"This empty land is all that remains of a Jewish neighborhood that was meant to be built in 1924" by a group of Jews who purchased about 150 acres but abandoned the land during the Arab riots, Luria said. "The plan is to put 350 housing units here, and we hope that these two buildings will encourage the neighborhood to be built."
About 2 1/2 miles away is the most conspicuous landmark in Jerusalem's Old City: the golden Dome of the Rock. Next to it is al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third-holiest site. They sit atop a plateau that Muslims call the Noble Sanctuary; Jews refer to the spot as the Temple Mount, revered as the place where King Solomon built the First Temple in the 10th century B.C.
Despite lack of permits, crews worked last year to expand the West Bank settlement of Maleh Adumim. The built-up area of Maleh Adumim is in the background.
(John Ward Anderson -- The Washington Post)
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"The Arabs want to form a continuity from here to the Temple Mount, and our purpose is to make Jewish neighborhoods that connect with each other to stop them," said one of the new residents, Matanya Navon, 24, an architect and Torah student whose home is less than 50 feet west of the wall. "We hope this place flourishes and develops and there will be [hundreds of] houses here with trees and lawns."
Luria said he did not know if the newer house was built illegally, but said that thousands of Palestinians had built homes in East Jerusalem over the years without building permits, "so let's keep things in perspective."
The difference, according to attorney Seidemann and other activists, is that illegal Palestinian homes often are demolished by the Israeli government. A total of 330 have been torn down since the start of 2001, including 147 last year, according to the private Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. Ateret Cohanim's houses are protected by the government.
Seidemann said the two houses and planned development were part of a program to move Jewish residents up to the West Bank barrier so that if it were ever removed, a line of Jewish communities would form a substitute barrier against the Palestinians.
"Israel says that nothing is irreversible, that the fence can be removed," Seidemann said. "But it's not the wall that creates irreversibility. It's the interface of the wall and settler activity."
Like many religious groups, Ateret Cohanim is opposed to the wall and fence complex that Israel is erecting, according to Luria. "Being there is the best barrier," he said.
Researcher Samuel Sockol contributed to this report.
