By Majeda el-Batsh
Source: Yahoo News
Jerusalem (AFP) - Radical Jewish
settlers are readying to move into a major property in the commercial
heart of annexed east Jerusalem, overlooking the walls of the Old City,
officials have told AFP.
A large part of
the property, which also houses east Jerusalem's main post office and
an Israeli police station, was purchased last year by a radical settler
group called Ateret Cohanim, which bought it from Israel's Bezeq
telecoms company.
Located on
the corner of Salah al-Din and Sultan Suleiman in the busy centre of
east Jerusalem just outside the Old City walls, the property is
currently being converted into a Jewish seminary, or yeshiva, an Israeli
official and Palestinian workers told AFP.
Ateret
Cohanim actively works to settle as many Jews as possible in densely
populated Palestinian areas in and around the Old City.
The
purchase was first reported in Israel's Haaretz newspaper, which
published part of an email in which Ateret Cohanim’s Executive Director
Daniel Luria contacted supporters to announce the acquisition of more
than 1,000 square metres (10,760 square feet) in "a very large and
strategic building" just outside the Old City.
Speaking
to AFP, an Israeli official confirmed the group had bought parts of the
property and was currently carrying out renovations in order to have it
ready for occupancy before the week-long Passover festival begins in
mid-April.
"They are now renovating it for
the yeshiva and for a school to prepare Orthodox Jews for military
service," he told AFP. "They are trying to set it all up before Passover
on April 13."
Contacted by AFP, a spokesman for Bezeq refused to confirm who was behind the purchase.
"We will not disclose the identity of the buyers," he said.
Luria declined to speak to AFP.
The building is currently being renovated by Palestinian workers under the supervision of Israeli technicians and engineers.
"We work day and night. It is almost ready," said one worker who refused to give his name.
Local shopkeepers said they had been aware of the plan for several months.
"We
found out four months ago from the workers that settlers had purchased
the property and are turning it into a yeshiva," said Adel al-Sharbati,
who owns a nearby mobile phone shop and spoke of a sense of
powerlessness.
"They’re the strong ones here -- who should we complain to?" he told AFP, saying it was likely to raise tensions in the area.
"The whole area will be affected negatively once they're here," he added.
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