The Israeli government, in alliance with rightwing Jewish settler groups, is secretly executing an ambitious eight-year plan that will dramatically alter the area in and around the Old City of Al-Quds (occupied East Jerusalem) to permanently change the landscape and cement Israel’s grip on the city. “The programme is sponsored secretly by the Office of the Prime Minister and the Mayor of Jerusalem, not only without public discussion, but without the existence of the project even publicly known,” Ir Amim, an Israeli NGO, said in a statement. “It’s being done in a way that is opaque, with no public knowledge, without coordination with the churches or with the Muslim Waqf, in the precise opposite of transparent terms,” said Daniel Seidemann, its founder.
The secret plan, executed by Israel’s Jerusalem Development Authority, includes surrounding the Old City with nine national parks, trails, cable cars, escalators, tunnels and tourist sites.
The parks would be a “biblical playground” built on public and private land and would be fenced in. The sites would also create a link to Jewish settlements in Al-Quds and the West Bank. “This act will limit the possibility of territorial compromise in Jerusalem to its northern and southern parts only, outside of areas surrounding the Old City,” said Seidemann. Israel captured and occupied Al-Quds in the six-day 1967 war, then annexed it in a move not recognized by the world community or UN resolutions.