The Nature and Parks Authority attemps to seize a land adjacent to the walls of Al-Aqsa Mosque
The so-called "Nature and Parks Authority" attempted on Sunday early morning to confiscate a land adjacent to the walls of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Wadi Hilweh Information Center was informed that large Israeli forces including police and Special Forces along with employees from the Nature and Parks Authority and several guards raided a land owned by Husseini and Ansari families. They built a fence of barbed wire around the land and brough tin plates with them.
The Center explained that the land is close by Bab Al-Rahmeh cemetery and across from the northern eastern wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The center pointed out that the guards were placing the barbed wires around the land to separate it from the cemetery.
According to Husseini family, the land is 7000 square meters and the Nature and Parks Authority raided the land without prior notice and the family's lawyer headed to the Israeli court to stop the works inside the land.
Lawyer Mohammad Walid Alayan...Assault on private property
Lawyer Mohammad Alayan explained that the land is owned by Baha'y Ansari and Bisher Husseini and is 7000 square meters. The Nature and Parks Authority claims to put barbed wires around the land to prevent the cemetery from spreading to the land and claimed the intention of establishing a "national park".
Lawyer Alayan explained that he requested the Nature and Parks authority to present the order they have which allows them to work in the land after they claimed to be working legally and that they obitaned the order three months ago.
Alayan described what happened by "assaulting a private property owned by Husseini and Ansari families" which is against the Israeli law.
According to the Israeli law, no official party can confiscate a land without informing the owners.
He pointed out that the workers stopped working after placing the barbed wires on large parts of the land until the Nature and parks authority brings the order the claim to have.
The lawyer also said that the "Antiquities Department" claim that graves are being built in a land planned to be a national park and that is why they placed the barbed wires.
The lawyer added that they placed the barbed wires of 600-700 meters of the land without having an order from the court (they claim to have one) and after checking with the Magistrate court, it was revealed that they were talking about a different land which have an order from the court in 2013.
