Residents of Abuav Street in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Bayit Vegan were surprised on Tuesday morning, 14 Shevat, as they discovered the old playground, which served as the only park in the area for the children of the neighborhood, was evacuated last night and blocked by the Jerusalem Municipality for the construction of a new building.

The anger of many in the neighborhood over the surprise move in the middle of the night shows the great distress that exists in the neighborhood, in terms of buildings for educational institutions. The park area will be used to build a new building for Talmid Torah Achiezer, where hundreds of children from the Bayit Vegan neighborhood study.

It is reported that while serving as a park for many years, in fact, the plot of land was designated for a building and was ‘lent’ as a park until now, where there is no alternative. The head of the community ‘minhelet’ is quoted telling Kikar Shabbos News that it has been working to find a suitable site to move the park, which is used by so many residents. However, it appears the city decided to preempt and create fact on the ground with the unilateral move.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)