The Giant’s Garden

01/10/2012

In June 2010 the Local Planning and Building Subcommittee recommended the Jerusalem Municipality’s plan for "The King's Garden" in the heart of the Al-Bustan neighborhood of Silwan for deposit to the District Committee. Presently, the Municipality is pressuring the District Planning and Building Committee to expedite discussion of the plan. Meanwhile, the Municipality continues to pursue court proceedings for the demolition of dozens of houses in the neighborhood.

The City of David site in the center of Silwan—managed by the Elad settler organization—and additional settlements located throughout the neighborhood have intensified tension with local residents. This report finds that a much larger number of buildings in the al-Bustan neighborhood are expected to be demolished than the number originally declared by the Municipality. Furthermore, the solution offered by the Municipality—a kind of evacuation-construction plan according to which new houses will be constructed before the old ones are demolished—is not feasible; moreover, the Municipality is simultaneously working to cancel the plan.