Mount of Olives military base protest
Controversial plan for military base condemned
Quaker campaigners have condemned proposals for an Israeli military base on the Mount of Olives. The plan has caused controversy because the Mount has sacred significance for Christians, Jews and Muslims. It is also on Palestinian land that is widely perceived to be occupied by Israel.
Quaker peace activist Hannah Brock, who previously worked as an ecumenical accompanier in Bethlehem, is part of an informal group who have begun a petition against the proposal.
She said: ‘A military college is yet another poignant and potent reminder of the militarisation and militarism of this “holy land”.’
The Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus was arrested and refused to take up arms, is at the base of the Mount of Olives. Certain Jewish and Muslim traditions ascribe an important role to the Mount at the end of time.
The base will cover 42,000 square metres and house facilities for training soldiers. The Ministry of the Interior declared that the site was chosen because ‘of its proximity to the university on the one hand and the possibility to contribute to the life of the city on the other’.
Hagit Ofran, of the Israeli group Peace Now, insisted: ‘The location, at one of the most sensitive and disputed areas in Jerusalem, is a little more than provocative’.
Several Christian groups have backed the campaign, including the Baptist Peace Fellowship, the Methodist Peace Fellowship and the Ekklesia thinktank.
