Safdie: The man against the plan

"I have no interest in the plan in and of itself, but in the welfare of Jerusalem. If there is a decision not to build west of the city at all, I would consider that a brave political decision and would come to terms with it and accept it. But it seems this is not about to happen. That is why I haven't come out to defend and advocate for the plan." Moshe Safdie said this to Haaretz in a rare telephone interview on the subject.

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A SMALL JERUSALEM IS BETTER

This article highlights the racist basis of planning in Jerusalem, sadly being carried through by Moshe Safdie, the renowned Israeli/Canadian architect, who is also designing the 'Peace Centre' in Washington D.C. Safdie's office is also pushing through the master plan for Silwan, on the slopes of the Old City, which will displace 88 Palestinian houses to create an "archaeological park' and housing for the extremist settler group El'Ad, who want to re-create the "City of David" - where? Exactly where established Palestinian residents live, and who can simply be pushed off their land and houses.

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CHARLES JENCKS TALKS ON THE ISRAELI PAVILION

...[the Israelis more than any other pavilion have, gone to a subject which is political, inflammatory and questionable for architects today, especially given the Lebanese situation. I don’t think they intended to raise these issues but inadvertently they have and inasmuch as September l1 is being commemorated in two days in America and is an American memorialisation through architecture of death, suffering and bereavement. I am a great believer that architecture should take a symbolic role and this exhibition does that. The problem is that it doesn’t have any place for the Palestinians who represent either 20 % or 50 % of the population. The Palestinians are not allowed to commemorate or memorialize anything in their past that has been repressed; such as the 560 villages towns and cities which have been destroyed and wiped out.]...

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Facts on Settlements

There are 121 official settlements in the West Bank. The built up area of the settlements is less than 3% of the area of the West Bank but the area they control (municipal area) is more than 40%. There are 101 unauthorised outposts in the West Bank.There are 240,000 settlers in the West Bank, not including East Jerusalem. 60% of the West Bank is under Israeli control. The separation barrier Israel is building annexes 10 per cent of the West Bank

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The EU Report on Jerusalem 2005

European Union diplomats slammed Israel’s policies in occupied Arab East Jerusalem, saying that they are hurting the prospects of a final peace deal with the Palestinians, according to a leaked copy of a classified EU report.

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