Israel approves tourist project in Silwan

The planning committee in the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem approved on Monday the construction of a tourist project in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, according to a press release issued by Al -Aqsa Institute for Waqf and Heritage. It said the project, funded by Elad, a settlement group that focuses on settling Jews in the Silwan area, will take up around three dunums of Silwan land, only a few meters away from the southern side of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites. The project includes the establishment of a museum, underground water pools and other Jewish religious facilities. The institute warned against such projects and their implication on al-Aqsa Mosque, stressing that these projects come as part of an Israeli plan to impose Jewish culture on the occupied city and its Arab-dominated neighborhoods.