U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on a visit to Jerusalem this week took part in the inauguration of a tourism and archaeological route at the City of David in occupied East Jerusalem, a move that drew immediate criticism from Palestinian rights groups and campaigners who said it signaled U.S. endorsement of settlement activity near the Old City.
Rubio was guest of honor at the opening of the so-called “Pilgrimage Road,” a tunnel excavated adjacent to and beneath Palestinian homes in the Silwan neighbourhood, which runs toward the Old City walls and approaches the foundations of the Western Wall. Organizers and Israeli officials described the excavation as an important archaeological discovery tracing a Roman-era street used by pilgrims to the site revered by Jews as the location of the Biblical temples.
Palestinian residents of Silwan and rights groups condemned the U.S. diplomat’s presence, saying it lent political support to efforts by a settler organisation, Elad, that operates the City of David site and has long been accused of acquiring Palestinian property, pursuing evictions and expanding an archaeological park at the expense of local Palestinian residents. “He is ignoring our [Palestinian] history. He isn’t visiting when they are demolishing our homes, ethnic cleansing and kicking us out of here,” said Fakhri Abu Diab, a 63-year-old Silwan resident whose home was demolished last year by Israeli authorities.
The expansion of archaeological tourism projects and settler-led activity in East Jerusalem has been a recurring flashpoint. Settlements and the transfer of an occupying power’s civilian population into occupied territory are considered illegal under international law, and rights groups say the pattern of demolitions and evictions in Silwan is part of a broader campaign to alter the demographic and physical landscape around the Old City’s most sensitive religious sites.
A July report by the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory said the City of David, operated by Elad since the early 2000s, has appropriated land, acquired Palestinian homes and pushed for the eviction of Palestinian families in Silwan. Israeli authorities have defended demolition orders by saying the structures were built without permits, a process that Palestinians and rights groups say is effectively barred by planning restrictions.
Ze'ev Orenstein, director of international affairs at the City of David, told Reuters that all excavations are carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority “according to the highest standards.” He declined further comment.
The excavation opened by Rubio is described by the Israeli campaign group Peace Now as a tunnel stretching some 600 metres from Silwan running beneath Palestinian homes and the Old City walls and ending near the retaining structures that support the compound known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as the Temple Mount. Peace Now said Rubio’s visit amounted to “nothing less than American recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the most sensitive part of Jerusalem’s Holy Basin,” and warned that the project was trampling the multi-faith character of the city.
Rubio framed the site in archaeological and cultural terms, calling it “perhaps one of the most important archaeological sites on the planet” and saying he understood “people want to involve politics in it… But at the end of the day, it’s an extraordinary archaeological site.” His participation marked a high-profile U.S. diplomatic appearance at a site whose expansion has coincided with contested legal and property disputes.
The opening adds to longstanding tensions in and around Jerusalem’s Old City, where control of land and access to holy sites remains central to Israeli-Palestinian disputes. International and local rights organisations continue to document demolitions, permit denials and legal battles that affect Palestinian families in East Jerusalem, while Israeli authorities and supporters of the excavations say archaeological work and tourism are legitimate parts of preserving and sharing the city’s complex history.