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CLIFF HOTEL - HISTORY SUMMARY 1954 Abdul Hadi Ali Muhammad Ali Ayyad built a residential structure for his family on part of a parcel of 3,400 sq. meters, which the family owned in Abu Dis, a Jerusalem suburb on the West Bank. 1960/1961 The residential house was expanded and turned into Cliff Hotel, located on a mountain overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem and the Judean Desert. The hotel had 32 guest rooms and was licenced by the Jordanian Ministry of Tourism. 1967 Abu Dis was occupied by Israel. From 1967 to 2003 the hotel was in all aspects treated as located in the West Bank, controlled first by the Israeli Military Government and later by the Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria. Cliff Hotel thus remained outside the border of Jerusalem Municipality. 1979/1980 A business license for the hotel was issued by the Civil Administration office in Bethlehem as part of the hotels in the West Bank, also in official Israeli tourist maps. Taxes was charged by and paid to the Civil Administration Officer. 1996 One of the owners was living in the hotel with his family and moved out in order to renovate it. A military Order was issued and IDF took control of the hotel, claiming the use for security needs. These orders can only be issued for property on occupied territory, not on area annexed by Israel in 1967, as Jerusalem. Through political pressure, involving the Norwegian government and media and friends around the world in addition to a warning by the owners’ lawyer to file a petition with the High Court of Justice, IDF evacuated the hotel after only 6 days. 1997 Renovation of the hotel began and a garden restaurant was opened. 2002 A rental Agreement was signed with Al Quds University, located in Abu Dis, and the property was used as accommodation for external lecturers. 2002 Israel started the planning of an 8 meter high concrete Separation Wall through Abu Dis. According to the original plan, all Cliff Hotel property would be lying on the West Bank side, east of the wall. However, after several changes, the Iraeli Ministry of Defence (responsible for building the wall) decided to move the wall further into Abu Dis, leaving the hotel on the Jerusalem side. This separated the family, living in Abu Dis a few hundred meter away, from their hotel. 2003 The Israeli Ministry of Defence tried to convince the family of renting the hotel to them. When the family refused, they were warned that there would be other means to take over the hotel property. It was suggested at one stage to change the planned route to go west of the hotel, on part of the hotel’s parcel, but so that the main property would remain in Abu Dis, on the eastern side of the Wall. However, after having seized the western parcel, demolished the service- and storage rooms located on the parcel and buildt a road crossing over the property, the Ministry of Defence decided to change their decision and build the Wall east of the hotel. 2003, July The Ministry of Defence initiated a request to the Custodian for Absentees’ Property, following which the property was declared ”absentee property”. This referred to that the absentee owner was Abdul Hadi Ali Muhammad Ali Ayyad, who died in 1978. 2003, August The owners of the hotel received a Land Requisition Order by the Ministry of Defence according to “The Requisition of Land in Time of Emergency Law” of 1949. This law only applies to areas under Israeli law. But during 1967–2003 Cliff Hotel was not annexed into Israel and had been treated in all aspects as being positioned on the West Bank land of Abu Dis. 2004, March 19 Information given in fax by legal adviser to the Ministry of Defence that the Ministry of Defence intended to enter into a lease agreement for the property with the Custodian for Absentees’ Property. 2004, March 22 The Custodian Office stated that it would be possible to review the request from the Ministry of Defence, only after the Attorney General approved the representation of the absentee owner. 2004, March 24 The request to the Attorney General was sent. 2004, March 31 The Attorney General promised to investigate the matter with relevant officials, and notify the owners. No responce has been received. 2004, April The owners filed an ”Injunction order” at the District Court in Jerusalem, to try to prevent the Custodian of Absentees Property to rent the hotel property to the Israeli Ministry of Defence, fearing that they would loose their legal ownership and that the property would be turned into a military base. The district court judge ruled in favour of the Ministry of Defence claims that controlling the property was vital to the security of the State of Israel. This is one of the few cases where the Absentee Property Law was activated in order to take posession of Palestinian property by changing the borders of Jerusalem. 2005, February 13 The Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik raises the issue of Cliff Hotel with the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. He promises to look into the matter. 2006, May 9 The Norwegian Foreign minister Jonas Gahr Støre and the Israeli Foreign Minister Tsipi Livni meet, and the case of Cliff Hotel is again raised. 2006, December 20 The Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg meets the Israeli Foreign Minister Tsipi Livni and the case of Cliff Hotel is once again raised with a request for clarification. 2007, February 14 Ali Ayad, one of the owners who used to run the hotel from 1979 to 1996 was requested by the Attorney General office to come for a meeting in Jerusalem. When Mr. Ayad came to the Civil Administration Office to apply for a permission to enter Jerusalem, presenting the request from the Attorney General Office, he was gravely abused, stripped twice, where upon he was requested to sign a letter saying that he had been treated well. He refused to sign the letter and requested to be released in order to return back home. 2008, June 28 Norway’s Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre visits Cliff Hotel together with Ali Ayad and his wife Signe Marie Breivik. 2008, September Several court hearings took place in Jerusalem District Court where diplomats from Norway, Sweden, EU, USA and Great Britain were present. Members of the Israeli human rights organization “Ir Amim” were also present. They translated from the hearings for the diplomats as all proceedings took place in Hebrew. 2008, September One of the owners of the hotel is announced “a security risk for the state of Israel” (although he obtained permission to enter Jerusalem one week earlier to attend the court hearings). This was communicated by his lawyer. |
| ABOUT THE EXHIBITION | |
| CLIFF HOTEL - HISTORY SUMMARY | |
| MY STORY, by Ali Ayad | |
| ABSENTEE PROPERTY LAW | |
| SETTLEMENT UPDATE | |
| THE EXHIBITION | |
| SOURCE REFERENCES | |
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