Jerusalem to raze Silwan homes
By Meron Rapoport (Ha'aretz)
The Jerusalem Municipality has begun proceedings to raze 88 buildings housing some 1,000 residents in the Silwan neighborhood, to "restore the area to its landscape of yore," according to the city engineer, Uri Shetrit. The demolition, if it goes ahead, will be among the largest to take place in East Jerusalem since 1967.
The Silwan houses are within a neighborhood the Palestinians call "al-Bustan" and the municipality calls "King's Valley." It's located inside the wadi sloping down from the City of David, below the Old City, adjacent to the compound settled by Jews from the non-profit organization Elad. Wadia al-Fahari, who is coordinating residents' action, says that the neighborhood's earliest houses date from the 1940s and `50s, and most houses were built in the late 1980s and early `90s on private land belonging to Silwan villagers.
Shetrit issued a letter in November 2004 "ordering the removal of illegal construction in King's Valley." Shetrit's letter explained that the area is "the beginnings of Jerusalem" from 5,000 years ago, and that "King's Valley, along with the tel of David's City, constitutes an entire archaeological entity in which all of the sites are interconnected."
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If the demolition proceeds, I imagine it will be controversial.
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