The Israeli mayor of Jerusalem was yesterday to announce the building of a new archeological park that could require the demolition of dozens of Arab homes and fuel unrest.
Mayor Nir Barkat’s office, in a statement, said the afternoon announcement would concern a project in the King’s Garden, the Hebrew name for the area outside the Old City known as al-Bustan to its mostly Arab residents.
The area is part of the so-called Holy Basin, believed to be the site of ancient Jerusalem during the time of the biblical kings David and Solomon.
Now it is a crowded Arab neighborhood in a part of the city occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move not recognized internationally.
If the project goes ahead it could fuel further outrage following clashes in Jerusalem earlier this week between Palestinians and Israeli police in and around the flashpoint al-Aqsa mosque compound, revered by Jews and Muslims.
Israeli media reported that the plan calls for the destruction of dozens of houses built without Israeli permits, some of which are decades old, and for their owners to be compensated with businesses inside the new park.
The project was also expected to legalize a seven-story building constructed by Jewish settlers without a permit in 2004 in the same neighborhood.
At the time Barkat protested the order to seal the building, saying it would require him to carry out some 200 demolition orders in the same neighborhood.
“Law enforcement activity in Jerusalem, especially in its east, could be highly explosive,” Barkat told the court, referring to the demolition of Palestinian homes in east Jerusalem in the past that has led to clashes.
Many Palestinians in east Jerusalem risk having their homes razed because they were built or expanded without the necessary permits which are nearly impossible to obtain from Israeli authorities.
Several Western countries have urged Israel to refrain from such demolitions, to avoid further harming the already hobbled Middle East peace process.
Israel captured east Jerusalem with the rest of the West Bank in 1967 and annexed it. The Palestinians have demanded the eastern part of the city as the capital of a future state.
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