Asem Khalidi

 ( January  2009)

 

 

Mamilla And The Museum Of

Intolerance

 

 

Mamilla is famous for being  the largest and oldest Islamic cemetery in Jerusalem. According to records of  the  Jerusalem Land Registry Office of  March 1938,  its area  was 134.5 Dunums.  Today it has been reduced to less than 19 Dunums. Historians say that domes and cupola erected  over  tombs and marble built graves perpetuate the memories of those  important people who  bequeathed  to Jerusalem the amenities  that gave the city its patrimony.       

 

Mujeer id-Deen el-Hanbali, a Jerusalemite, included in his famous sixteenth centuary compendium "History of Jerusalem and Hebron" a long list of Jerusalem dignitaries buried in Mamilla. Unfortunately, his list had only the names of those whose tombs had grave markers. It included famous Moslem clerics, judges, scholars,  military leaders, governors, custodians and sheikhs of al-Aqsa Mosque. Some of the names included were:

1.       Ameer Alaa' id-Deen il-Kabkabi.  (Ameer was a military rank. In modern times the word Aamer is used which means commander.)  The cupola over his tomb was built in 688 Hijra yr.  (died 1289).

2.       Diya' id-Deen Isa il- Makari.,  A famous scholar  and  one of Saladin ministers.

3.       Burhan id-Deen bin Jamaa'a,  Chief Justice. (Qadi il-Qydah) and Head of is-Salahiyya School.  (died 1276).

4.       Ameer Salah id-Deen Imzerd is-Silihdar,    a Mamluki military commander.

5.       Imam Shraf id-Deen,  A scholar and Imam of El-Aqsa mosque (died 1219).

6.       Aydmaar il-Sheikhaani,  Custodian of the two holy mosques il-Aqsa mosque of Jerusalem   and   il-Ibrahimy mosque of Hebron.

7.       Jalaal id-Deen  il-Qalaansi,  the cupola over his tomb lies to the north of il-Kabkabiyya cupola.

8.       Sheikh Shihaab id-Deen il-Maqdisiy –  A theologian.

9.       Haaj Alloun son of Abrahayim il-Randi  il-Andalusi, .owner of the Suwaiqet Alloun,  the famous popular market place  in the old City of Jerusalem

10.   Taqiy id-Deen il-Qarqashandi, Chief Justice.  (died 1276).

11.  Abdulla il-Bustami.  A sufi scholar,   buried in the courtyard of

       il-Bustamiya.

12. .Ameer Nasser id-Deen in-Nashashiby, custodian of the two holy          mosques, and one of Saladin ministers and military commanders. (The irony is that  while a huge colored  portrait of one of his descendents, Ragheb Bey in-Nashashiby, Arab mayor of Jerusalem ,1920 – 1933, covers a good part of a wall in the main lobby of King David Hotel in Jerusalem less than a couple of thousand feet from Mamilla, the tomb of Nasser id-Deen himself was dug out and leveled by permission of the so called guardian of the properties of absentee landholders.)

13. Ameer Ahmad Rajab in-Nashashibiy, a member of the Royal Court of Sultan iz-Zaaher Jukmaak and grandson of the aforementioned Ameer Nasser id-Deen.

  1. Abu Baker ish-Sheibani,  one of the great Sufis whose descendants still live in upper Galilee.
  2. Shams id-Deen id-Dayri il-Khalidi, (A forefather of the Khalidi  family of Jerusalem.) . Chief justice and mufti. (died 1436).  Descendents of Shams id-Deen id-Dayri continued to be buried in Mamilla up to the  second decade of the 20th century. 
  3. Abdul Rahman id-Dayri il-Khalidi,  (son of Shams id-Deen,) custodian of the two holy mosques. (died 1452).
  4. Fakhr id-Deen ir-Raziy,   chief justice,  who taught in the two holy mosques of Jerusalem and Hebron.
  5. Chief Justice Shihab id-Deen Arslaan. (died  1449)
  6. Abdul Hasan il-Badri, (a descendent of Ali bin Abi-Taleb, the Prophet's son-in-law, and the 4th Calif). Abdul Hasan was buried in Mamilla as well as other members  of his family (is-Saadah il-Badriya) who lived in Talbiyyeh, the famous elite Jerusalem suburb in the western section of the city that got its name from their great forefather Ali bin-Abi TAALEB,  hence the name Talbiyyeh. 
  7. Salah id-Deen Mohammad il-Attar, custodian of the two holy mosques, and  representative of the region during the reign of Sultan Ashraf Bersibaay.
  8. Sheikh Ahmad id-Dajaani el-Mansi,  was an affiliate with the rulers of Jerusalem  and Damascus. (died 1561).
  9. Imam Khair id-Deen ir-Ramli,  the Hanafi Mufti, had some published works.  (died 1670)
  10. Najm id-Deen il-Khairi, Jerusalem mufti, the great grandfather of the Khairi family of Jerusalem
  11. Ameer Rukn id-Deen Mankourish il-Jashenkeer (died 1317).
  12. Ameer Mohammad il-Qasim it-Tameemi il-Batrouri, custodian of the two holy mosques.  (died1464)
  13. Seif id-Deen Arkaas son of Abdulla il-Jalabaani and custodian of the two holy mosques.
  14. Ameer Hassan bin Ayyoub, Sultan deputy in Jerusalem during the reign of king iz-Zaahir Juqmaaq
  15. Ameer ibn il-Humaam, son of Nasser id-Deen Khoushqadam and one of the notables of Jerusalem who served as the city governer. (died 1460)
  16. Jamal id-Deen ir-Rabee'  deputy of king il-Asraf  Qaytibaay. (died 1486)
  17. Ameer (Jaan Balaat) Junblaat. Custodian of the two holy mosques during the reign of king il-Ashraf Qaytibaay.

And the list goes on and on.

 

Unfortunately, historic cemeteries are subject to long-term deterioration from the weather and uncontrolled vegetation, and neglect that accelerates the process. Sometimes destruction would be a result of  damage committed by  premeditated  action of  religious fanatics.

 

During the Ottoman rule, the cemetery was encircled by a 2 meter high fence around  the year 1847, and Jerusalemites continued to use  it as a burial site for their dead until 1927 when the Moslem Supreme Council decided to  preserve the cemetery as a historical  site.  According to their decision, the Council continued to maintain the cemetery and look after its grounds and keep the tombs in a well maintained condition.

 

 After 1948, however, when Israel assumed control over the western section of the city of Jerusalem, the historical cemetery suffered neglect and abuse because the occupation authorities never paid attention to the deterioration caused by natural forces such as weathering and uncontrolled vegetation. Their main concern was only focused on wiping out any traces of the indigenous citizens who lived there before 1948. After 1967 war, the Islamic Waqf Department of the eastern section of the city  requested the Israeli officials to give them permission to go back to the old practice  of maintenance of the cemetery, but their request was  rejected.    

 

In most countries there are  laws that protect historic cemeteries  against vandalism and destruction. In Israel, however, these laws do not seem to  apply to Moslem cemeteries. To the contrary, Moslem cemeteries all over the country suffered constant obliteration of tombs and Mamilla cemetery was no exception. Tombs and mausoleums continued to be destroyed in Mamilla until only 5% of the tombs were left. Tomb markers and grave stones were constantly removed and destroyed for the purpose of wiping out any Moslem trace in downtown Jerusalem.  Now with only 8% of the cemetery area left, new Israeli plans are being  designed to finish this Moslem historical site once and for all.. 

 

This process started in 1967 when the Jerusalem municipality turned a big part of the cemetery into a public park that was named "Independence Park"   In order to finish that project, many grave sites were  dug out and remains of the dead  desecrated. On January 15th. 2005 the Israeli  electricity company did more damage performing more excavations  The Moslem Waqf Department continued to protest to no avail. Another part of the cemetery is used now as the main headquarters of the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

 

During the first week of December 2005, some Israeli bulldozers started  a fresh destruction effort in order to implement an American/Israeli project undertaken by Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC). The huge project  includes two big buildings; one would be the Human Dignity, the other  the Museum of Tolerance.  Allocations for the projects would amount to more than 200 million dollars raised mainly from American donors by the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.

 

On May 3, 2004 California Governor Arnold Schwarzengger, laid the foundation stone for the project in Jerusalem, in a ceremony attended by Israeli officials, including then Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and US ambassador Daniel Kurtzer.   

 

The Wiesenthal Center's move has drawn outrage from Muslims and  non-Muslims alike who say that the museum is rejecting the very ideals it claims to stand for, tolerance. 

 

What is striking is that even Israel's Supreme Court whose business    should be implementing cemetery laws even if those laws concern (non-Jewish) Historical Cemeteries came up with a a ruling in November 2008 saying that the project could go ahead because  "… a parking lot built in the area (i.e. on the cemetery ground) more than 40 years ago and then raised no objection…."  This ruling was objectionable on two grounds. First, it was based on another  unethical infringement and aggression on the cemetery that took place right after the 1967 war ( more than 40 years ago). Second, it admits boldly and without shame that a parking lot was built on the site of the burial ground where Moslem families buried their kin less than 90 years ago in the same historical cemetery where their ancestors and many of Jerusalem Moslem families and dignitaries were buried.  

 

When Jimmy Carter made a remark to Aharon Barak the chief justice of the Israeli Supreme Court in 1990, ..  that "..if  he was to make decisions that affected the lives of people …… , he should know more about how they lived."  Barak answered with a smile, "I am a judge, not an investigator."   I wonder if the Israeli chief justice knew in November 2008 (after two years of study and contemplation ) that the Jerusalem Arab citizens and the Islamic Waqf people did protest then. They were appalled and terrified when they saw bones of their ancestors and loved ones scattered in and around an excavation site of the Israeli workforce that was preparing the ground for the famous parking lot in 1967.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The shocked and appalled Jerusalemites and Islamic Waqf people gathering the scattered bones left by Israeli parking lot workers in Mamilla, the historic cemetery in the western section of Jerusalem  (1967).

 Source: Memoirs of Anwar il-Khateeb it-Tameemi, the last Jordanian governor  of Jerusalem, in his book, With Saladin in Jerusalem,  published in 1989.

 

 

As for the two years delay, it is believed that was a good enough time for the contractors to do their clandestine work behind their very high fences and under their white tents protected by their own security guards without interference from Jerusalemite protesters and /or other curious investigators or journalists.

 

Durgham Saif, the lawyer  who brought the Islamic petition to Israeli Supreme Court, says that bones have been removed to boxes and that one skull has been smashed.

 

Finally, Jerusalem Arab citizens are still wondering if the 20 page ruling of the Israeli Supreme Court will change history and historical facts. It for sure  will not support the false pretension that Arab Jerusalemites never lived and died and were never buried in Mamilla.  Was the court serious when it reached the conclusion that the cemetery was abandoned between 1948 and 1967.??  Of course it was. The cemetery during that period and up to 1993, was under guardianship of the Israeli Department of Absentee landholders. Were they serious when they ignored the fact that the Islamic Wagf Department was denied restoration of their custodianship over the cemetery in 1967?  Were they serious when they claim that a parking lot built on the cemetery ground  more than 40 years ago  and raised no objection?  Was the Simon Wiesenthal Center really earnest when they claimed that the Frank O. Gehry-designed Center for Human Dignity – Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem (MOTJ) was truly for "Tolerance".  Couldn't  earnestly a museum of "Tolerance "  be built on an undisputed piece of land in Jerusalem  or anywhere else in Israel ??  Do they expect Arab Jerusalemites to tolerate destruction of the burial site of their own forefathers who passed away less than a hundred years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Al-Kabkabiya is a cupola,  a small domed one-room mosque in which

 Ameer  Alaadin il-Kabkabi  was buried in September 1289.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The entrance to il-Kabkabi's tomb is decorated with this marble plaque documenting the date of the passing away of il-Kabkbi with beautiful Arabic scripts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another side view of al Kabkabiyya