Let's Begin:

Israel to destroy 88 Arab homes to make room for park

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: The Jerusalem municipality wants to demolish 88 homes in an Arab neighbourhood of the city to make room for an archaeological park, according to Israeli government documents and attorneys representing the homeowners. If the courts approve the municipality’s request, (and it looks likely that they will) it will be one of the largest demolitions since Israel captured traditionally Arab east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, and would cause an uproar among Palestinians who claim that part of the city as a future capital of a Palestinian State.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat on Tuesday warned of grave damage to delicate peace efforts. "I urge the Israeli government not to do this demolition, and to give peace a chance," he said. The 88 homes are located in east Jerusalem’s Arab neighborhood of Silwan, just outside the walled Old City, an area steeped in biblical history.

The municipality wants to enlarge a small archaeological site beside the homes and turn the area into a national park, the Haaretz newspaper quoted Uri Shetrit, the Jerusalem city engineer, as saying. The park would connect several Jewish settlement enclaves in Silwan to the nearby City of David, an area of excavations dating to the biblical King David.
posted by Manchild at 6:30 PM