36 The Independent Commission for Human Rights - ICHR pression, education, or any humanitarian activities in Jerusalem. The Israeli occupying authorities continued to close down national institutions, which used to provide a set of services to Jerusalemites, including the Orient House, Chamber of Commerce, Prisoner Club, High Council of Tourism, Small Enterprise Development Centre, MoE directorate district office, Palestine TV Jerusalem bureau. These and other cultural institutions are prohibited from exercising any cultural, sports, or entertainment activities in the city. Palestinian schools are also prosecuted and deprived of operating in Jerusalem, allegedly because they use the Palestinian curriculum. In an effort to Judaise Arab culture, Israel is forcing these schools to teach the Israeli curriculum. • During the month of Ramadan, Israel continued to Judaise and evict Palestinian families from the Sheik Jarrah neighbourhood. At the Damascus Gate, the Israeli occupying authorities used force in an attempt to dismantle community activity and thwart Ramadan rituals, which reflect a historical tradition in the evenings of Ramadan. In pursuit of this objective, the IOF intensively built up its military presence across Jerusalem. Protests against Israeli policies resulted in the killing of 13 Palestinians in Jerusalem and its suburbs. A total of 490 Palestinian were deported from the old city of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. In addition to hundreds wounded, the IOF arrested 2,784 Palestinians, including women and children. • 2021 marked a watershed in the eviction of Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, a colonial project initiated by Israel in 1972. Twenty eight (28) local families are facing ethnic cleansing, which can be classed as a war crime. This is also the case for Silwan, particularly in Batn al-Hawa and Al-Bustan neighbourhoods, where Israeli agencies seek to evict 86 Palestinian families from their homes. The same is true of most neighbourhoods in Silwan, Ras al-‘Amud, and Al-Walaja. As part of Israeli policies on the ban of Palestinian construction, the Israeli authorities disapproved all structural plans submitted by Jerusalemites to ward off licensed construction, forcing these citizens to engage in so-called illegal building. • Israel attempts to change the Palestinian landscape and seize Palestinian property, land, and real estate. Covering some 700 dunums of land, the so-called “City Centre Improvement” projects constituted a culminating point in Judaisation activities tailored to change the Arab character of the city and convert East Jerusalem into a margin of services for West Jerusalem. This project was initiated in conjunction with enforcement of the Settlement (Land Registration) Law, which aims at expropriating several thousand dunums and hundreds of properties, ostensibly because they belong to absentees. It is the climax of settlement expansion projects, forced eviction of Palestinians, and elimination of any future Palestinian construction, constituting a flagrant violation of Palestinians’ right to adequate shelter as a fundamental human right. Practices and violations of the Israeli occupying authorities in Jerusalem have a significant stress and burden on functions of the Palestinian Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs (MoJA). A considerable portion of the MoJA financial resources are earmarked to address and relieve Palestinians of the impact Israeli assaults. The MoJA has spent a total of ILS 21,645,366 on follow up of cases, including home demolitions, building violations, Arnona (property tax) payments, engineering fees for protection of properties, humanitarian assistance, resilience of citizens at risk of eviction or daily abuses, lawyer fees, and Israeli court fees. Due to a deficit of incomes, the PA has been crippled by a financial crisis. As a result, the MoJA was not able to meet the needs of all Palestinian Jerusalemites, placing the Ministry under constant pressure of daily demands. Included in the Capital Development Cluster Plan which was released by the government in collaboration with the MoJA, development projects have been hampered due to the lack of donor aid in support of development initiatives. This cluster has its focus on five basic sectors, namely, education, health, tourism, housing, and the youth and women. The Situation of Human Rights in Palestine