Jerusalem, March 2, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - Jerusalem Mayor, Nir Barkat, will to formally divulged today plans for the wholesale redevelopment of a section of Silwan neighborhood, involving the demolition of almost "88 illegally built Palestinian homes" and the relocation of those residents in new buildings, The Jerusalem Post reported. According to the newspaper's Web site, the plan focuses on an area inside the southeastern neighborhood known as "Gan Hamelech" (the King's Garden). The area was labeled last month "the second most incendiary place after the Temple Mount" by a senior City Hall source.

The mayor is to detail the plans in a press conference on Tuesday afternoon. The plans were first reported by the Post last month.

On Monday, the paper reports, sources inside City Hall acknowledged that the mayor may be challenged over the timing of the announcement. There has been Palestinian rioting in Hebron, the Old City and East Jerusalem over last week's government decision to include Hebron's Cave of the Patriarchs and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem on a list of national heritage sites.

However, the sources said that formally presenting the plans "clearly and transparently" was a necessary step, since they will become public later this month, when they are discussed at a meeting of the Jerusalem Local Planning and Building Council.

Tuesday's press conference, which will be simultaneously translated into English and Arabic, is expected to generate considerable international media coverage.
The plans call for the demolition of nearly 100 homes allegedly built without proper permits in Gan Hamelech, followed by a large-scale construction project that would rebuild the entire area and relocate the Palestinian residents in new, multi-story buildings.

City Hall sources have called the plan a "pilot project to begin regulating building in East Jerusalem." It is also intended to improve living conditions for the 750 residents of Gan Hamelech, they have said.

The mayor's proposal for the area also includes the construction of a commercial center, with businesses operating on the ground floor of the four-story residential building that will constitute the Palestinians' new homes.

Additionally, the plan calls for hotels for an anticipated tourism influx, and health clinics and daycare centers for the local residents.

Barkat's vision for the redevelopment of Gan Hamelech is part of a larger plan the mayor has been attempting to push forward that would retroactively approve all structures in Silwan up to four stories, thus resolving the vast majority of the building violations there.

Through Jerusalem City Hall, Israel is in the process of active excavation work under Silwan, not for from the Holy Aqsa Mosque, which is causing frequent landslides, damages to homes and buildings, and destruction to highways across the city.

The last landslide occurred Monday in Wad Helweh, just a few meters from the town's mosque, and on the Orthodox Church property, amid predictions of further collapses any moment, which poses a real and imminent threat to residents and property.