Rejecting Kedem settlement project
The “Appeals Commission in the Supreme Planning Council” rejected on Sunday night the settlement project entitled “Kedem Compound- City of David- Old City of Jerusalem” intended to be built at the entrance of Silwan south of Al-Aqsa Mosque. Wadi Hilweh Information Center- Silwan explained that the Appeals Commission in the Supreme Planning Council approved the separate appeals submitted by a group of organizations and parties (locals of Wadi Hilweh represented by lawyer Sami Arshid, the organizations of “Eir Amim” and “Amiq Shafih” and a group of Israelis academics. The center added that the Appeals Commission in the Supreme Planning Council requested Elad settlement organization who submitted the Kedem project to submit new plans (if they want to) to the District Committee under conditions and criteria specified by the appeals commission. The new plan will be then considered but the current plan cannot be ratified according to the final decision. Lawyer Sami Arshid…“Great achievement” Lawyer Arshid explained that the District Committee for Planning and Building approved the settlement project “Kedem” in April 2014, and the above mentioned organizations and parties submitted their objections to the project to the Supreme Planning Council which held several sessions to listen to the objections. Arshid added: “A decision was issued tonight to reject the project with the approval of the majority of the committee’s members.” He pointed out that three members rejected the project and three others agreed and demanded the final ratification, but the head of the committee who is entitled to give two votes in case of a “draw” made her decision in favor of the population. The lawyer added that the appeals committee conditioned Elad settlement organization to submit a new plan where the building would be small (center for visitors only) and remove the parking lots and additional rooms (meeting rooms and restaurants). The building should not be more than half the land area and should not be higher than Wadi Hilweh Street. Arshid considered the decision a “great achievement” not only for the locals of Wadi Hilweh but for the city of Jerusalem in general since the project was intended to be established across from Al-Aqsa Mosque on a wide area of land. He stressed that the rejections of the project is the beginning of a new battle as it is expected that Elad settlement organization will submit another plan which will also be appealed and refused to preserve the Arab and Islamic identity of Jerusalem, and to protect it from being Judaization. The lawyer ensured that Elad organization seeks political goals behind the project since it isolates the locals of Silwan from the natural surroundings and the Old City of Jerusalem. It also changes the city’s historic landmarks and the project is one-sided and entrenches the occupation authority and exercises the Jewish ideology only. Also, the Israeli authorities’ proposal of such projects in Palestinian neighborhoods ignores the presence of tens of thousands of residents of the city and ignores their needs because its goal is to serve "Tourism, Antiquities and settlers". Lawyer Arshid valued Wadi Hilweh Information Center for its continuous follow-up of “Kedem” settlement project since the first day of the distribution of notifications on the population. Wadi Hilweh locals’ committee… The locals ‘committee of Wadi Hilweh commented on the Appeals Committee’s decision and said: “The rejection of the settlement project shows that the committee recognized the illegality of the settlement project which violates all international laws and norms.” The locals’ committee also praised the insistence of the residents of Wadi Hilweh neighborhood and their objections to the project over the past months, and who refused all temptations to compromise on their position and stood in front of direct threats from the mayor of the occupation’s municipality. The committee confirmed their continuation of addressing any settlement projects in the area especially "Wadi Hilweh” as it protects the south part of Al-Aqsa Mosque. Kedem Compound project… It is noteworthy that the project which has the Structural engineering figure of 13542 aims at establishing a tourists’ building for the use of scientists and the Department of the Israel Antiquities in addition to building to building conference halls, educational rooms and parking lots for the tourists and settlers. Also, special areas will be allocated for tourists’ purposes, commercial stores and an office for the settlement organization of “Elad”. The settlement project will be established on the lands of the residents of Silwan which were used as farms until Jerusalem was occupied in 1967. After the occupation, the Israeli authorities confiscated the lands and demolished two rooms that were owned by Abdo family and then turned it into a parking lot. In 2003, Elad settlement organization took control of the lands and started planning for the implementation of the settlement project. The carried out continuous excavations in the area of “Dung Gate” and demolished an Islamic cemetery that was 1200 years old in addition to demolishing Umayyad, Ottoman, Byzantine and Roman ruins such as rooms, poles and arches and only left a few of them claiming they are they “ruins of the Second Temple”; note that pa of the project will be designed to show those alleged ruins.
