Israel has secret plan to thwart division of Jerusalem
Akiva Eldar, Haaretz, 11 May 2009
The government and settler organizations are working to surround the Old City of Jerusalem with nine national parks, pathways and sites, drastically altering the status quo in the city. The secret plan was assigned to the Jerusalem Development Authority (JDA).
In a report presented to former prime minister Ehud Olmert on September 11 last year, the JDA described the purpose of the project as “to create a sequence of parks surrounding the Old City,” all in the aspiration “to strengthen Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel.”
The program, sponsored by the Prime Minister’s Office and the mayor of Jerusalem, is secret and did not engage in any form of public discussion.
According to an analysis by Ir Amim, a non-profit organization dedicated to Jerusalem issues that impact on Israeli and Palestinians which exposed this detailed, confidential government plan, the motivation is to create Israeli hegemony over the area around the Old City, “inspired by extreme right-wing ideology.
See also Rory McCarthy’s Guardian report (11 May) Israel ‘using tourist sites to assert control over East Jerusalem’: Peace groups say government’s secret plans with settler groups could prevent two-state solution
This refers to the work of Ir Amin as above and also that of Peace Now’s Settlement Watch Team