The planning board of the Housing Ministry has approved the project for the new homes and a new synagogue in the Old City.
Yousef Alalu, a moderate Jerusalem city council member who sits on the municipality's Planning Board, warned, "It is clear that when the first tractor puts down the first stone it will lead to the next uprising and could have international impact. The plan... is similar to [Ariel] Sharon's visit to the mosque [on the Temple Mount] in September 2000, which inflamed the Intifada."
"Arab Knesset member Wael Taha wrote Housing Minister Yaakov Herzog, "Such a project will spill innocent lives of Arabs and Jews. It will drag the area to a new cycle of violence, and kill any chances for peace."
The project still has to pass several bureaucratic hurdles, but has evoked ire from Arabs world-wide. The Islam Online web site told its readers that "Jews claim that their alleged Haykal [Hechal] (Temple of Solomon) exists underneath Al-Haram Al-Sharif, which was the first 'qiblah' (direction Muslims take during prayers)."
It accused Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of intending "to cement control over parts of the occupied West Bank, especially on the outskirts of Al-Quds," the area including the Al-Aqsa mosque.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) minister for Jerusalem, Hind Khoury, charged that Israel is using the Gaza Disengagement Plan as a cover for building in the Muslim Quarter. "This is the real strategy behind the Gaza disengagement -- redeploy from Gaza but help yourself to East Jerusalem in exchange," she said. "We are witnessing the implementation of Israel's plan to effectively remove Jerusalem from the negotiation table and thereby threaten any possibility of a viable two-state solution."
Several Jews, including Prime Minister Sharon, already own homes in the Muslim Quarter, which also is home to the Ateret Kohanim yeshiva.
Yair Gabai, a Jerusalem council member, denied that the new houses opposite the "Prachim Gate" will cause more violence: "Left-wing people like Ran Cohen [Mertez/Yahad MK] and Alalu are blind. They promised us wars in other situations, such as the closing of the Orient House, but Jews and Arabs live as good neighbors in the Muslim Quarter."
He accused left-wing politicians of trying to reap political benefit from violence. He emphasized that the Housing Ministry and not private investors initiated the project. He added that archaeological digs will accompany the new construction and that previous findings have included artifacts from the ancient Holy Temple.
Arabs responsible for the Temple Mount have hauled away truckloads of earth, including remnants of the Temple, for the past few years, while many Arab leaders deny that the Temple ever existed.
Gabai also pointed out the significance of the timing of the approval of the plan. The period from last Sunday until Sunday night August 15 is the three-week period when Jews mourn the destruction of the two Temples.
Yousef Alalu, a moderate Jerusalem city council member who sits on the municipality's Planning Board, warned, "It is clear that when the first tractor puts down the first stone it will lead to the next uprising and could have international impact. The plan... is similar to [Ariel] Sharon's visit to the mosque [on the Temple Mount] in September 2000, which inflamed the Intifada."
"Arab Knesset member Wael Taha wrote Housing Minister Yaakov Herzog, "Such a project will spill innocent lives of Arabs and Jews. It will drag the area to a new cycle of violence, and kill any chances for peace."
The project still has to pass several bureaucratic hurdles, but has evoked ire from Arabs world-wide. The Islam Online web site told its readers that "Jews claim that their alleged Haykal [Hechal] (Temple of Solomon) exists underneath Al-Haram Al-Sharif, which was the first 'qiblah' (direction Muslims take during prayers)."
It accused Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of intending "to cement control over parts of the occupied West Bank, especially on the outskirts of Al-Quds," the area including the Al-Aqsa mosque.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) minister for Jerusalem, Hind Khoury, charged that Israel is using the Gaza Disengagement Plan as a cover for building in the Muslim Quarter. "This is the real strategy behind the Gaza disengagement -- redeploy from Gaza but help yourself to East Jerusalem in exchange," she said. "We are witnessing the implementation of Israel's plan to effectively remove Jerusalem from the negotiation table and thereby threaten any possibility of a viable two-state solution."
Several Jews, including Prime Minister Sharon, already own homes in the Muslim Quarter, which also is home to the Ateret Kohanim yeshiva.
Yair Gabai, a Jerusalem council member, denied that the new houses opposite the "Prachim Gate" will cause more violence: "Left-wing people like Ran Cohen [Mertez/Yahad MK] and Alalu are blind. They promised us wars in other situations, such as the closing of the Orient House, but Jews and Arabs live as good neighbors in the Muslim Quarter."
He accused left-wing politicians of trying to reap political benefit from violence. He emphasized that the Housing Ministry and not private investors initiated the project. He added that archaeological digs will accompany the new construction and that previous findings have included artifacts from the ancient Holy Temple.
Arabs responsible for the Temple Mount have hauled away truckloads of earth, including remnants of the Temple, for the past few years, while many Arab leaders deny that the Temple ever existed.
Gabai also pointed out the significance of the timing of the approval of the plan. The period from last Sunday until Sunday night August 15 is the three-week period when Jews mourn the destruction of the two Temples.