Reply #30: yes in the already Arab area of Silwan a whole 500 units

[azurnoir]

On maps issued by the Israeli government and organizations, part of what Palestinians and others consider to be Silwan is labeled City of David (Ir David in Hebrew). Since Israel gained control over East Jerusalem in 1967, Jewish organizations have sought to re-establish a Jewish presence in Silwan. In 1987, the Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations wrote to the Secretary-General to inform him of Israeli settlement activity; his letter noted that an Israeli company had taken over two Palestinian houses in the neighborhood of al-Bustan after evicting their occupants, claiming the houses were its property.<16> Wadi Hilwe, an area of Silwan close to the western wall of the Old City, wherein lies the neighborhood of Al-Bustan, has been a focus of Jewish settlement.

Ir David Foundation, a settlement organization<17><18><19><20> which Haaretz says promotes the "Judaization" of East Jerusalem,<21> and the Ateret Cohanim organization, are working to increase Jewish settlement in Silwan in cooperation with the Committee for the Renewal of the Yemenite Village in Shiloah.<22> In 2003, Ateret Cohanim set a precedent in the neighborhood, building the seven-story Beit Yehonatan development (named after Jonathan Pollard) without a permit; four years later, the courts ordered the eviction of the tenants,<23> but after a few months the city of Jerusalem approved the construction retroactively.<24> Building on ongoing housing construction in conjunction with archaeological excavation, in 2008 the Jerusalem municipality began "the process of approving a plan for a new housing complex, including a synagogue, in the heart of the Arab neighborhood of Silwan".<25>
Housing demolition and squatters

In the 1980s, Haaretz reports, the Housing Ministry "then under Ariel Sharon, worked hard to seize control of property in the Old City and in the adjacent neighborhood of Silwan by declaring them absentee property. The suspicion arose that some of the transactions were not legal; an examination committee...found numerous flaws." In particular, affidavits claiming that Arab homes in the area were absentee properties, filed by Jewish organizations, were accepted by the Custodian without any site visits or other follow-up on the claims.<26> Under the cover of the Absentee Property Law, and indirect land sales, Jews have seized Arab homes while their occupants were still living there.<27> In other cases, the Jewish National Fund has signed protected tenant agreements with ElAd , allowing the settler group to engage in construction without going through the tender process.<28>

In 2005, the Israeli government stated that it would demolish 88 Arab homes in Al-Bustan neighborhood built without permits<29> but were never found illegal in a municipal court.<30> As of 2004, more than 50 Jewish families live in the area,<31> some in homes acquired from Arabs who claim they did not know they were selling their home to Jews,<32> some in Beit Yehonatan, and some squatting in homes from which Arab families were evicted.<33>

According to the Zionist left-wing organization, Rabbis for Human Rights, ElAd has "created a method of expelling citizens from their properties, appropriating public areas, enclosing these lands with fences and guards, and banning the entrance of the local residents...under the protection of a private security force."<34> The Israeli organization Ir Amim expresses concern that "Jewish presence in the heart of Palestinian centers in East Jerusalem creates facts on the ground that may hurt the possibility of any future peace agreement....Ir Amim is also concerned that the presence of security forces in Palestinian neighborhoods will be increased in order to provide security for Jewish settlers. This presence cannot improve the already tense atmosphere in the area."<35>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silwan

I edited a statement that Israel has approved 1399 Israeli units for Silwan that is inaccurate but worth a read is this

http://palestinenote.com/cs/blogs/blogs/archive/2010/04/17/jerusalem-occupation-discrimination-and-colonization-an-answer-to-jewlicious-com.aspx