High Court Appeal Against Construction of Road #4
The locals of Beit Safafa appealed through Lawyer Kais Yussef to the High Court against the Main Court's decision. The court had agreed to allow licensing of the construction of Road #4 planned by the Municipality of Jerusalem. This road will drastically affect life in Beit Safafa as it will demolish the area to connect northern and southern Israeli settlements in Jerusalem. During the appeal Kais Nasser asked for the roadwork to be halted. The High court ordered the municipality to respond to the appeal by next Thursday The appeal mentioned all the damages and havoc this road will cause Beit Safafa. The planned highway and will cut between, negatively affecting traffic on local roads. Furthermore a racist ideology has been shown by the planning commission as all aspects of it are well planned, the exception being the parts in Beit Safafa. There is a fear that this could be used as a means to take away more Palestinian land. The lawyer also stated that relying on the Main court decision from the earlier case in 1991 is not enough on the ground as the ruling gives no detail on the road's length or number. Following the appeal a discussion took place in Bamkum's organisation in Jerusalem. Present for this was Dr. Hanna Swed, Dr. Bassel G'attas and Haneen al Zoabi, who are in support of Beit Safafa, as well as a few planning and rights organisations. Many of locals of Beit Safafa and activists and Knesset members demonstrated against Road #4. The demonstration started from al Tantour mosque, ending at the solidarity tent in the village.
