Three bereaved fathers who lost their children on October 7 issued a joint statement opposing a plan by Jerusalem’s district planning and construction committee to approve the allocation of land to Palestinian businessman Bashar Masri for the construction of a hotel overlooking the Old City.
At the same time, Masri is facing a massive lawsuit in the United States filed by 200 families of those killed on October 7, alleging he financed Hamas and allowed the terror group to use facilities he owns in the Gaza Strip. According to the lawsuit, the victims’ parents presented extensive evidence of strategic Hamas tunnels beneath Masri’s properties in Gaza, as well as communications equipment, a command center for Hamas’ naval commando unit and other strategic assets. Following the parents’ appeal, the Jerusalem municipality decided to remove the plan from the agenda.
The district planning and construction committee of the Jerusalem municipality was scheduled to consider approval of the land allocation on Monday. The plan itself was discussed by the city’s local planning committee on Sept. 6, 2023, prior to the events of October 7, and the decision at the time was to recommend its deposit for further planning. During that discussion, no information was presented linking the plan or its initiators to Masri, nor does the plan list him as an interested party.
“We call on the acting interior minister, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion to immediately stop this moral disgrace and remove the proposal from the committee’s agenda,” said the three bereaved fathers: Ruby Chen, father of Sgt. Itay Chen, who was killed in combat and abducted; Eyal Waldman, father of Daniel Waldman, who was murdered at the Nova music festival; and Yizhar Shay, father of Sgt. Yaron Uri Shay, who was killed in combat near Kerem Shalom.
The fathers added that “in the United States, the filing of the lawsuit led Harvard University to immediately remove him from its board of directors, but it turns out that in Israel this is not enough. While Israel draws red lines that Hamas terrorists are forbidden to cross in Gaza, Bashar Masri is allowed to move freely through the streets of Tel Aviv, dine in restaurants and stay in hotels. Now the absurdity reaches its peak when he is about to receive state land to build hotels and luxury buildings at a strategic location overlooking Jerusalem’s Old City.
“That same ‘terrorist in a suit,’ who hosted senior Hamas figures at his hotel in Gaza while allowing them to use facilities beneath the hotel at the same time, is about to build a hotel here, in Israel. Murder and inherit too? That is the feeling we are getting from this incomprehensible process. The message to us, the bereaved families, is: murder Jews today and profit from it tomorrow. The blood of our children is no longer merely abandoned; it has become a profitable real estate plan.
“We cannot bring back the fallen and the murdered, but this incomprehensible absurdity must be stopped. We call on bereaved families and all Israeli citizens to stand with us as a solid wall against the attempt to grant land to someone accused of cooperation with Hamas and who allegedly was a partner to the murderous terror organization that carried out the horrific October 7 massacre. We again call on the prime minister and the mayor to show a minimum of self-respect for our country and for the blood of our sons and daughters, and to immediately remove the proposal from the committee’s agenda.”
The Jerusalem municipality said: “Following the receipt of new information regarding the issue of land ownership, and in coordination with the chairman of the district committee, it was decided to remove the plan from the agenda at this stage, pending completion of a comprehensive review of the ownership issue and examination of all relevant aspects. This is a plan to build a hotel in East Jerusalem. It is not a new initiative and has been undergoing planning and review processes for more than five years within the authorized planning institutions. The Jerusalem municipality is acting responsibly, transparently and in strict accordance with the law, and any decision will be made only after a thorough and exhaustive examination of the facts.”