Press Release: Kedem Compound Appeal
An appeal regarding the building of Kedem Center in the village of Silwan will be held on Thursday, March 12, and will be the last deliberation of the Planning Committee before making its final decision
‘Kedem Center,’ an initiative of Elad Foundation in the village of Silwan, is the greatest monumental structure ever designed a few dozen meters from the Temple Mount / Haram al-Sharif. Construction of the building will have great weight in determining the political future and the character of the Old City of Jerusalem and Silwan
‘Kedem Center’ is a building of 16,000 square meters, designed to consist of seven floors, nearly reaching the height of the Old City walls. The complex would be built in front of the Old City walls, atop an archaeological excavation area called Givati Parking Lot. It is likely to become a major tourist center in Jerusalem. Elad Foundation and the Israeli government plan to establish the ‘Hall of the Bible,” a government center whose aim is to bring the biblical stories to the public.
It will form a central stronghold of the settlers in the Historic (Holy) Basin of Jerusalem, just a few meters from the Temple Mount / Haram al-Sharif. Our understanding is that the Kedem Center is a political obstacle to any solution based on the division of Jerusalem’s Old City, and is likely to fan the religious and national tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.
The organization Emek Shaveh, along with other organizations and residents of Silwan, appealed the Regional Committee’s decision to approve the construction of the complex. On Thursday, March 12, 2015, the appeals subcommittee of the National Planning and Building will meet for a last debate before its approval or non-approval of the plan. We contend that the compound would cause a dramatic and irreversible shift in the character of Silwan and the quality of life of its inhabitants.
In the hearing we will claim, together with a group of archaeologists who signed the opposition, that approval of the plan means permanent damage to the archaeological remains found in the excavations, and that the optimal treatment of the antiquities is to leave them as an open public area. The Old City of Jerusalem, recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, must retain its historic character. The space around the Old City walls is a buffer zone; therefore construction in this area should be prevented. In addition, we will present documents and the major findings of Emek Shaveh’s report, A Privatized Heritage: How the Israel Antiquities Authority Relinquished Jerusalem’s Past.
This report indicates that in the past, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) resisted massive construction in the archaeological site, but over the years it adjusted its policy to the purposes of Elad Foundation and right-wing governments. We will claim that the IAA’s role is to protect the historic character of Jerusalem, and not to allow the construction of the complex – whose motivations are economic and ideological. It is important to note that without the consent of the IAA, it would have been impossible to submit the plan to the Regional Committee in the first place, and the compound could not be built.
It appears that once again, the antiquities have become a fig leaf for the settlers’ takeover of the most sensitive locations in the national and religious conflict in Israel. Bible stories and the City of David are once again a hot commodity in Elad’s shopping mall.
For more information on the objections and on ‘Kedem Center,’ click here.
Back to top