Legal effort slows building for Arabs in East J'lem village

Haaretz 03:03 23/12/2007

By Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondent

A plan to build 2,000 apartments in the East Jerusalem village of Isawiyah has hit a potential snag: Lawyers for several Jews have applied to the municipality's planning and building subcommittee to delay the plan's submission for public perusal. Right-wing activist Aryeh King is behind the effort, part of his fight against various plans to divide Jerusalem. The lawyers claim that dozens of dunams in the plan are owned by their clients, bought in the past from Isawiyah's Arabs, but that the nonprofit organization that initiated the plan, Bimkom, failed to consult them.
A spokesman for Bimkom said the organization was not aware of any Jewish landholders in the plan, and that the matter will be reviewed. The Isawiyah plan has aroused strong opposition in recent weeks among residents of the Jewish neighborhood Tzameret Habira, who are worried about even closer proximity between the neighborhoods, which only a wadi separates. Tzameret Habira's residents claim that the plan goes well beyond 2,000 housing units, and that they do not want to bear the brunt of solving East Jerusalem Arabs' housing shortage. Isawiyah has a population of 12,000 and overcrowded housing. There is a high rate of illegal construction in the village. Hebrew University, located nearby, and the Defense Ministry are considering opposing the plan, which would bring village homes closer to the Jerusalem-Ma'aleh Adumim highway. Discussion of the plan was postponed several times before taking place. By a majority of one it was decided to approve the scheme, pending many revisions, transfer it to the district commission and deposit it for public objections. The building plan for Isawiyah has the support of Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.