Quest to rebuild Jerusalem in the time of David opens up a valley that shadows Palestinians | The Times of Israel

2021-12-06 15:58:05 By : Mr. Yuanlin Zhang

One of Jerusalem’s newest attractions is an educational farm where visitors can learn about traditional agriculture. On-site guests can stroll on the land controlled by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA), stroll in the newly built terraces of the farm, these terraces are located in the Hinnom Valley, and view the model of the early irrigation system, the wine press and the stone mechanism from Squeeze oil from olives.

However, there are many olive trees dotted in the valley south of Mount Zion and the old city, and they are not part of the fenced farm. Instead, they were grown by Palestinian families from neighboring communities in Abu Tor and Silwan. Critics say that the landscape that these families have taken care of for generations is being replaced by the right-wing Jewish version of the agricultural traditions they practice.

"What is happening in the Hinnom Valley is infuriating. In the name of developments disguised as ancient agricultural landscapes, they are replacing traditional Palestinian agriculture that retains the historical characteristics of the area," the spokesperson for the region Uri Eli Said Uri Ehrlich. The left-wing Emek Shaveh organization, which opposed the politicization of ancient sites.

The farm was opened in August by INPA and the Ir David (City of David) Foundation, a right-wing organization-called Elad in Hebrew-accused of trying to remove the extremely sensitive Holy Basin outside the old city" Judaization".

This non-profit organization operates the archaeological site of the City of David and other national properties with a clear Jewish nationalist tendency, and settles Jewish families in the neighboring Palestinian Silwan community.

At the recent opening ceremony of the farm, the tour guides held seminars on perfume making, stone carving, weaving and other ancient handicrafts in a large number of holy classics. Barefoot children stepped on grapes, while others took pictures in biblical costumes. The security guard stands guard.

Below the valley, most of which is part of the Jerusalem Walls National Park, INPA staff and some people claiming to belong to the Ir David Foundation are laying paths, building low walls to support new terraced agriculture, and planting drip irrigation tree systems.

The Palestinian houses on both sides of the valley are just another part of the surrounding landscape.

In 1974, Israel declared the area around the old city walls a national park. The dividing line includes the Hinnom Valley, sometimes called the Ben Hinnom Valley, which was under partial Jordanian control until 1967. This area is believed to have inspired some Christian concepts of hell. It is called "Hellfire" by Christians, a burning place. In the Jewish Bible, it is identified as a place for children to sacrifice by fire.

The status of the national park does not change the original ownership of the land, but imposes various restrictions on it in terms of construction. INPA stated that it may carry out development-related work anywhere in the Hinnom Valley to protect the area and make it accessible to tourists.

A report on the park prepared for INPA in 2009 described the Hinnom Valley as "an area without any traditional ownership that presents an attractiveness to danger."

INPA still looks at land in the same way. "Unfortunately, many areas in the eastern part of the city, such as the Hinnom Valley area, are turned into ruins of arson every summer until today," it said in a statement to The Times of Israel recently. "For the benefit of tourists and residents of the area, INPA believes it has a responsibility to repair damaged areas and develop them."

But the Palestinians say that the old city and the hillside below Abtor are not untamed or unclaimed.

“We are the landowners, and we clear this land and pick the olives here every year,” said Ahmed Somrin, whose family owns properties in Abtor and Sylvan.

Somrin claims that the large tracts of land on both sides of the road pass through the canyon and extend to the intersection with the Silwan and Kidron valleys, and his family has passed on from generation to generation. But now a plot of land on the slope below Abto has been constrained by the so-called landscaping order.

As INPA itself admits, it must obtain consent before disposing of private property. But proving ownership in East Jerusalem is often complicated because the land there is not registered in the official land registry.

In order to circumvent the ownership issue of Pandora's Box, INPA has been using statutes to allow local governments to temporarily landscape or take care of land that is considered "vacant".

Land owners are prohibited from interfering with "temporary gardening", but they may appeal to the courts for changes made to their land. The order is valid for five years, but it can be extended.

Whether the valley is really empty, whether the work being done by INPA and Ir David Foundation is really temporary, depends on who you ask.

A visit to the olive grove in Somrin shows that the land is well maintained, even though it has been dried and turned yellow in the hot sun.

Olive trees do not require frequent visits by their owners to take care of them. They use rainwater to irrigate and bear fruit in autumn. When the late spring rain ceases, the bushes quickly dry out and lose their verdant vitality, but the trees remain productive.

However, the court that heard several landowners' appeals to the landscape order sided with INPA and ruled that even if some plots are well preserved, most areas subject to the landscape order still have problems with the accumulation of garbage and weeds.

After the appeal, the court ruled that INPA could not prune any olive trees, but could enter the land for clearing as a fire prevention measure.

Although the land officially designated as agricultural areas is not subject to so-called temporary gardening orders, the land in the Hinnom Valley does not have any such designation, which means that, like the rest of the valley, they may be subject to INPA’s attempts and Ir David Reconstruct biblical history.

“This area is located in the Old City Basin and is the most sensitive area of ​​Jerusalem’s history and landscape. Israel Kimche, an urban planner and senior researcher at the Israel Institute of Jerusalem, said that it must not be changed, but to retain its existing format as much as possible.” All previous plans, from the British trust period to the city’s final outline plan, clearly defined the limitations of the area’s development and the need to protect it. Strictly following these guidelines is correct. "

The Jerusalem city government refused to provide detailed information about the beautification order issued in the Hinnom Valley. Instead, it touts the "unprecedented development" that occurred in the Hinnom Valley. It said that everything is "in accordance with the required approvals and approved plans."

According to the court's ruling, INPA recently entered Somrin's property under Abu Tor and broke through a wall to do so.

On the other side of the valley road, near the place where the Somrin family planted olive trees, no landscaping order was required. There, more extensive and apparently permanent work was carried out, including new terraces supported by new walls decorated with niches with unclear functions. This work was done with the approval of the absent property custodian, a government agency that manages the treatment of absent Palestinian property, although there are still appeals pending.

Somlin said: "The Nature and Parks Service built a wall there, turned the soil, laid down the red soil, planted hundreds of years of old trees, and they didn't know where it came from." "They want to change its appearance." , So that it does not look like Arab land, but like Jewish nature."

Recently, a fence has been erected around the farm with a door that can be closed.

Although the land of the educational farm is mainly owned by the Israeli Land Administration, the fenced area extends to Palestinian private property, which may restrict access when the farm is closed.

INPA rejected Emek Shaveh's claim that the fences and gates were built without building permits. The Park Service stated that it had consulted with the competent authority of the Jerusalem city government and added that the facility is open to everyone without exception, subject to security inspections.

"The farm is open to everyone," the authorities said in a statement. "We met with locals from Abu Tor and Silwan and got their praise for turning a neglected and unattractive area into a pleasant and well-kept place."

It added that the fence is necessary "for safety and security." It said that the farm will be opened at the request of the owner.

It insists that all its activities are supported by the law and relevant court rulings.

“INPA is a professional organization. The heritage area of ​​the Old City Basin is of first-rate importance both domestically and internationally. INPA respects the rights of landowners and does not expropriate any part of the entire area,” it said in a statement.

It did not respond to a request for comment on the breaking of Ahmad Somrin's wall.

With the help of national authorities, Hinnom Valley is just the latest area in the Holy Basin to be controlled by the Ir David Foundation, including INPA.

The contract awarded by the Park Service to Ir David to develop the farm does not require a bidding process, and the contract is exempted in accordance with the rules that allow joint ventures that do not require bidding in the fields of education, culture, and religion.

INPA stated that it does advertise the project, but the rules only require it to advertise on its website for two weeks. It pointed out that all its activities related to the Ir David Foundation were carried out in accordance with the law.

Other INPA projects operated by Ir David include the archaeological site of the City of David located outside the old city’s dung gate, including Warren's Shaft, which was part of the Bronze Age water supply system; educational excavations on Mount Zion; and on the slopes of Mount Scops Archaeological soil screening project.

Between the site of the City of David and the dung gate, on the archaeological excavations under the former Givati ​​parking lot, Sir David and INPA planned to build a four-story, 172,000 square foot visitor center, known as the Kedem Complex. Among other things, the center will host the disputed cable car terminal, designed to transport tourists from Tarbia’s first stop food and entertainment center to the Hinnom Valley, to Mount Zion, and then to the old city. It is planned to erect a rope bridge over the valley to connect the building to Mount Zion on the north side.

On the south side of Hinnom Valley, Sir David opened an event hall for weddings and other events. The advertisement for Beit BaGay (House in the Valley) stated that it was “adjacent to the City of David National Park and adjacent to the Western Wall”, but did not mention that the building was only a few steps away from the Palestinian houses in Abtor.

Ir David is also active further south and plans to operate another visitor center there, which will be built in Haas Promenade near the Armon Hanatziv community. The organization has controlled access to the nearby Hasmonean aqueduct.

In the Silwan neighbourhood adjacent to the site of the City of David, the foundation is one of many groups that have acquired homes to house dozens of Jewish families who live under close guard among their Palestinian neighbors.

A statement by the Friends of Sir David refuted any view that "it is not appropriate for the Jews to acquire land in Jerusalem, the capital of the State of Israel, in any way." It said that no one would argue that Muslims and Christians should not be allowed to acquire land in Jerusalem.

Critics point out that despite the organization’s obvious political leanings, INPA appears to be controlling websites of national importance in the hands of Sir David, allowing him to control the narrative and eliminate controversial views.

"All the work carried out by clearly political institutions and the desire to Judaize the area at all costs are [to say the least] undesirable," said Kimche, a city planner. "This is not just my personal opinion. Many architects and planners are worried about the future of this sensitive area."

A 2016 State Auditor-General’s report detailed the way in which many important archaeological sites in Jerusalem were subcontracted to the foundation without bidding, and criticized INPA and the Israeli Land Administration and other institutions because of their impact on these areas. The mode of operation has been effectively supervised and transferred.

Related documents show that INPA invests 100,000 New Shekels (US$31,000) each year in the Hinnom Valley Farm Project alone, which is insignificant compared to the amount invested by the Sir David Foundation: up to 5 million New Shekels (over 1.5 million US dollars) ).

Most of the foundation’s funding comes from abroad, especially the Sir David’s Friends Foundation, which is registered in New York. In 2019, the US fundraising agency transferred nearly 30 million U.S. dollars to this Israeli organization. Considering that it is neither a hospital nor a university, this is a considerable amount for an Israeli non-profit organization.

Tax filings for 2019 show that it received 15 million U.S. dollars from one donor, while five others received 500,000 to 1.5 million U.S. dollars in donations.

According to Israeli law, the source of large donations must be disclosed, but since the Friends of Sir David is registered as a 501(c)(3) charity in the United States, it is exempt from disclosing the identity of its donors under U.S. law, which means The foundation is operating a public heritage site using sources of funds that are basically unknown to the Israeli public.

A separate tax document shows the names of at least some of the donors or charitable trusts that supported the Sir David Foundation through its US fundraising arm in 2019. They include the late casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam, who donated $3,333,334, WhatsApp founder Jan Koum donated $3 million, and dozens of others donated more Small donations, from a series of Jewish federations to the late Jeopardy host Alex Trebek and his wife Jean.

The task of the Committee of Friends of Sir David is to ensure that the funds given to the Israeli mothership are used for the intended purpose of the donors and comply with the US guidelines for charitable donations; in its tax declaration, the organization’s board of directors has developed a detailed plan from the requirements The recipient opens the account book to personally check the progress of the project.

In the case of Sir David, this negligence is basically equivalent to the fox guarding the chicken coop: the two members of the seven-person board are actually the recipients of the funds-David Bieri, who is the Israeli University The head of the Sir David Foundation, and Yehuda Mali, another leader of the organization.

In the UK, another fundraising agency operated with smaller reported donations. Be'eri and Maly accounted for two-thirds of the board until Be'eri resigned in July and was replaced by Ir David Foundation Vice President Doron Spielman and another person .

In a statement, Friends of Sir David stated that its donors fully understand how their funds are used and described themselves as "one of the best examples of proper governance of a non-profit organization."

"The Friends of Sir David strictly abides by US tax regulations, through our board of directors and the proper procedures we have implemented. Our successful work for approximately 21 years is the best proof of our healthy business practices," it said.

The Sir David Foundation said in a statement that the “generous donations” of its foreign fundraising agencies are legally reported and contribute to the recovery of the area.

"Regions that have been neglected and deprived for many years have benefited from government, municipal and private investment in recent years," it said. "The desolate hills under Mount Zion are turning green, and the farmland is bearing fruit."

This article is based on the original Hebrew text published by Zman Israel, a sister newspaper of The Times of Israel.

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