For over a year, the Rev’d Canon Don Binder, Chaplain to Archbishop Hosam, has been drawing attention to activities of a settler group in East Jerusalem.
His particular focus has been an area of the Mount Zion stretching down to the Hinnom Valley, otherwise known as Gehenna, the Biblical Hell. A year ago, a new pedestrian bridge was opened traversing the valley. This is not a tourist attraction for pilgrims since all the signs about its use are in Hebrew, and it connects with an area seized from Palestinians and now designated as a park to which access is controlled.
Now a new path connecting with the bridge has been cut out of the southern edge of Mount Zion, and it is currently being paved.
In a recent post Don explains why this action is controversial. “This structure is controversial on several counts. Not only does it mar an historic biblical site, but it also connects the for-profit event hall of the radical settler group Elad on one side to nothing but a parking lot on the other. It's literally a public works project that exists principally to expand the available parking area for patrons of the hall.
When completed, this new pathway will connect the bridge to overflow parking near the top of the steep slope, even as it further scars the side of Mt. Zion.
Additionally, plantings have recently been made on both sides of the valley, presumably expanding the footprint of an agricultural park down below—one also controlled by the settler group.
In concert with the planned cable car connecting West Jerusalem with the City of David (also run by Elad), this latest set of projects is part of a concerted effort to 'Judaize' an area of East Jerusalem where Palestinians have lived for centuries, even as they are now slowly being forced out.”
In a statement this month, reflecting on the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, the Archbishop of Canterbury has also expressed concern about the indiscriminate seizing of Palestinian land, and Israel’s failure to recognise its responsibilities with regard to occupation.
He said: “Having visited our Palestinian Christian brothers and sisters many times over recent decades, it is clear to me that the regime imposed by successive Israeli governments in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is one of systematic discrimination. Through annexing Palestinian land for illegal settlements depriving Palestinians access to their own natural resources, and imposing a system of military rule that denies them safety and justice, the State of Israel has been denying the Palestinian people dignity, freedom and hope”
Canon Don concludes his post, “If there are any good intentions involved in the paving of this pathway (to Hell), they are strictly for the benefit of one group over another.”
06/08/2024