Palestinians in the East Jerusalem town of
Silwan are living in fear of imminent eviction.
Last week Israeli authorities posted demolition
orders on several houses in Silwan’s
al-Bustan neighbourhood, which they plan
to develop into a theme park. With 1,000
people set to lose their homes, this would
be the largest single mass demolition since
1967. Three days before the orders were issued,
Israel shut down a local football club and
a kindergarten.
Silwan lies just outside the walls of Jerusalem’s
Old City. Since the early 1990s the town
has been targeted for Israeli settlement,
largely coordinated by a charity called Elad
(the City of David Foundation). For the al-Bustan
neighbourhood Elad's plans are to build
the “King’s Gardens”, a
theme park for tourists to walk in the footsteps
of the biblical King Solomon. But this means
sending in bulldozers to knock down the homes
of families who have lived there for generations.
Even the British government has criticised
the plans. On 30 December, minister for the
Middle East Alistair Burt said, “I
condemn the decision by the Jerusalem Local
Planning and Building Committee to build
additional structures in the Palestinian
neighbourhood of Silwan... This is
another provocative and deeply counter-productive
step, the latest in a series by the Israeli
authorities.” Yet Burt and the British
government have done nothing to back up the
comment, and continue to offer Israel preferential
treatment. This sends a message to the Israeli
government that it can ignore the criticisms
At present many children from Silwan take
their toys to school every day, not wanting
to leave them behind in case their homes
are knocked down. Your action will help end
this climate of fear.
To ask your MP to demand that the government
takes concrete action to stop the bulldozers
click on this link:
