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Some companies owned by Roman billionaire and owner of English football club Chelsea Roman Abramovich have donated ১০ 100 million to an Israeli company working to establish a Jewish settlement in occupied East Jerusalem. The name of this organization of Israeli settlers in occupied East Jerusalem is Elad. An investigation by the BBC’s Arab division has revealed this information.
They call Silvan ‘Go David’, a Hebrew name meaning ‘City of David’.
It was established in 1986. Since then, Elad has completed the settlement of Jewish families in some 75 houses in Silwan.
This organization also works in the field of tourism. More than a million tourists visit archaeological sites in the City of David each year. And they manage those tourist attractions.
Shahr Shilo is Elad’s former chief marketing officer. He tells the BBC that Elad’s strategy is to use tourism to create a different political reality in the City of David.
Elad relies on donors to fund its work. From 2005 to 2017, half of the money they received as donations came from four companies in the British Virgin Islands (BVI).
But the names of those behind these companies were unknown to everyone, at least until now.
Finsen files
Some of the banking sector documents that have recently been leaked under the name ‘Finsen Files’ contain the names of the four BVI donor companies.
In these documents, banks have reported information on their financial transactions and company ownership.
The documents were leaked to BuzzFeed News, which they shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and the BBC.
Roman Abramovich’s name appears in all of these documents. He owns Chelsea, an English Premier League football club.
The ultimate owner of the three companies that donated money to Elad is Abramovich, the so-called “beneficial owner.” It also controls the fourth company.
According to Elad’s account, the amount paid by these companies will be more than 100 million pounds at the current exchange rate.
This means that Roman Abamovich has donated the most money to Elad in the last 15 years.
Archaeological excavations
There is much controversy over the laws under which archaeological excavations are carried out in the occupied territories.
The way Israel is allowing Elad to conduct archaeological excavations at Silwan may be a violation of international law.
Israel is also believed to be violating international law by allowing it to settle in the occupied territories.
But Israel does not consider the area “occupied” and rejects these notions.
Elad says that conducting archaeological excavations here is necessary to preserve the cultural heritage of the Jews.
Elad told the BBC that they complied with Israeli laws and regulations related to non-profit organizations and the conditions to maintain transparency.
When asked if Roman Abramovich was one of his donors, Elad said that his policy was to protect the privacy of donors.
A spokesperson for Abramovich told the BBC: “Abramovich is a dedicated and generous supporter of Israeli and Jewish civil society. Over the past 20 years, he has donated more than £ 500 million to health care, science, education. and the Jewish community in Israel and other parts of the world. “
Without this funding, Elad would not have been able to work so quickly and successfully with the goal of strengthening the Jewish presence in the Palestinian territories.
Property Law
Some of the houses inhabited by the settlers have been bought from their former Palestinian owners.
But Palestinian families have been evicted from other homes through a controversial Israeli law called the Absent Property Law.
Through this law, Israel can seize the homes of Palestinians who have fled or fled because of the conflict.
Sumarin House is at the center of such an incident.
Its location is right next to the Elade tourist center. There are 19 members of a family living there, the youngest is less than two months old.
Amal Sumarin, the mother of the family, said: “I came to live here after getting married. My husband lived then with his uncle Hajj Musa Sumarin.
“After the death of his wife, he would take care of her, cook and feed her. While she bathed, my husband helped her, took her to the doctor. She would tell me, honey, this house is yours. This house is for you and your husband “.
Musa Sumarin died in 1973. Four years later, in 1967, Israel took possession of the house under the Law of Absence.
The house was sold to Hemnuta, an affiliate of the Jewish National Fund or JNF.
The stated goal of the JNF is to buy land and build houses on behalf of the Jewish people.
In 1991, Hemnuta petitioned the court to evict the Sumerian family from their home. The legal battle has continued ever since.
The Palestinian Authority and some non-governmental organizations are helping to fund the Sumerians.
Mohammad Dahle has been Sumerian’s attorney for the past 10 years. He tells the BBC that if a Palestinian home is declared Jewish or Israeli property, the chances of it surviving are slim to none.
Really so. In August, the Sumerian family lost their appeal in a Jerusalem district court.
Now they have appealed to the Supreme Court of Israel. The case will be known there in April 2021.
Legal war
The Arab section of BBC News learned that Elad is trying to advance the date of the eviction.
Therefore, they have agreed to pay all the legal costs involved in this case. This was stated in a letter written to Hemnuta in 1991.
Apart from that, they are also paying the cost of eviction cases for some more families in the Silwan area.
Hemnuta did not answer any questions about the case. They have not confirmed whether Elad is still paying the case.
Elad says that all of his houses and lands are neutral and legally available.
“In the City of David, no Palestinian has been evicted from their homes without a court of law, the opportunity to present lawsuits and trials, and due process,” says Dron Spielman.
But Mohammad Dahle says: “The situation here is that one ethnic group is making laws for their own interests, and other ethnic groups are suffering because of those laws.
Along with funding, Ela’s influence has also increased.
The United States Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, is a strong supporter of Israeli settlements and also attended an opening ceremony in the City of David.
When the United States recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in 2019, Friedman was one of its patrons.
Additionally, when President Donald Trump announced his peace plan in 2020, many of the Elade sites were listed as historical and spiritual sites that needed to be preserved.
All of these places are busy areas.
Source: BBC
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