Save the hills of Jerusalem - comment

Published date07 January 2021
Date07 January 2021
AuthorODELYA ROBINS-MORGENSTERN
Four large construction projects – Reches Lavan, Reches Lavan B, Har Heret and the Hadash extension – which threaten the natural forests and springs of west Jerusalem, have been met with a valiant public struggle which has matured and grown with tremendous speed. I, too, have matured and grown.

Our country is going through a spurt of construction. In my neighborhood alone, I have witnessed buildings becoming taller, roads becoming wider, empty dirt fields which were used for apple orchards transformed into countless housing units.

We are not here to suppress the city's growth and its need for housing; to the contrary, we are here to support it. However, quick growth must be responsibly monitored and calculated. When it's carried out as an act of desperation or due to ulterior motives and personal interests it becomes uncontrolled and dangerous. Making matters worse is that these decisions, which are made for the wrong reasons and with the wrong people in mind, are irreversible.

Once tens of thousands of trees are cut down, natural springs are dried up and an ecological system is destroyed, there will be no turning back. Our beautiful landscape will be covered in concrete, we will be breathing in dust, inhaling the city's pollution, much of which is currently absorbed by the surrounding forests.

It will be a heartbreaking comparison to the words of Naomi Shemer's song, "Jerusalem Of Gold":

"The mountain air is clear as wine

And the scent of pines

Is carried on the breeze of twilight

With the sound of bells."

(Translated by Aura Levin Lipski)

The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel published a report in 2019 which shows that there are over 80,000 potential housing units that can be built within the city, meeting the demand for urban development. In addition, policies have changed to allow for the construction of taller buildings near train tracks, the development of new neighborhoods and a potential to rebuild using existing infrastructure which all provide alternatives to harming nature. These new options have been made possible since the Reches Lavan project was first proposed.

However, there is such heavy pressure to develop the lands, and open spaces are not protected by law and therefore have little chance of surviving.

Two decades ago, the Safdie project planned for the same area was scrapped after much public outcry and some 19,000 people had signed to voice their objections. Now such a plan is rearing its ugly head again and it is our...

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