JERUSALEM, 1 June 2005 — A large chunk of an Arab neighborhood in Jerusalem is marked for demolition to make room for a national park that would highlight the disputed city’s Jewish history, according to municipal documents obtained yesterday by The Associated Press and comments by attorneys for the homeowners.
Palestinian officials warned of grave damage to delicate peace efforts and demanded that Israel halt the plan to raze 88 homes in the Silwan neighborhood, just below the walled Old City and near key holy sites, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
Several homeowners have been served eviction notices, but the plan still faces a crawl through Israeli courts. If approved, it would be one of the largest single demolitions since Israel captured traditionally Arab East Jerusalem — claimed by the Palestinians as a future capital — in the 1967 Middle East War, said Israeli human rights activist Danny Seidemann.
The fate of Jerusalem is one of the most explosive issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and disagreement on whether and how to divide the city between the two peoples has torpedoed peace talks in the past.
The Silwan neighborhood is located in the Kidron Valley, in one of Jerusalem’s oldest areas, steeped in history going back to the King David.
The Israeli daily Haaretz yesterday quoted the city engineer, Uri Shetrit, as saying the municipality wants to enlarge a small archaeological site next to the Silwan homes and turn the area into a national park. The park would connect several Jewish settlement enclaves in Silwan to the nearby City of David — another area of excavations.
In November, Shetrit wrote a letter to the director of the city’s construction department, describing the “national and international importance” of 5,000 year-old-archaeological remains discovered in the area.
In light of the discoveries, “I order the removal of all illegal construction in the King’s Valley,” Shetrit wrote in the letter obtained by The Associated Press. He referred to the area by its biblical name.
Israel’s Antiquities Authority said it was unaware of a plan to establish a national park in the area.
Shetrit, who did not return repeated telephone messages, wrote that the law permits the demolitions because the homes were built on land designated in 1977 as a “green area” where no construction is allowed.
