Recently, in talking with an AP reporter, I tried to explain the situation in Israel where construction actions are taken in line with reality but the approvals and licencing procedures are slow to catch up. Usually, the construction activity out here in Yesha is in the limelight as with the case where I live in Shiloh.But now I found this, about a cemetery, called Menuha Mehubedet (Hebrew for "dignified rest"), which
is running out of land and has built a 33-meter-long, four-level hillside structure for burial. But the structure was built without a permit, and is now under a demolition order.
Do you really think that it will be demolished or that ex post facto, official recognition will be granted?Oh, I think you should know that the cemetery is in Kibbutz Givat Brenner.So, it''s a secular project and the location is a socialist icon.It''s just a matter of how long it''ll take to smooth bureaucratic problems.Take note, too:
Before the demolition order was issued, the authorities turned a blind eye to the unlicensed burial structure and acted as if its approval was a mere formality, Abir said. The cemetery submitted an application to the courts to stay the demolition, but the order remains in place. When Menuha Mehubedet built the disputed structure into a hillside, with space for 160 burials, it did not apply for a permit, confirmed Abir. He said the building was built on agricultural land, and the plan to rezone it has not yet been approved. The plan...has been stuck in the planning committees for eight years now...Despite these objections and the committee''s demand that the law be enforced, no steps were taken against the cemetery and two previously constructed multi-level burial structures...On Sunday, the district committee discussed the issue again. The minutes have not yet been published, but Ofer says it approved the plan. However, the Interior Ministry says the plan has still not been approved and must be reviewed by legal experts.
Will Peace Now ask for criminal charges to be brought?
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