Jerusalem’s Old City is worth seeing, it is also the scene of ongoing conflicts, rooted in religion, history, economics and politics, with, in recent years, urbanism.
Small large-scale plans have been implemented in Jerusalem.Under British rule (1918-1947), master plans were drawn up for the city, but even the most realistic of them, created through Henry Kendall in 1944, was never fully realized.The Six-Day War of 1967 completed a new master plan as well as special conservation plans for the Old Town, but in the neighborhoods around Jerusalem a number of unique plans have been implemented, since then little has been done to upgrade the master plan through the legal process, leaving the city to the will of developers and politicians.Instead of rational criteria for development, Jerusalem has sets of strength among stakeholders.
Along with this general lack of orientation similar to urbanism, there is a lack of good enough supervision for the urgent allocations that arise, even when there are legislation, there are tactics around them, this is the scenario with respect to the existing allocation for install a cable car to send other people from outside the city to the interior, near the Western Wall.
Mordechai Beck is a journalist in Jerusalem.
At first glance, the cable car might seem like a smart idea, a way to succeed over the lack of infrastructure that allows cars to get in and out of the venerable but crowded old town, but closer examination shows the risks of such an allocation.Involve.
The car cable assignment was first proposed through the Jerusalem Development Authority on behalf of the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, after efforts to make the local railway formula larger to the Old City failed because the available area was too limited.The government has developed a national infrastructure plan: defining an allocation as national can provide a shortcut through the delays and obstacles of the bureaucratic process.
“Avoiding legal procedure means that the public is at a disadvantage from the opportunity to register formal objections,” says architect David Cassuto, one of the highest critical voices opposing the assignment.”In the case of the Western Wall cable car, it is not an accident; the sponsors of the transfer understood that the public opposition could sink the proposal.This circumvention of legal procedure is an attack on democracy.
The Israeli Association of Architects and Planners presented a lightning attack on the proposed plan.At an official meeting, sponsored through the municipality in October 2018, THE IAAUP presented its case.A cable car in the Old City “would undermine its prestige as a global city, diminish its heritage and harm its citizens and friends around the world.”Neither the legal procedure of the assignment nor its classification as a “tourist infrastructure” were defensible.And “any procedure for building a cable car in this position attests to a contempt for the prestige of Jerusalem and its sites that are sacred to the 3 religions.”The landscapes and cultural that have been preserved for many years would be irrevocably broken through rough technical elements: a series of giant pillars, stations and auxiliary infrastructure, adjacent car parks, etc.
Similar words of conviction came here from Cassuto.After submitting an old review of the domain, he detailed his objections.The assignment would irrevocably destroy the domain of the national park designated to encircle the walls of the Old City, comprising “a wealth of archaeological finds, sacred places of worship and sacred places, “and much more.Although the park is intended to oppose development, 11 of the five pylons of the assignment, each five to eight stories, would be built there.”Pylon would be right next to David’s tomb and the Upper Room [the tall house], ” said Cassuto — “a genuine horror.”
Cassuto also cited disorders for tour guides (who also sent objectors to the meeting).C-cars would divide their teams into smaller units, making a built-in excursion almost impossible.”The guides won’t be there to deal with their total group,” he said.
He added that it is more productive to succeed in the old town “through a physical effort that expresses the aspirations of this holy place. To descend as on the wings of an angel would contradict the Jewish concept of” earthly Jerusalem “and the pilgrimage as” walking ascent. “- the desire to train its members to achieve the noble goal.”
Historian Elchanan Reiner makes a similar point, arguing that the holiness surrounding such a sacred area includes adventure to the place, not only the cable car, would destroy this aspect, reducing the prestige of the city to that of any other tourist destination.. He’d lose his spirituality.
At the meeting, Cassuto also made some more practical observations: “The cable car is very unlikely to work on Saturdays and Jewish holidays …and if that were the case, it would not produce any additional friction.”in the old town would not be eliminated; would be moved to the location of the cable car terminal.In addition, “the entire Square of the Western Wall can accommodate up to 5,600 men and women.The cable car can carry another 3,000 people consistently with the time, in addition to those arriving at the square by other means.In addition to the lousy weight that would come through these figures and wanting to close other avenues to spare you the tension of fitting intolerable, it would block the Western Wall for devout Jews who do not yet come as tourists to pray.
One organization that can gain advantages from the assignment is Elad, a personal base that since 1986 has ruled the progression of much of the old town, especially the numerous archaeological excavations.”Inside the park barriers,” Cassuto noted in his comments., “there are a number of paid tourist attractions, controlled through the Organization Elad under contract with nature reserves and the national park authority.These come with the Siloé tunnel and the City of David excavations.”
The cable car assignment would necessarily only be available through the Elad resort in Kedem, a giant facility that has not yet been built.”I wonder if the genuine purpose of the cable car,” Cassuto said, “is not to facilitate access to the Western Wall, but rather to take the crowds to the disproportionate tourist center of Kedem in Elad.With a total domain of 16,000 square meters and a height of seven floors, it’s hard to believe what sponsors plan to do with all this land space.
I have asked Elad to respond to these serious objections to the car cable project.Doron Spielman, his vice-president, has told me that Elad does not care about “the small main points of this initiative,” calling it “just one project” of the Israeli Government.”We realize,” Spielman continued, “that the transport factor to the domain of the Old City and the City of David is a major challenge that wants to be solved.He encouraged me to communicate with the “government agencies concerned, urban planners and architects.”
I approached the Ministry of Tourism, recently under a new leader, Asaf Zamir of the Kakhol Lavan party, who remained faithful in his position in this task initiated through the past government, did this to me:
The Ministry of Tourism weighed the problems applicable before making a resolution that balances the importance of the car cable as a component of national infrastructure that will help create an application for the general public that opposes the allegations that are made to it.The importance of accessibility and the generation of tourist progression in the Old City region, Jerusalem’s Old Town, will create jobs for thousands of people. The decomposer does not forget the assertions of the agencies and understands the emotions that arise the public interest is more wonderful …The problems surrounding the assignment and the complaints against it have been brought before the High Court, which will discuss this in detail in the future.
It seems that the Ministry of Tourism has no interest in detailing or responding to objections, or justifying the staggering number of jobs that it believes will be created via this cable car.Then there is the fact that the factor was addressed through the Department of Tourism, rather than through the Department of Transportation in the first place.All this suggests that this is some other task whose full effect has not been taken into account.
The matter has been referred to the Israeli High Court, which may save the situation, but has so far suspended the plans because the Ministry of Tourism has not followed official plans-making procedures.
A consultation turns out to have no answer.Why, with so many professional criticisms opposed to the project, does the Minister of Tourism feel the need to erect a white elephant in the middle of one of the world’s iconic landmarks?So much history, theology and kindness would be erased in favor of a lot of dollars from tourists, other people who are here today and who left tomorrow.The answer can only be given through the few Americans and teams who seem to think that this formula may be for everyone.be blank and show your hand before it’s too late.
An edition of this article looks like in the published edition the name “A cable car to the old town?”
Look at the thread.