By Marinella Bandini
Last February, the Custody of the Holy Land filed a petition with the Jerusalem District Court opposing the confiscation of the land inside the Catholic cemetery, on the southern flank of Mount Zion, which serves as a parish cemetery.
The case is part of a task to build a cable car connecting the First Station (West Jerusalem’s shopping and entertainment district) to the Old City’s Dung Gate (the main access to the Western Wall and near the City of David archaeological site). ). , passing through the valley of Hinnom (or Geenna). The cable cars would be spread over about 15 pylons, ranging in height from 30 to 85 feet, and would carry up to 3,000 people per hour in 72 vehicles that could only accommodate another 10 people.
The Jerusalem Development Authority (a joint venture between the government and the Jerusalem municipality), which is responsible for the project, is considering the option of using the cemetery land to install a cable car tower.
The Custody of the Holy Land fears that the cable car will pass over the cemetery, a detail that had been discarded in a past assembly in 2017, as evidenced by a protocol that the CNA was able to consult. On the basis of this premise and promise, the guard did not exercise his right to object to the assignment at that time.
However, on Christmas Eve 2023 everything changed. An urban plan made by the Local Planning and Building Committee of the Jerusalem Municipality discovered on a pole near the cemetery, states that the land would be temporarily confiscated (for at least 8 years).
According to Eliana Touma, a lawyer and legal adviser to the Custody of the Holy Land, contacted through CNA, “the guard has gained any formal ice from the Local Planning and Construction Committee of Jerusalem. “
The domain subject to forfeiture (not yet effective) is located on the northeast side of the cemetery. This is the oldest component of the cemetery, where there are some graves of British infantrymen from the time of the British Mandate in Palestine. These graves would have to be removed and relocated in order for the cable car structure to continue. This runs the risk of turning a local dispute into a foreign dispute.
Also in this is the sarcophagus of Francesca Barluzzi, sister of the architect Antonio Barluzzi, who designed some of the most prominent sacred places in the Holy Land that are preserved through the guard. This year marks the centenary of two of them: the Basilica of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor and the Basilica of the Agony of Gethsemane.
In the same cemetery, in the most elegant part, is the tomb of Oskar Schindler, one of the “Righteous Among the Nations,” who is credited with saving the lives of more than 1,000 Jews in the Holocaust. The tomb is visited through many Jews and is at most entirely covered with stones.
According to Touma, “the custodial lawyers met with the representative of the Jerusalem Development Authority at least three times in January and February before submitting the application” and “in February they made a stop at the cemetery to show them that right now in this domain are the graves of British soldiers.
After those meetings failed, the Custody of the Holy Land filed a petition with the Jerusalem District Court, a legal action to be taken when it is suspected that a resolution of the State or any other government agency has harmed the issue. either way.
“It is no longer conceivable to oppose the mission because the deadlines to do so have expired and we have renounced our opposition on the basis of what we had been promised,” Touma told ACI Prensa. “At the moment, the only option we have is to oppose the forfeiture, and that’s what we’re doing with this petition. “
The petition was filed against the Jerusalem Development Authority, the Jerusalem Municipality and the Jerusalem Municipality Local Planning and Construction Committee. The court gave the defendants until June to respond to the move (and reach a settlement). The first hearing is scheduled for September 16.
According to Touma, the arguments of the petition are threefold.
First, the Custody of the Holy Land claims that the government has violated the promise made in 2017 to allow the cable car to pass through the Franciscan cemetery of Mount Zion.
“Discrimination” is a vital argument: “State-owned land used for public purposes that has been leased through the Israel Lands Authority cannot be confiscated, while Church-owned land will be confiscated even if it is used for advertising purposes. “public purposes [cemetery]. “
The accusation of discrimination makes sense, especially in a social and devout context like this. With this argument, Christian churches increasingly feel that they are being attacked by Israeli institutions. In the end, the attack on the assets would not yet pose any risk to their existence, carried out with other arguments whenever the opportunity presents itself.
The third argument considers the non-necessity of confiscation of one’s own land.
“According to previous court decisions,” Touma told ACI Prensa, “in order to confiscate land, it is mandatory to prove that the express component of the land is mandatory and indispensable for the project. This justification was not provided.
The confiscation of land is the harshest and most excessive action of a management and the Custody of the Holy Land considers it “proportionate, unreasonable and not at all fair”.
“We want to avoid it, especially when we have the legal right and opportunity to do so,” Touma said. “We want to take proactive steps to avoid any intervention that could particularly affect churches. “Let’s put up transparent barriers and make it clear that we will not remain silent. “
Speaking to the ICA, the Custos of the Holy Land, Fr. Francesco Patton, deplored “the continuous attack on the Holy City through structures and adaptations of the landscape, which damage or even expropriate the houses of the Church. “
The fact that it is the confiscation of a cemetery domain “aggravates the situation because traditionally, these spaces are the most reputable in the Holy Land,” he continued. “The factor of cemetery spaces profoundly affects the sensibilities of Jews, Muslims and Christians. Wherever there are cemetery spaces, they deserve to be as many as possible.
There is also some other cemetery, belonging to the small Karaite network, a devout Jewish denomination, according to some a sect, originating in Mesopotamia at the beginning of the eighth century, which participates in the project. Its cemetery is located on the other side of the Hinnom Valley from the Catholic cemetery, on the hillside below the Abu Tor neighborhood, facing Mount Zion. The cable car would pass directly over it and the network opposed the project.
However, the High Court rejected the objections of the Karaite community and ruled that if the Jerusalem government moved it, it would bypass the Catholic cemetery, which was unimaginable due to its agreement with the Custody of the Holy Land. The promise of custody discussed in a court ruling can strengthen the position of custody.