The Kedem Center hearing has been stopped and postponed to the end of May

March 19, 2015

During the hearing about Kedem Center, we learned that one of the hearing committee members is the son of Giora Solar, the conservation consultant for the Kedem plan, hence forming a conflict of interests. We in Emek Shaveh argued that the son’s participation in the Committee should be cancelled and the hearing be delayed. The Committee accepted and postponed the hearing.

The discussion that began today in the National Planning and Construction Appeals Committee was stopped in the middle when we learned that a Committee member and a representative of the Ministry of Environment is the son of Giora Solar – Kedem’s conservation advisor. Solar is an architect and a familiar figure in the archaeological community in Israel. Following a brief phone inquiry the head of the committee claimed that Solar is not involved in the Kedem plan and that his name was written in error.

At this point we claimed that his involvement in the project could not be determined via phone inquiries. We also argued that since a significant portion of our claims deal archaeological conservation, Giora Solar’s involvement is very relevant and that son’s presence on the Committee is problematic, It was decided to postpone the hearing of 27 and 28 May.

The struggle is still far from over and we will continue to update, act and think about how to prevent the construction of the Kedem Center in the heart of historic Jerusalem.

For information about the appeal and the Kedem Center plan, click here.

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