Pruned: More Spatial High Jinks 2: How to Build a Park in Jerusalem

More Spatial High Jinks 2: How to Build a Park in Jerusalem

(Photo by Rina Castelnuovo for The New York Times.)

Last week, we read in The New York Times that “Israel is quietly carrying out a $100 million, multiyear development plan in some of the most significant religious and national heritage sites just outside the walled Old City here as part of an effort to strengthen the status of Jerusalem as its capital.”

As part of the plan, garbage dumps and wastelands are being cleared and turned into lush gardens and parks, now already accessible to visitors who can walk along new footpaths and take in the majestic views, along with new signs and displays that point out significant points of Jewish history.

To be intentionally obvious and understated, the plan is controversial.

(This is the second in a series of five time-saver nanoposts of somewhat related items.)

2 COMMENTS —

Lucas Gray
May 23, 2009 at 5:22:00 AM CDT
Focussing these parks and signs on Jewish history might be a bit of a mistake but why would cleaning garbage dumps and turning them into parks be controversial? It sounds like a good idea to me.

-Lucas Gray
www.talkitect.com

Anonymous
May 28, 2009 at 4:20:00 PM CDT
"Jerusalem is an occupied city. The displacement of Palestinians from the Holy city has been achieved in two stages: The first stage in May 1948 with the occupation of what came to be known as West Jerusalem, and the eviction by force of its Arab inhabitants. The second stage took place after the occupation of East Jerusalem in the 1967 war when Israel began an intensive process of colonization by confiscating Palestinian property and building housing and associated infrastructure on a unilaterally annexed and expanded territory across the Green Line and by moving Jews into the occupied part to change its demographic balance. The 1967 annexation of occupied East Jerusalem included not only the area of the Municipal boundaries of Arab Jerusalem as these existed in ‘67 but also other parts of the West Bank. Consequently, East Jerusalem as it is known today is three times the size it was in 1967.

"The Israeli development program was designed as to create an essentially unified metropolitan complex spread over what were once borderlines and to ensure the encirclement and the disintegration of the territorial and demographic spread of the eastern and once entirely Arab populated part."

(League of Arab States Information Center in Washington, D.C.)

Thus building a park, however pretty it may be, represents squatting and continued forced eviction.

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	More Spatial High Jinks 2: How to Build a Park in Jerusalem Thursday, May 21, 2009 #parks:theme #parks:urban #sacred_plains (Photo by Rina Castelnuovo for The New York Times.) Last week, we read in The New York Times that “Israel is quietly carrying out a $100 million, multiyear development plan in some of the most significant religious and national heritage sites just outside the walled Old City here as part of an effort to strengthen the status of Jerusalem as its capital.” As part of the plan, garbage dumps and wastelands are being cleared and turned into lush gardens and parks, now already accessible to visitors who can walk along new footpaths and take in the majestic views, along with new signs and displays that point out significant points of Jewish history. To be intentionally obvious and understated, the plan is controversial. (This is the second in a series of five time-saver nanoposts of somewhat related items.) 2 COMMENTS — Lucas Gray May 23, 2009 at 5:22:00 AM CDT Focussing these parks and signs on Jewish history might be a bit of a mistake but why would cleaning garbage dumps and turning them into parks be controversial? It sounds like a good idea to me. -Lucas Gray www.talkitect.com Anonymous May 28, 2009 at 4:20:00 PM CDT "Jerusalem is an occupied city. The displacement of Palestinians from the Holy city has been achieved in two stages: The first stage in May 1948 with the occupation of what came to be known as West Jerusalem, and the eviction by force of its Arab inhabitants. The second stage took place after the occupation of East Jerusalem in the 1967 war when Israel began an intensive process of colonization by confiscating Palestinian property and building housing and associated infrastructure on a unilaterally annexed and expanded territory across the Green Line and by moving Jews into the occupied part to change its demographic balance. The 1967 annexation of occupied East Jerusalem included not only the area of the Municipal boundaries of Arab Jerusalem as these existed in ‘67 but also other parts of the West Bank. Consequently, East Jerusalem as it is known today is three times the size it was in 1967. "The Israeli development program was designed as to create an essentially unified metropolitan complex spread over what were once borderlines and to ensure the encirclement and the disintegration of the territorial and demographic spread of the eastern and once entirely Arab populated part." (League of Arab States Information Center in Washington, D.C.) Thus building a park, however pretty it may be, represents squatting and continued forced eviction. Post a Comment — Comments on posts older than a week are moderated — —— Newer Post Older Post —— Home	1