#0202_A_View_from_West_Jerusalem

“When we arrived here, an old man sat here under his fig tree, farmers came to water their flock and the place was magical. This was the center of all activities in the area. ‘Our intent was to create order, clean up the area and leave as though we weren’t here at all’, says Iris Tal, the landscape architect, who was responsible for the planning at Ein Haniya. [1] Well.. it didn’t really work out like that…and she is the ‘good guy’ in this whole story.
Naama Riva writes about the transformation of Ein Haniya, from a Palestinian spring for shepherds and fellaheen [farmer in Arabic] to an Israeli, metropolitan park of Jerusalem. [2] Not everything is bad in this complex story, but the majority of it is.

The next task, if it was up to me is to see how the aesthetic language of the ‘City of David’ [3] spreads; This language is a kind of salad of Orientalism (olives), ‘Judaization’ (David’s Harp), a budget shortage (invading oak trees) and Occupation (security cameras) of the entire Old City and beyond."

– Nir Hasson
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0202 Editor’s note:
[1] Ein Haniya is spring on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
[2] The article referred to: https://goo.gl/o9wzeK
[3] ‘City of David’ is an archaeological site which is speculated to compose the original urban core of ancient Jerusalem. In 1997 management of the park was taken over by Ir David Foundation. The site is now located in the Arab neighborhood of Wadi Hilweh, and extends down from the southern city walls of Jerusalem's Old City.

#Nature #Tourism #PoliticsTourism

https://goo.gl/PsFnq2

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