Invito a inviare lettere di protesta (fac-simile sotto) ai seguenti indirizzi:

Min. Interior (Ministro degli Interni) Ofir Pines, fax: 03-7632638/02-5666376, e-mail pinespaz@knesset.gov.il

Minister for Building & Infrastructure , Issac Herzog, fax: 02 584 7033 e 02 582 4111

Director of Jerusalem District Planning, (Direttore del Jersualem District Palenning), Ruth Yosef: fax: 02 624 1986 o telefona allo 02 629 0216

Jerusalem Mayor  Uri Lupoliansky, fax: 02 629 6014

Rabbi Yehoshua Pollak, Chairman, Municipal Local Committee of Building & Planning: fax: 02 629 6178

Mandate copia anche a:

Bat Shalom ( info@batshalom.org ) o ICAHD: Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (anjie@netvision.net.il)

FAC-SIMILE DI LETTERA DI PROTESTA

I am writing this letter to express my deep disagreement and concern about the decision taken by the Israeli Government within the Municipality of Jerusalem concerning the plan to build a new Jewish settlement in the Muslim quarter of the Old City. This plan is not only a violation of the International law, which does not recognise Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem, but it brings as well serious interconnected implications that needs to be taken into account and that are here summarised.

The proposed plan violates the basic planning principles of all construction in the Old City:

1. Principles of preservation: in order to preserve the history and heritage of the Old City, any construction is limited by height and proximity to the walls of the city. The proposed plan violates these two principles.

2. The Old City is the most densely inhabited place not only in Jerusalem

but also in Israel; this density in the Muslim Quarter is 182.7 capita per dunam (5-20 capita in other neighbourhoods in Jerusalem). In recent years planners have been working to find ways to decrease or dilute that density. Any new project aiming to house external communities will badly harm the planners’ work.

3. In addition to the density, changing the open space, which is among the extremely few open spaces in the Old City, into a housing area will seriously harm the welfare of the people living there.

Besides the above planning defects and the environmental implications, I recognize the political danger inherent in the plan. Building housing units for Jews in the Muslim Quarter has far-reaching implications over the delicate social fabric of the city. In this way you are preventing any possibility for political negotiation for a just and joint solution in Jerusalem.

Best regards

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