Issues of Judaization of occupied Jerusalem are intertwined and condensed in very complicated forms, so the various occupation arms leave one inch of this city without being targeted by an institution, organization or plan, in a feverish pursuit to change the reality of the occupied city, and forge its history, and what relates to the spirit of this cultural, artistic, urban and civilizational city, using various means and means, most notably the most prominent festivals that are organized In occupied Jerusalem.
Parallel to the prevention of Palestinian cultural activities in occupied Jerusalem, and the suppression of any popular efforts in this regard, the occupation authorities and their arms are evaluating a number of major Judaization activities, taking culture, arts, food and others as a cover for this deliberate counterfeiting, most of which are concentrated in the summer, through which a number of historical and archaeological features are targeted, and we highlight in this article on a number of this article Festivals, among them “the Jerusalem International Film Festival, Lights, Otto Food, Shish Bish”, and others.
The most prominent festivals held by the arms of the occupation
Occupied Jerusalem is witnessing a large number of festivals, and in the following models we focus on festivals that are held entirely or partially in the eastern part of occupied Jerusalem, through which the occupation arms target some of the parameters of Jerusalem:
1- The Jerusalem International Film Festival:
It is an international festival held in occupied Jerusalem annually, and it is the most prominent cinematic festivals organized in the occupied territories, and it is usually held in July of every year, and its activities are launched in one of the archaeological sites in occupied Jerusalem, which is “the pools of the Sultan”.
The participating cinematic films are displayed, Israeli or foreign, in this archaeological site and in the galleries and halls in the western part of occupied Jerusalem, as well as organizing lectures, seminars and workshops for the settler audience, and the film winning the “Vollen” award for Israeli cinema – which is the most prominent festival award – is shown in an open place.
The 2025 session of the festival will be held between 17 and 26 July. In 2024, in conjunction with the extermination in the Gaza Strip, the festival’s organizers announced the participation of about 70,000 settlers in its activities.
2- “Israel” Culture Festival:
It is one of the most prominent cultural festivals in the occupied territories in general, and in Jerusalem in particular, and it is held in the spring of each year and extends for several weeks and its activities are concentrated in the western part of occupied Jerusalem.
His activities began in 1961 in the occupied city of Caesaria, then moved to occupied Jerusalem in 1982, in parallel with the diversity of the areas of interest in this festival, it included folk dance, acting, jazz music, and plastic arts, in addition to lectures by experts in arts and culture, and the Israeli and international artistic teams offer dance shows and singing in a number of places of the western part Occupied Jerusalem.
3- “Autofood” Festival:
One of the summer festivals in occupied Jerusalem, and aims to attract tourists to the Judaization activities in the city, and is held in the Wadi Al -Rababah neighborhood in the town of Silwan, south of the blessed Al -Aqsa Mosque, and the festival includes a food collection, platforms for concerts, stalls for selling and drinking wine, mobile cafes, and activities for adults and children, as the occupation municipality promotes this festival. For years, with the aim of attracting thousands of settlers from the city of Jerusalem and abroad.
4- Al-Anwar Festival in Jerusalem:
A Judaic art festival organized in the two parts of occupied Jerusalem, and is concentrated in the Old City, and the occupation authorities are the most prominent festivals attracting tourists, during which the old town turns into dance, singing, and noisy artistic shows that distort the centrality and location of the old town, and a number of official authorities, including the occupation municipality, the Jerusalem development authority, the Jerusalem and Heritage Office.
The festival will be held annually in the summer, and its activities are concentrated during the night hours after sunset until late, during which huge lights, laser shows and sound effects are used, to display figures, artistic forms and repercussions of these shows on archaeological sites in occupied Jerusalem, in addition to organizing noisy night concerts, free group paths and tours. These light offers are linked to the occupation’s account of Jerusalem, and other Judaic elements.
The Judaid Festival activities target a number of sacred and archaeological sites in the eastern part of occupied Jerusalem, which are the area of the occupied Al -Buraq Wall, the Umayyad Palaces Square, south and west Jaffa.
On the name of the festival, the occupation arms use the Jewish “lights” feast to form an additional platform for targeting the identity of the city, under the cover of celebrating this holiday, during which the occupation arms publish large numbers of “candlesticks” in the two parts of occupied Jerusalem, and the occupation municipality erects huge candlesticks lit in the courtyard of the occupied Al -Buraq Wall, and in other areas inside and outside the old town.
These arms decorate the public squares and the streets surrounding the lights, especially in the western part of occupied Jerusalem, and in neighborhoods that witness heavy settlement presence in the eastern part of the city.
5- “Shish Bish” festival:
It is a normalization event held by the occupation municipality in the new Bab area, and imposed by the occupation municipality annually in the honors and shops of Jerusalem and their near the ancient Jerusalem walls. The settlers usually attend.
6- The alcohol festival in the historical cemetery of God:
In 2016, Palestinian sources revealed the intention of a number of Israeli companies to organize a wine festival on the land of the Muslim historical Muslim cemetery in occupied Jerusalem, under the auspices of the occupation municipality at the time.
Places targeted by these festivals
The aforementioned data show that a number of Israeli festivals focus in a number of archaeological sites in occupied Jerusalem, but some are organized near the walls of the Al -Aqsa Mosque and on some historical Islamic cemeteries, but some of these Israeli festivals take from the archaeological places major platforms for their activities, to the conclusion of their activities, and of course in sites that have intensive Islamic symbols, and among these targeted sites, among these sites, and among these targeted sites, “Blessings of the Sultan” emerge as one of the archaeological sites that distort annually through the activities of the “Jerusalem International Film Festival”.
Some of these festivals are close to the Al -Aqsa Mosque, such as the “Autofood” festival in the Wadi Al -Rababah neighborhood of Silwan, south of the blessed Al -Aqsa Mosque, targeting a region with a high historical and religious symbolism, and the Anwar Festival, which focuses in its optical performances on the walls of occupied Jerusalem, and takes from the Old City a theater for its light and artistic performances, in the promotion of the occupation’s narration and its symbols, on a huge group Among the Arab and Islamic monuments, similar to the Umayyad Palaces Square, south and west of Al -Aqsa Mosque, Bab Al -Amoud, and others.
There is no doubt that the choice of these places is not absurd, and is clearly consistent with the policies of other occupation, aimed at imposing the occupation control over large parts of occupied Jerusalem, and distorting these authentic historical monuments.
These practices confirm that festivals are nothing but an attempt by the occupation arms to benefit from the cultural and artistic cover to Judaize these monuments related to the history and reality of Jerusalem, in the context of a systematic and gradual policy to reshape the identity of Jerusalem in the city in the context of the struggle between the emergency and Arab-Islamic-Islamic.
Support for these festivals
The detailed data of these festivals reveal the parking of Israeli official bodies behind it, such as the occupation municipality, the authority of “Development of Jerusalem”, the Jerusalem office, heritage, the authority of Israeli antiquities and others.
In a related context of funding, the data of the Jerusalem Post in 2006, and before the organization of the festival’s 45th edition, revealed the sources of funding for the “Israel Festival” for culture, during which it revealed the festival sponsoring institutions about 2.5 million shekels, along with 3.5 million shekels provided by the Ministry of Culture in the occupation government, and the festival supporters list includes a number of banks that ranged in the amounts that ranged It was provided by between 100 thousand and 250 thousand shekels, and the support list included half a million shekels submitted by the occupation municipality in Jerusalem.
Financial support does not stop at the direct support of the festival, but rather includes preparing the infrastructure for the place where it is held, and if it is held in an archaeological place, these projects become several dimensions that include the Judaization of the region and the opening of the way for more settlers and foreign tourists to participate in these events. Examples of these projects include what the occupation municipality announced in Jerusalem 12/27/2022, in the context of targeting the archaeological pool of the Sultan, in cooperation with the “Jerusalem Fund Foundation” and the authority of antiquities, nature and parks.
These Judaization arms monitored a huge budget of about 100 million shekels (about 30 million US dollars at the time), provided that it includes increasing the number of seats in the stage running that was held in the place of the blessing, to accommodate 7,000 people, in addition to the establishment of a café, garden and environmental pool, so that the Al -Baraka site will turn according to the municipality’s description to “the most beautiful area of concerts and night life in Israel.”
Induction the consequences of the consequences
The various occupation arms employ these artistic and cultural activities in the context of changing the cultural and historical scene of occupied Jerusalem, as these huge activities are not limited to the goal of entertainment only, but also use the heavy mass attendance and the messages that these festivals carry, up to their residence sites as continuous attempts by the occupation to change the cultural scenery of occupied Jerusalem and the authentic historical narration of it, and forgery The truth of the Jewish presence in Jerusalem, and it is important to focus on a number of its effects, namely:
- Bid Palestinian identity and highlight the Israeli novel, by employing cultural and artistic events to rebuild the cultural scene of occupied Jerusalem, and the related these attempts to present the occupied city as the capital of the occupying state on cultural and artistic ascending, in parallel with attempts to establish it as a political and administrative capital of the occupying state.
In exchange for this large number of events, the occupation arms are working to prevent the organization of Palestinian activities, and suppress any Palestinian cultural activity in the eastern part of occupied Jerusalem, but the occupation authorities close civil institutions with intellectual and cultural targets, in an attempt to end any Palestinian attempt to revive the cultural situation in the eastern Jerusalem part.
- Falsify the historical and archaeological features of Jerusalem, distort the symbolism of these sites, change their historical function, and prevent Palestinians from approaching or visiting them.
- Enhancing the infrastructure of settlement events, under the pretexts of festivals or the establishment of major events and others, which is a long -term civilization targeting, which makes this structure a cover that hides the true treasures of Jerusalem.
- Strengthening settlement presence in the eastern part of Jerusalem, by attracting settlers to this part, and a large part of these activities focuses in this part.
- The re -export of the Israeli narrative, in every Judaization event carried out by the occupation arms, and promoting symbols, connotations and Jewish and Zionist ideas, at the expense of the authentic narrative, and the generally related to the general situation related to adornment and security and suffocating the lives of the Palestinians to organize such huge activities.
The opinions in the article do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al -Jazeera.