Israeli Environment Minister orders to stop the “National Park” works in Al-Tur and Esawyeh
The Israeli Haaretz newspaper said in its edition today that Minister Ameer Peretz issued his directions to the “Nature Parks Department” to stop the development of “National Park” scheme in the lands of Al-Tur and Esawyeh after showing the absence of any natural values or special archaeological remains in the area of Al-Tur and Esawyeh to transfer them to “National Parks”. Haaretz published in its edition last Monday a report indicating that an employee at the so-called “Nature and Parks Authority” said that the main objective behind the so-called “National Park” in East Jerusalem is to stop the construction in the area and it does not have anything to do with protecting nature. The newspaper quoted Palestinian and Israeli left activists that the objective of the scheme is to stop the expansion of Al-Tur and Esawyeh, while the Nature and Parks Authority claim that there are areas and monuments in the area that need to be taken care of; the Nature and Parks Authority established an advertising booth in a site overlooking the designated area in Al-Tur during “Sukkot” to provide description around the “National Park”. One of the guests recorded the employee of Nature and Parks Authority when she was talking about the location and was saying: “the idea is to keep those slopes as an open area, and initially to stop construction so the city won’t be destroyed by being expanded to those areas.”
