US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has inaugurated a contentious archaeological tourism site led by an Israeli settler group in occupied East Jerusalem. America’s top diplomat was a guest of honour at the opening of the so-called Pilgrimage Road, a tunnel excavated under Palestinian homes next to Jerusalem's Old City.
The opening ceremony took place at the City of David, a biblical tourism site operated by the Elad settler organisation in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Silwan. Mr. Rubio's presence was condemned by Palestinian rights groups as giving US backing to Israel's grip of settlement close to Jerusalem's most sensitive holy sites.
Residents of Silwan have for years faced eviction orders and home demolitions to make way for Jewish settlements and the expansion of the archaeological park, according to rights groups. Settlements are illegal under international law.
Mr. Rubio described the excavation as perhaps one of the most important archaeological sites on the planet, saying it had deep meaning to people in the United States. He earlier said he understood people want to involve politics in it… But at the end of the day, it's an extraordinary archaeological site.
Silwan resident Fakhri Abu Diab, 63, said Mr. Rubio was choosing to back extremists in the Israeli government instead of being on the side of international law. He is ignoring our [Palestinian] history. He isn't visiting when they are demolishing our homes, ethnic cleansing and kicking us out of here, he said.
The City of David, operated since the early 2000s by Elad, a settler group, has been pushing for the eviction of Palestinian families in Silwan, according to a July report by the UN's Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
The excavation, marking a route taken by pilgrims to the site revered by Jews as the location of two Biblical temples, stretches 600 metres from Silwan beneath Palestinian homes, ending near the foundations of the Western Wall. Activists from Peace Now, which supports Palestinian rights, called Rubio's visit nothing less than American recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the most sensitive part of Jerusalem's Holy Basin.
The opening ceremony took place at the City of David, a biblical tourism site operated by the Elad settler organisation in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Silwan. Mr. Rubio's presence was condemned by Palestinian rights groups as giving US backing to Israel's grip of settlement close to Jerusalem's most sensitive holy sites.
Residents of Silwan have for years faced eviction orders and home demolitions to make way for Jewish settlements and the expansion of the archaeological park, according to rights groups. Settlements are illegal under international law.
Mr. Rubio described the excavation as perhaps one of the most important archaeological sites on the planet, saying it had deep meaning to people in the United States. He earlier said he understood people want to involve politics in it… But at the end of the day, it's an extraordinary archaeological site.
Silwan resident Fakhri Abu Diab, 63, said Mr. Rubio was choosing to back extremists in the Israeli government instead of being on the side of international law. He is ignoring our [Palestinian] history. He isn't visiting when they are demolishing our homes, ethnic cleansing and kicking us out of here, he said.
The City of David, operated since the early 2000s by Elad, a settler group, has been pushing for the eviction of Palestinian families in Silwan, according to a July report by the UN's Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
The excavation, marking a route taken by pilgrims to the site revered by Jews as the location of two Biblical temples, stretches 600 metres from Silwan beneath Palestinian homes, ending near the foundations of the Western Wall. Activists from Peace Now, which supports Palestinian rights, called Rubio's visit nothing less than American recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the most sensitive part of Jerusalem's Holy Basin.
