Originally, the plan consisted of two parts: an open promenade in an area that was not built up and an "alley promenade," which was supposed to have traversed the southern edge of the old town, among the ancient buildings and within the historic fabric. The plan included a recommendation to preserve and rehabilitate the ancient buildings. According to Levy, at one stage he even cooperated with an Egyptian architect in planning the preservation and reconstruction work at the Tomb of the Patriarchs. After the fierce battle that took place there on November 15, between Israel Defense Forces soldiers and Palestinians (in which four soldiers, five Border Police, three Jewish settlers and the two terrorists were killed), dealing with the plan was transferred to the hands of the IDF.Now, the paramount concern is not to preserve
a unique historical fabric that was created over hundreds of years, layer upon layer, where there are buildings from the Mameluke period, from the 15th century to the 19th century. . . . a picturesque Casbahbut to "create territorial contiguity between Kiryat Arba and Hebron " and a settlers-only promenade.
I hope the razing of the buildings is successfully challenged. I refuse to accept that Israel has to destroy its own history (which includes the interaction of Arabs and Jews in Hevron over centuries) to make a space safe for its people.
(via Yudel)
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