Another illegal act in East Jerusalem undertaken by the Israeli Government and the Municipality of Jerusalem has recently been uncovered: a plan to build a new Jewish settlement in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City near Herod’s Gate

 

Recently the Sub-committee of the Local Committee for Planning and Construction in Jerusalem has confirmed a plan to erect a Jewish neighbourhood in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.  According to the plan, 30 housing units and a synagogue will be built to accommodate some 150 people.  Professionals (Bimkom - Planners for Planning Rights) warn of the planning implications of the plan:

 

The proposed plan violates the basic planning principles of all construction in the Old City:

1.       Principles of preservation: in order to preserve the history and heritage of the Old City, any construction is limited by height and proximity to the walls of the city. The proposed plan violates these two principles.

2.       The Old City is the most densely inhabited place not only in Jerusalem but also in Israel; this density in the Muslim Quarter is 182.7 capita per dunam (5-20 capita in other neighbourhoods in Jerusalem).  In recent years planners have been working to find ways to decrease or dilute that density. Any new project aiming to house external communities will badly harm the planners’ work.

3.       In addition to the density, changing the open space, which is among the extremely few open spaces in the Old City, into a housing area will seriously harm the welfare of the people living there.

 

Besides the above planning defects and the environmental implications, we recognize the political danger inherent in the plan. Building housing units for Jews in the Muslim Quarter has far-reaching implications over the delicate social fabric of the city. The Palestinians in East Jerusalem live in socio-economic distress; therefore a permanent presence of Jews in such vicinity, in improved living conditions, would lead to provocation and a serious political and social crisis.  Not only this, but the proposed plan is also a continuation of a consistent Israeli policy whose purpose is a violation of the balance between Palestinians and Israelis in Jerusalem, creating by this policy a Jewish majority in East Jerusalem.

 

Increasing Israeli control over Palestinian land in East Jerusalem is intended unilaterally to create facts on the ground. With such policy Israel is violating international law, which does not recognize Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem, occupied in June 1967.  This is basically a political plan that gives new meaning to the term "United Jerusalem," in this way preventing any possibility for political negotiation for a just solution in Jerusalem.

 

Your letter or inquiry may make a difference.  Please write a polite but firm letter to:

Minister of the Interior, Ofir Pines-Paz, fax: 03-763 2638 and 02-566-6376 or write to pinespaz@knesset.gov.il

 

Minister for Building & Infrastructure, Isaac Herzog, fax: 02-584-7033 and 02-582-4111

 

Director of J”m District Planning, Ruth Yosef: fax: 02-624-1986 or phone: 02-629-0216

 

Jerusalem Mayor, Uri Lupoliansky, Fax: 02-629-6014

 

Rabbi Yehoshua Pollak, Chairman, Municipal Local Committee of Building & Planning: fax: 02-629-6178

 

Emails to Meir Margalit at meir@icahd.org will be hand delivered to the Municipality and copies of your letters may be sent to Bat Shalom (info@batshalom.org) or ICAHD: The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (anjie@netvision.net.il)

 

Signatories:      
AIC: Alternative Information Centre                       Bat Shalom
Gush Shalom                                                              MachsomWatch

                   ICAHD: Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
Peace Now                                                                  Ta’ayush