Israeli authorities have revoked a controversial plan to incorporate famous Christian holy sites on Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives into a national park following strong opposition from churches, rights and peace activists.
Isarel’s Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) announced on Feb. 21 that it was backing down from a plan intended to expand Jerusalem Walls National Park to a large section of the Mount of Olives, Associated Press reported.
The Mount of Olives in Jerusalem’s Old City contains some of the holiest sites of three major monotheistic faiths — Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
The initial plan for expansion of the park also sought to include parts of the Kidron and Ben Hinnom Valleys. The government said expansion of the park was necessary “for greater conservation and improvement in the area” as well as “for cleaning and reforestation initiatives.”
The plan, Israeli authorities said, only intended to safeguard the natural and historical heritage of the area from an environmental point of view, and would not formally affect the property rights of private individuals or church entities that own the land.
It was expected to be approved by Israel’s National Planning Committee on March 2.
Under the guise of protecting green spaces, the plan appears to serve an ideological agenda that denies the status and rights of Christians in Jerusalem
Announcing the freezing of the plan, the INPA said it has “no intention of advancing the plan in the planning committee and it is not ready for discussion without coordination and communication with all relevant officials, including the churches, in the area.”
Israel’s turnaround follows strong opposition from the Greek Orthodox Church, Armenian Church and Catholic Church as well as rights groups.
In a joint letter to Israel’s Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg on Feb. 18, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theopolis III, Catholic Custodian of the Holy Land Francesco Patton and Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem Nourhan Manougian strongly criticized the plan and demanded steps for its immediate cancellation.
“Under the guise of protecting green spaces, the plan appears to serve an ideological agenda that denies the status and rights of Christians in Jerusalem,” the letter said.
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The church leaders also expressed “gravest concern and unequivocal objection” to the plan and said it would disrupt a longstanding state of affairs and “confiscate and nationalize one of the holiest sites for Christianity and alter its nature.”
The church leaders reportedly sent the letter to the consuls general of France, Turkey, Italy, Greece, Spain, the UK, Belgium and Sweden in Jerusalem.
Farid Jubran, general counsel of the Catholic Church’s Custody of the Holy Land, alleged that the plan was a strategic and nationalistic move by Israel aimed at “putting the control in the hands of people who have no other agenda but to wipe off any non-Jewish characteristic on this mountain.”
Israeli rights groups and peace activists described the plan as an attempt by Israel to marginalize Palestinian residents in Jerusalem and to intensify Jewish religious and nationalist significance on the Mount of Olives, Associated Press reported.
In a joint statement, rights groups Bimkom, Emek Shaveh, Ir Amim and Peace Now said the plan was part of “various mechanisms used by Israel in east Jerusalem to entrench its sovereignty, to marginalize non-Jewish presence and to prevent much needed development of Palestinian neighborhoods, hereby increasing the pressure to push them out of the Old City basin.”
Following victory in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Israel occupied and annexed east Jerusalem with its Jewish, Christian and Muslim holy sites.
Despite strong international uproar, then US president Donald Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on Dec. 6, 2017
The holy city is the epicenter of more than a century-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has claimed thousands of lives. Palestinians consider east Jerusalem as the capital of their future independent state, while Israel view the city as its capital.
Despite strong international uproar, then US president Donald Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on Dec. 6, 2017, and announced moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Walls National Park opened in 1970s, but Israel carefully avoided including much of the Mount of Olives that holds over a dozen historical Christian holy sites when the state drew a border for the project, according to the Times of Israel. Among the Christian holy sites are the Bridgettine Sisters Monastery, Church of Viri Galilaei, Grotto of Gethsemane and the Garden of the Apostles.
Israel had planned a “phase two” of the project for expansion of the park but didn’t move ahead, fearing a backlash from Christians and Muslims.
Critics say the revival of the project demonstrated Israel’s broader nationalist strategy aimed at “encircling” the Old City of Jerusalem.
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