Israel’s apex court has rejected petitions challenging the construction of a controversial cable car in the Old City of al-Quds, which will further consolidate the regime’s grip on the occupied city and its holy places, including the flashpoint al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
The top court on Sunday dismissed petitions filed by Palestinian residents of the Silwan neighborhood, store owners in the Old City, the Jewish Karaite community, the Israeli archaeological group Emek Shaveh, and an environmental group Adam Teva V’Din.
Among the opponents of the project is lawyer Sami Arshid, who represents the Palestinian residents of the Silwan neighborhood and store owners in the Old City.
“This is a controversial, megalomaniacal project that promotes a political agenda,” said lawyer Arshid.
He says the project does “serious damage to the historical, cultural, religious and social fabric” of al-Quds and needs to stop.
After the court ruling came out, Emek Shaveh in a statement said the “public struggle has just begun,” warning that the project would alter the ancient and historical skyline of the Old City of al-Quds.
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“We are doing everything we can to prevent the construction of this terrible project,” it asserted.
The cable car project in the occupied al-Quds extends over 1.4 kilometers (0.86 miles), from the Mount of Olives area, adjacent to the Old City of al-Quds, to the al-Maghariba Gate, which is also known as the Moroccan Gate and is one of the Old City’s main gates near al-Aqsa Mosque.
In 2019, the Israeli cabinet had earmarked 200 million shekels ($54.4 million) for the project.
The cable car is set to pass above a cemetery of the Jewish Karaite community, whose leaders have complained that the project will desecrate the burial site and make it dysfunctional.
It then reaches the City of David Park in the Palestinian Silwan neighborhood, whose residents have long faced eviction orders.
“This is a controversial, megalomaniacal project that promotes a political agenda,” Arshid said in his remarks after the court ruling.
“We regret that the court rejected the petitions and did not intervene to prevent this disaster to al-Quds, which is the outcome of a faulty and heavy-handed process,” he said.
Palestine decries court’s decision on an al-Quds cable car project
Palestine’s ministry of foreign affairs and expatriates has strongly condemned the Israeli supreme court’s decision to approve the controversial cable car project in the occupied al-Quds.
A ministry statement termed the project as “an integral part of Israel’s Judaization campaign in al-Quds with a view to eroding its Palestinian, Islamic and Christian identity.”
“The court decision is another proof that the court system is part of the Israeli occupation to serve its settlement and Judaization plans,” the statement read.
It appealed to the US government and the international community to ramp up pressure on the Israeli regime to halt the project in the occupied city.
Israel occupied the West Bank and East al-Quds during the Six-Day War in 1967. It later annexed East al-Quds in a move not recognized by the international community.
