JERUSALEM, January 4, 2010 (WAFA)- Part of a main road in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan collapsed, Saturday due to tunneling work carried out by the Elad settler organization.
Despite the road collapsing in the mid-afternoon, it was not until 8:00 pm that Israeli police arrived at the scene, after an Israeli bus serving the settler population drove into the hole in the road.
Silwan is a Palestinian village on the hills south of the Old City of Jerusalem, occupied in 1967 by the Israeli army. It is one of several neighborhoods in East Jerusalem where the Israeli state and settler organizations are forcing Palestinians from their homes. Almost 90 houses in the area are currently threatened with demolition, potentially displacing 1,000 - 1,500 residents and no construction permits have been issued for Palestinians in the area since 1967. Excavation works represent another threat to Palestinian residents; literally undermining their homes.
Tunneling by the Elad settler organization, which also runs the 'City of David' tourist site in Silwan, has been frequently criticized for undermining the Palestinian neighborhood. Elad director David Be'eri was filmed admitting that his excavations are carried out under people's houses. He described the excavation method in which 'we built from the top down' and 'everything's standing in the air' [due to the removal of fill]. 'Then [the engineer] says: 'you have to shut the whole thing' [because of danger of collapse]. I tell him: 'are you crazy?''
Land located under people's houses is considered their property under Israeli law, and digging in densely populated areas without the permission of property owners is therefore illegal. Despite this, 'archaeological' digging continues throughout the Old City and its surroundings with the complicity of Israeli authorities, police and courts. Also in the tape mentioned above, made about a year ago, the founding head of Elad, David Be'eri, says: 'At a certain point we came to court. The judge approached me and said, 'you're digging under their houses.' I said 'I'm digging under their houses? King David dug under their houses. I'm just cleaning.' He said to me, 'Clean as much as possible.' Since then, we're just cleaning; we're not digging!'
Less than six months ago a large part of the same road gave way meters from the most recent collapse. Local people say they are concerned that their homes may also collapse in the future. Subsidence caused by the tunneling is visible on buildings and roads around the excavation area. A Palestinian kindergarten opened in 1990 is located directly next to the opening of the tunnel. In recent months several large cracks have appeared in the building. Classes were affected by today's road collapse. Several children protested the undermining of their school and the whole area.
Eye witnesses said that the collapse in the ground is expanding, it has become 10 meters long. They are warning of risk of expanding till Al-Ein Mosque nearby, as well as cracks in the houses above the tunnel.
They expressed fear of the consequences to come in winter, due to the expansion of the tunnel, and risk of cracks and collapses in the buildings and homes.