Democratic Congressman Jerry Nadler, of the 8th district of New York, wrote a letter to Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren on Friday about his concern over vandalism of the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.
I am writing regarding Har HaZeitim (the Mount of Olives) the sacred site in East Jerusalem where Jews have been buried since biblical times, and where a number of my constituents’ family members are buried. According to my constituents, who recently visited Jerusalem as part of the group the International Committee for the Preservation of Har HaZeitim, a number of gravestones throughout the cemetery and in areas where their family members are interred have been badly damaged or vandalized. I have also been told by my constituents that some visitors have endured stone-throwing and other incidents of violence. This is of great concern to me, as it is very important that those who visit this site are safe.
Congressman Nadler is right to be concerned – but he is omitting/missing some vital information. The cemetery, which is just paces away from the Dome of the Rock and in the middle of the Palestinian neighborhood of Ras al Amud, is adjacent to one the most contentious Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem: Maale Zeitim. (“Olive Hillside”)
Settlement of Maale Zeitim, East Jerusalem. A direct view of the Mount of Olives cemetery. (Photo: flickr/dani36v)
Maale Zeitim is a residential complex owned by Irving Moskowitz, the same wealthy tycoon who owns the Shepherd Hotel in Sheikh Jarrah. It was sold to him by Hasidic seminaries in the 1980s, who claimed ownership of the land in the 19th century and won a long legal battle with a Palestinian family under whose name the land was registered during Jordanian rule of East Jerusalem. Permits to build in Maale Zeitim were only granted in the late 1990s, since before then, national and municipal government policies in Jerusalem largely avoided construction of settlements in the heart of Palestinian East Jerusalem, and rather focused on building neighborhoods on hilltops and open areas surrounding Jerusalem (such as Gilo, Pisgat Zeev and Maale Adumim).
Teddy Kolek, who served as mayor of Jerusalem from 1965-1993, never endorsed Israeli settlement in the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods for the very practical reason that it would heighten tensions in the city and blur the lines between Jewish and Arab neighborhoods. But since Ehud Olmert became mayor, and especially in recent years under Mayor Nir Barkat, Israel has increased settlement in Palestinian neighborhoods like Silwan, Sheikh Jarrah and the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, all high-security enclaves completely detached from the Palestinian neighborhoods in which they reside. The result has been increased tensions and consistent confrontations between Israeli security and Palestinian residents. Israel’s response has been to increase the budget of private security firms (funded by the Interior Ministry) rather than to halt the settlement projects.
In his letter, Congressman Nadler asks Amb. Oren what he plans to do to make sure this area is safe.
I would greatly appreciate it if you could tell me what steps are being taken in terms of securing the area, what the timeline is for these measures, and what is being done in the interim to ensure that visitors are safe. It is in all of our interests to make sure that this site, which is of the utmost importance to so many Jews in my district and around the world, is protected and secure from attacks and vandalism.
To Congressman Nadler’s request Amb. Oren will likely respond by assuring him that Israeli authorities are taking all measures necessary to increase their control of the area, which just happens to be one of the most sensitive sites in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and paces away from where the Second Intifada began.
I doubt he will mention the fact that dozens more housing units are now under construction in Maale Zeitim, or that just across the street, a new settlement called Maale David is being built, which is slated to connect to Maale Zeitim, together making them the largest settlement in East Jerusalem.
What Congressman Nadler should have added in his letter to Amb. Oren, is his concern and disdain for Israel’s reckless and disingenuous policy in East Jerusalem, which is directly responsible for endangering the lives of Israeli citizens and all the residents of the city, not to mention further deepening the reality of an apartheid state, where two different systems of law and two different planning policies are implemented for Jews and Palestinians. Better yet, Congressman Nadler should have also directed his complaints at Irving Moskowitz, who, from his comfortable Florida home, is watching Jerusalem go up in flames.
For additional original analysis and breaking news, visit +972 Magazine's Facebook page or follow us on Twitter. Our newsletter features a comprehensive round-up of the week's events. Sign up here.
Tamar
Thank you, Meirav, for this post, especially poignant and timely for me. I have been planning to visit my father’s grave in the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives. Could you suggest what, if anything, I can do to accomplish this most personal visit safely and respectfully?
sh
Tamar, the complaint was about vandalized graves, not harmed visitors to them. Desecration of cemeteries is unpleasant and disrespectful, but not necessarily dangerous to living human beings. And consider this: there’s a Museum of Tolerance going up in a Muslim graveyard in downtown West Jerusalem. It’s the brainchild of America’s Simon Wiesenthal Center and its founder, Rabbi Marvin Hier.
This is not to excuse the desecration of cemeteries but to supply further context. Two links that might help to flesh out the picture:
http://www.rhr-na.org/resource/mamilla-cemetery-and-museum-of-intolerance
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/02/19/jerusalem-families-defend-ancestors-graves-desecrated-by-simon-wiesenthal-center/
Tamar
My question/issue is apolitical, and I’m asking: How can I reach my father’s grave with assurance, if possible, of my physical security? If Mairav or someone can suggest how I can accomplish this aim, I’d be most grateful. In this case, I’m not interested in references to or links on the subject of desecration. The issue of possible harm to visitors is not one I care to debate. Thanks.
Carolyn
Gee, Tamar, you must not be a New Yorker.
In New York, if we have to travel in more dangerous neighborhoods, we travel in pairs or groups and keep our eyes open. Goes with the territory, buddy. You can thank Bibi & company for the escalating tensions in East Jerusalem.
Schlesinger
On his own webpage, Rep. Nadler fiercly opposed a possible US alignment with the UN Security Counsels condemnation of jewish settlements:
“I was extremely shocked and dismayed to learn today that the U.S., a critical ally and friend of Israel, may be considering supporting a U.N. resolution at the Security Council critical of Israeli settlement policies. The U.N. is a hotbed of anti-Semitism and anti-Israeli sentiment, and the U.S. must not act to further such hatred [...]”
http://nadler.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1603&Itemid=132
Jake in Jerusalem
Tamar, I get to the cemetery at Har HaZeitim (the Mount of Olives) typically several times a year. You can make a reservation for a security patrol to accompany you. Contact the Chevra Kadisha, the burial society responsible for the cemetery. I think there might some relatively small charge for this service. They will meet you just outside the cemetery and will provide an armed escort during your visit to the graves of your loved ones. There really aren’t many cemeteries that can provide armed escort for visitors; this tells us something about life (or even death!) with Arab neighbors. Note: it is a large cemetery, and an ancient burial ground, so you better know precisely where the gravesite is. It is very difficult to just wander around there, searching. Also, you will have to arrange transport to the cemetery. There is no regular bus service to the cemetery; taxis will usually go there (be careful if you don’t know your way around and get an Arab driver…). If you drive, you will have a choice of driving through one of several Arab neighborhoods to get there (depending, also, on which part of the cemetery you have to get to). They are usually safe, though they look threatening. However, with Arabs, one never knows when they will erupt. (Witness Egypt, Libya, etc today.) I have had a few stones thrown at us once, but that is all. If it’s hot weather, take a bottle of water! You’d be amazed how hot it gets with the sun reflecting off the stones.
Mairav’s article, though, sounds like the usual stoooopid Leftist blabber – non-factual, propagandistic and deliberately misleading. Har HaZeitim is an ancient Jewish burial ground of especial significance. Jews who live nearby cannot possibly be “settlers” – anymore than Sioux, Cherokee or Navajo living in North America could be called “settlers”.
Muslims have desecrated this cemetery in the past, dug up many, many graves, dispersed bones and stolen and broken many gravestones. This will be easy to see in most any part of the cemetery that you visit. Arabs continue to vandalize and desecrate Jewish graves at Har HaZeitim and elsewhere to this day. Mairav still doesn’t get it.
Mairav Zonszein
Hi Tamar,
I have been meaning to reply to you – I was actually in transit when you wrote the comments and simply haven’t had the chance. I may not be the best person to confer with over your specific trip – and it seems Jake who is not very fond of my article just left you a comment with advice on how to go about it.
I can tell you that overall, there should be no problem with your visit, as daily life continues for better and worse in Jerusalem and all over Israel. However, my point is that tensions are high specifically because Israeli authorities are not taking into consideration the public peace or the interests of the residents in East Jerusalem over which it is responsible, yet neglects and discriminates against. The need for armed escort to visit your relative’s burial site is quite sad, but this is the reality of a conflict-ridden city and Israel has chosen, instead of negotiation, respect and equality to fill its capital with security cameras, guards with loaded guns, walls and fences.
Tamar
Thank you Jake and Mairav for answering my specific question on logistics of reaching the cemetery at Har HaZeitim! Jake, would you have handy the contact information for the Chevra Kadisha responsible for the cemetery? I have the precise location of the grave, where I have been, and this time I will ask an Israeli-Arab/Palestinian friend if he would be willing to drive and accompany me.
Jake in Jerusalem
Mairav,Tensions are not high in Jerusalem because of anything the Israelis have done. Arabs have been attacking and killing Jews there since long before the unification of the city in 1967, since before the establishment of the state in 1948, since before the massacres of Jews in 1936, since before the massacres of Jews in 1928… NONE of those hostilities had anything to do with what Jews did or did not do. It had EVERYTHING to do with Muslim/Arab hostility to Jews (and, eventually, to everyone else). Also note that Jews might want/need a security escort when visiting Arab neighborhoods but Arabs don’t need anything like this when visiting Jewish neighborhoods. And you want “respect and equality”??? Which side has to deliver on this???
Tamar, if you have a “Palestinian friend” who will take you to the cemetery, you don’t need a security escort. Be careful. Many parts of the cemetery often have very few visitors so be careful when you go there with your “Palestinian friend”.
Mary Hughes-Thompson
How sad to read comments from people such as Jake who try to give the impression that “Palestinian friends” should be suspect. I have travelled extensively in Israel and Palestine, and I never fear I could be in danger from any Palestinian, who are the most gracious hosts I have ever met. Having been personally attacked, robbed and beaten by Jewish settlers living illegally in the West Bank, and having been shot by trigger happy IDF soldiers, I know it is soldiers and settlers who create dangerous situations, and it is soldiers and settlers who carry the weapons of death.
Tamar, I am sure you have nothing to fear when visiting your father’s grave. Lucky for you that you are Jewish and not Palestinian.
Jake in Jerusalem
I am adding this note, a few months after the previous exchanges. Since Mary’s last comment on Palis being “the most gracious hosts I have ever met” Julian Mer-Khamis and Vittorio Arrigoni have both been barbarically murdered by the very Palestinians that they had been working so hard to help. There are many, many cases of Arabs raping female (and male!) volunteers who have come to help them, including UN staff. It has everything to do with the Arab sense of “honor” – which is entirely different from the Western concept of honor. (You have to understand this to understand honor-killings; to Arabs, it actually makes sense to kill one’s sister as an act of honor.) Also, the ISM website explicitly cautions female volunteers for the Palis of the tendency of Arab men to sexually attack unaccompanied women, even if they are radical Leftist volunteers and “useful idiots”. See Juliano and Vittorio as examples. The sheer audacity of the anti-Israel propaganda never ceases to amaze me. Perhaps people who believe the “gracious Palestinian host” propaganda and are then “burned” by their involvement in the “Palestinian cause” deserve what they get.