After tightening his grip on the southern side of the Old City in Jerusalem, via the air train project, the Israeli occupation will extend its Judaic arm again, to control the entire northern side of the town, and thus complete the circle of goals and Judaization and settlement plans in the Holy City.
The District Planning and Building Committee of the Municipality of Occupation in Jerusalem decided to deposit a structural plan for a conversion project in the areas of Bab Al-Amoud and Bab Al-Sahirah, the most important historical doors for the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque fence, aimed at expanding the Masara tunnel opposite Bab Al-Amoud, to reach the Jerusalem neighborhoods in the northern side of the Old City, under the pretext of easing Traffic crisis.
The tunnel, which the occupation calls "lenient", will be expanded on a wide strip of Jerusalem land, with a new area of up to a kilometer, from the bus station and the only cars opposite Bab Al-Amud, to Wadi Al-Joz and Sheikh Jarrah neighborhoods in the Old City, according to the researcher in Jerusalem affairs, Fakhri Abudiab.
Land encroachment
Abu Dhiyab said in his interview with «Emirates Today»: «The tunnel project aims to Judaize the northern part of the old town, which will extend to the entire regions there, as it starts from the Bab Al-Amud area, and passes through the streets of Nablus, Salah al-Din, and Sultan Suleiman, bypassing Al-Masara District And the door of Al-Sahirah, all the way to Wadi Al-Joz neighborhood, so that the tunnel path will turn to the outskirts of Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
He adds: «To the bottom of the Old City in the city of Jerusalem, there are traces dating back to historical civilizations, and ancient times, that will be removed and its features changed, under the pretext of expanding the tunnel approved by the municipality of occupation, where it will establish an integrated infrastructure for the tunnel, with a view to linking West Jerusalem with its east, and the establishment of hotels The commercial centers and parking lots of the project ».
The Jerusalem researcher indicates that 90% of the areas on which the tunnel will be built endowment lands, 70% of which are Islamic endowments, and 20% endowments belonging to Christian churches and monasteries, while 3% of the total area of the areas belong to Jerusalem citizens and traders, and the rest are Emiri lands that belonged to the Jordanian administration .
The Department of Islamic Endowments and the Latin Patriarchate in the Holy City had objected to the decision of the District Planning and Building Committee in the municipality of the occupation in Jerusalem, after depositing a conversion scheme aimed at expanding the tunnel of Al-Masara, as it is a blatant violation of Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, and Abu Diab notes that the occupation depends on The construction of the Bab Al-Amud tunnel, mainly on the confiscation of the lands of Jerusalemites, to include them in the tunnel facilities and infrastructure, and the construction of the bridge associated with the project above the land. Al-Waheed and the President stood in the Old City of Jerusalem, in addition to the shops on the Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and Salah al-Din Street, the most prominent commercial areas in the town.
“The tunnel project will cripple the commercial movement in the old city, while hindering the movement of Jerusalemites to the markets of Al-Masara and the old city, because it eliminates the only and main market remaining in the Al-Masara neighborhood of Bab Al-Amoud region,” he added.
Al-Masara neighborhood is located tens of meters away in front of Bab Al-Amoud, the main gate to the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the old town neighborhoods and historical markets, as the neighborhood's urban structure and facilities are of Arab-Jerusalem character.
Connect East Jerusalem with West
According to the occupation municipality’s claims, the goal of expanding the tunnel, which will extend down to the northern neighborhoods and areas of the Old City in Jerusalem, is to alleviate the traffic crisis at the junction of the road, at the end of Al-Masara and Al-Anbiya Street, towards Street No. 1, which separates East Jerusalem from its western part It has been under full occupation since 1967.
Khalil Tafkaji, director of the Maps and Geographic Systems Unit at the Arab Studies Association in Jerusalem, said: “The tunnel project will bring about significant changes in many streets and Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem, and the expropriation of a large area of Jerusalemites lands along Street (1), which separates the eastern city from It is intended to change the face of the Old City in East Jerusalem, to link it to the western part, where it will set up infrastructure projects in the confiscated areas, serving the flow of cars flowing from West Jerusalem to East Jerusalem and settlements from the east, and to the north, within a system Of the roads and structures Tia, with settlement dendrites project associated with the rapid antenna train, and settlement expansion projects ».
Takfaji shows that the tunnel depth will reach 24 meters, while its width extends to 11 meters, to accommodate traffic in one lane, in one direction towards the north of Jerusalem.
• 90% of the tunnel areas are endowment lands, 70% of which are Islamic endowments, 20% are Christian endowments, 3% are Jerusalemite citizens and merchants, and the rest are Emiri lands that belong to the Jordanian administration.
The tunnel project paralyzes commercial activity in the Old City, and hinders Jerusalemites from accessing the Al-Masara and Old City markets.