The Kedem Compound is a planned six-story structure designed to serve as the Elad Foundation’s visitors center. It is a central element in the plan to link West Jerusalem to key sites in the Historic Basin in an attempt shape a nationalist Judeo-centric narrative.
The Kedem Compound is slated for construction on the Givati Parking Lot. In the past it was used as a public area by the residents of Silwan and a parking lot. The archaeological excavation on site became one of the largest in Jerusalem, in which many impressive remains from ancient structures were unearthed from the Iron Age to the Islamic periods. A Muslim cemetery discovered on site from the Islamic period, could have shed light on Jerusalem during the same period, yet was completely dismantled without any documentation.
The compound slated for construction on top of the antiquities on site, will be the size of a mall and architecturally foreign to the ancient landscape. Architects, archaeologists, and historians had vehemently objected to compound. A cable car station is planned to be built on the roof of the site. Visitors arriving by cable car to the compound from West Jerusalem will be able to walk to the Davidson Center, the Western Wall and other historic sites in the area through a network of underground tunnels in an experience that will completely exclude the Palestinians.