JERUSALEM, January 11, 2012 (WAFA) – West Jerusalem councilman Meir Margalit from the leftist Meretz party denied reports that he proposed to build a statue for the late Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi on an East Jerusalem plot to be seized by the government, according to a statement he published in the local Palestinian papers on Wednesday.
Margalit stressed that he did not initiate and had nothing whatsoever to do with the project, indicating that he only suggested naming a street in East Jerusalem after Gandhi as part of a street-naming plan.
It was earlier reported that the all-Israeli West Jerusalem municipality plans to seize privately-owned Palestinian land in Jabal al-Mukaber area of East Jerusalem for the construction of a Gandhi statue. The reports generated official and popular condemnation.
R.Q./M.S.
