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Illegal Palestinian Construction in David's Garden

[Ha'aretz] Nadav Shragai - For hundreds of years floodwaters drained into the garden of the kings of Judea, east of the Shiloah Pool in Jerusalem, which is described in the Books of Nechemiah and Ecclesiastes. The Turks and the British took care to preserve the open green area for hundreds of years as a public area, intended for preservation and development of parks and tourism. About 20 years ago, the Jerusalem municipality shored up the water runoff there, and an illegal Palestinian outpost arose. Within 18 years 88 buildings went up, causing significant and irreversible damage to antiquities, according to the director general of the Israel Antiquities Authority, Shuka Dorfman. Construction was finally halted after the Jerusalem municipality confiscated tractors and heavy machinery from the lawbreakers, and the existing buildings are being dealt with legally by means of demolition orders and indictments. After a plan for laundering the construction was initiated by the inhabitants and human rights organizations, the planning commission rejected the plan. In response, the Palestinian Authority and the Islamic Movement in Israel have begun demonstrations and initiated an outcry to protest "the intention to carry out the demolition orders in the King's Garden." While carrying out the demolition orders as written, nearly 20 years after the violation was committed, may be just, it is not wise. A more fair solution, suggested by municipal council member Yakir Segev, is to evacuate the lawbreakers and to give them compensation and land elsewhere.
2009-03-03 06:00:00
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