Jerusalem project raises concerns

The plan, parts of which have been outsourced to a private group that is simultaneously buying up Palestinian property for Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem, has drawn almost no public or international scrutiny. However, certain elements related to it - the threatened destruction of unauthorized Palestinian housing in the redevelopment areas, for example - have brought widespread condemnation.

But as Pope Benedict XVI prepares to visit Christian sites here this week and as the Obama administration promotes a Palestinian state with parts of Jerusalem as its capital, Israeli activity in the area, known as the holy basin - land both inside and just outside the Old City - will be cause for growing concern and friction.

"Everything Israel does now will be highly contentious," said Robert H. Serry, the UN special Middle East coordinator, on a recent tour of East Jerusalem. He warned the Israeli authorities "not to take actions that could pour oil on the fire."

The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says, however, that it will push ahead harder than ever. Interior Minister Eli Yishai said last week of the activity in one core area: "I intend to act on this issue with full strength. This is the land of our sovereignty. Jewish settlement there is our right."

As part of the plan, former garbage dumps and once derelict wastelands are being cleared and turned into lush gardens and parks, now already accessible to visitors who can walk along new footpaths and take in the majestic views, along with new signs and displays that point out significant points of Jewish history.

The parts of the city that are being developed were captured in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, but their annexation by Israel was never recognized abroad. At the same time, there is a battle for historical legitimacy. As part of the effort, archaeologists are finding indisputable evidence of ancient Jewish life here. Yet Palestinian officials and institutions tend to dismiss the finds.

In other words, while the Israeli narrative that guides the government plan focuses largely on Jewish history and links to the land, the Palestinian narrative heightens tensions, pushing the Israelis into a greater confrontational stance.

The holy basin is an infinitely complicated landscape dotted with shrines and still hidden treasures of the three major monotheistic religions. The Christian sites, like the site known as the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus was betrayed and prayed the night before his crucifixion, are run by various churches. An ancient Muslim cemetery is the property of an Islamic religious authority.

The government development plan was first agreed upon in 2005 "to strengthen the status of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel," and became operational in the past year, with the prime minister's office and the municipality jointly responsible. But no one in either office or from the private group, known as Ir David, or City of David, agreed to be interviewed. Some written responses were provided.

The tenor of those responses was that the improvement of the holy basin is for everyone's benefit - Jews, Muslims, and Christians - because it involves restoration that will draw more visitors to an area of exceptional global interest that has long suffered neglect.

The answers also made clear that Israel has no plans to negotiate yielding the area. As an official in the prime minister's office put it in his answer: "Jerusalem has been the eternal capital of the Jewish people for some 3,000 years and will remain the united capital of the State of Israel. Under Israeli sovereignty, for the first time in the history of Jerusalem, the different religious communities have enjoyed freedom of worship and the holy sites of all faiths have been protected. The government will continue to develop Jerusalem, development that will benefit all of Jerusalem's diverse population and respect the different faiths and communities that together make Jerusalem such a special city."

Israeli officials point out that when East Jerusalem was in Jordanian hands from 1949 to 1967, dozens of synagogues in the Jewish Quarter were destroyed, Jewish graves were desecrated, and Jewish authorities were largely denied access to the Western Wall or other shrines. Today Muslim and Christian authorities administer their holy sites in a complex power arrangement under Israeli control.