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Destroying Jerusalem

Wave of illegal building threatens Jewish Quarter of Old City. Jewish residents of Old City are part of biggest danger to identity of Israel's historic capital. Interior Ministry: Expanding houses and building awnings damages remains of 2000 years of Jewish existence in quarter. Antiquities Authority: Difficulty enforcing law within buildings

Nurit Pletter
Published:    12.06.06, 14:06

Changes in the Jewish Quarter's population makeup are threatening historical buildings and rare archeological remains, which are testimony to the thousands of years of Jewish presences in the holy city.

The Jewish Quarter is the only place in the world in which some private houses have foundations containing remains of 2000-year-old Jewish houses, which themselves lay on top of the remains of houses of priests from the Temple period. It is also the only place in the world in which you can find a shop that operates above the same location in which there was a shop 1000 years ago.

Only about 600 families live in the Old City.

Since the liberation of the Jewish Quarter in the 1967 Six-Day War, the area underwent a renovation project that was completed in 1983.

Great pains were taken during the building to preserve the past history of the area. So, for instance, you won't find electric or telephone poles. Preplanning allowed them to be hidden underground.

Changes in population
"In recent years, the population has changed in the Quarter," explains manager of the Interior Ministry's Jerusalem district, Ruth Yossef. "In place of the national religious community, haredi families with lots of children have moved in."

Because the houses in the Jewish Quarter are old and small, the Interior Ministry found that the population change has caused an accelerated rate of illegal building, including building awnings and expanding rooms within houses.

The Interior Ministry is acting to institute a master plan that will establish building guidelines within the Jewish Quarter and will stop the damage.

"We understand that residents of the Quarter suffer from lack of space, but we will only allow construction that won't damage the historic texture of the Quarter," said Ruth Yossef. "The illegal building must stop."

The Israel Antiquities Authority confirmed the details Tuesday and responded, "There has been a trend for many years of damage done to historic buildings in the Old City by families with many children, both Jewish and Arab, because of the lack of housing."

The Antiquities Authority said that building awnings along the alleys of the Old City presents a difficult aesthetic problem that damages the historic identity of the area, but emphasized that the most severe damage is being done within the houses where it is hard for inspectors to oversee building activity.

Destroying Jerusalem (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3336674,00.html)