Jerusalem mayor unveils demolition plan
Israeli prime minister tells mayor to delay redevelopment and hold discussions with the Palestinian residents under threat
Jerusalem's mayor today unveiled a sweeping plan for an area of East Jerusalem that would see at least 22 Palestinian homes demolished to make way for a public park and tourist site.
But in a sign of the criticism the plan has already brought, the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, told the mayor to delay demolitions and hold more discussions with the Palestinian residents of the area.
Nir Barkat, the mayor, said Palestinians who lost their homes would be offered homes in the area, but it is not clear who would pay for the new houses.
"The plan is for the benefit of the residents," he said. "We have to make sure the plan is successful because the alternatives are much, much worse."
The proposal centres on an area called Bustan, part of Silwan in East Jerusalem, close to the walls of the Old City. There are 88 Palestinian homes on a site which the municipality says is an open area: none of the homes have planning permission and all have demolition orders against them.
Nearby is a building owned by Jewish settlers, known as Beit Yonatan, which the authorities have ordered be evacuated and sealed. But there is a strong movement now under way to keep the settlers in their home.
Since Israel captured and occupied East Jerusalem in the 1967 war it has been difficult for the Palestinian residents of the east to obtain planning permits. Thousands of Palestinians live with the threat of demolition.
Daniel Seidemann, an Israeli human rights lawyer, said Barkat was playing into the hands of right-wing Jewish settlers, who are increasing their influence in East Jerusalem. "He is doing the bidding of extreme settlers," Seidemann said. "These are partial demolitions and replacing Palestinian families in order to allow for a construction of a settler-inspired pseudo-Biblical park. He is making genuine public needs subservient to the ideology of the settlers."
Tensions have risen in Jerusalem over the past week since Netanyahu announced he intended to include two holy sites, revered by Jews and Muslims, in the West Bank in a separate Jewish heritage plan.
Palestinians say they are concerned the heritage project could impinge on Muslim freedom of worship. Netanyahu has said those fears are misplaced and the project was aimed only at making renovations at holy places in need of maintenance.
On Monday, an Israeli security guard was wounded by gunfire in Silwan. A day earlier, Israeli police scuffled with dozens of rock-throwing Palestinians outside al-Aqsa mosque in the Old City.