what is called “Jerusalem Day,” and includes approval to convert the Jerusalem International Airport building into a settlement center with a cultural-ideological character. It warned that the project is not limited to repurposing the building, but instead “goes further to reproduce the site's historical narrative,” including establishing wings to memorialize political and military figures and substituting an alternative narrative for Palestinian and Arab memory.
The governorate said these actions are paired with settlement escalation in northern Jerusalem, including a plan for a waste-treatment facility on Qalandia lands that it said threatens to confiscate hundreds of dunams and displace or isolate dozens of Palestinian families. It concluded that continuing these measures constitutes a “flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, the Fourth Geneva Convention,” and called for urgent and effective international action to halt the policies it described as entrenching an annexation project.