Photo: The excavation site of the Simon Wiesenthal Center's planned Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem. Credit: Al Aqsa Foundation
Compiled By "CavalierZee"
Israeli Museum Not So Tolerant, Group Of Archaeologists Say
By Maher Abukhater
October 24, 2011 | 2:45 pm
Courtesy Of "The LA Times"
REPORTING FROM JERUSALEM -- A group of prominent international archaeologists are among the latest people to publicly denounce plans to build a museum on the site of a centuries-old Muslim cemetery not far from Jerusalem’s historic Old City.
In a letter addressed to the board of the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, the mayor of Jerusalem and the director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, all of whom are backing the controversial project, 84 archeologists argued that construction of the museum would desecrate the sanctity of the site, known to be the location of the Mamilla Cemetery, or Ma'man Allah, the sanctuary of God.
The site is “one of the most historically renowned and ancient Muslim cemeteries in the world," said the group, which includes American, European, Arab and Israeli architects. “Such insensitivity towards religious rites, towards cultural, national and religious patrimony, and towards families whose ancestors lay buried there causes grave concern from a scientific and humanitarian standpoint.”
The project is slated for 33 acres of land in the heart of Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Municipality gave the property to the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
However, the project has been dogged by lawsuits filed by opponents who say not only would it defile a sacred site, but it's also too large. Differences over architectural design and a turnover of architects have also slowed the project's launch.
The archaeologists contend that such treatment of the burial site would not have occurred if were a Jewish burial site, and they quoted an Israeli official from the Ministry of Religious Affairs as saying that excavations would immediately stop "if one Jewish skeleton were found."
But the Wiesenthal Center has defeated legal challenges in Israeli courts and has vowed to press ahead with the museum.
The Judaization Of Jerusalem
The below information is courtesy of "Wikipedia"
The Judaization of Jerusalem (Arabic: تهويد القدس, tahweed il-quds; Hebrew: יהוד ירושלים, yehud yerushalaim) refers to the actions that Israel has sought to transform the physical and demographic landscape of Jerusalem to correspond with a vision of a united and fundamentally Jewish Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty.[1]
Several UN officials have said that Israel's actions are tantamount to apartheid and ethnic cleansing.
Some scholars like Oren Yiftachel, Moshe Ma'oz and Jeremy Salt write that it has been the policy of successive Israeli governments since 1967.
Defining Judaization: Means and Effects In Jerusalem
"Judaization" in territorial terms is characterized by Oren Yiftachel as a form of "ethnicization", which he argues is "the main force in shaping ethnocratic regimes". Yiftachel identifies Judaization as a state strategy and project in Israel, not confined to Jerusalem alone.[14] He also characterizes the goals of those pursuing a "Greater Israel" or "Greater Palestine" as being driven by "ethnicization", in this case by "Judaization" and "Arabization" respectively.[15]
Valerie Zink writes that much was accomplished towards the Judaization of Jerusalem with the expulsion of Arab residents in 1948 and 1967, noting that the process has also relied in "peacetime" on "the strategic extension of Jerusalem's municipal boundaries, bureaucratic and legal restrictions on Palestinian land use, disenfranchisement of Jerusalem residents, the expansion of settlements in 'Greater Jerusalem', and the construction of the separation wall."[1] The attempts to Judaize Jerusalem, in the words of Jeremy Salt, "to obliterate its Palestinian identity" and thicken 'Greater Jerusalem' to encompass much of the West Bank, have continued under successive Israeli governments.[16][17]
Cheryl Rubenberg writes that since 1967, Israel has employed processes of "Judaization and Israelization so as to transform Jerusalem into a Jewish metropolis," while simultaneously pursuing "a program of de-Arabization" so as to facilitate "its objective of permanent, unified, sovereign control over the city."[18] These policies, which aim to change Jerusalem demographically, socially, culturally and politically, are said by Rubenberg to have intensified after the initiation of the Oslo peace process in 1993.[18]
Drawing on the scholarship of Ian Lustick, Cecilia Alban writes of how the Israeli government has succeeded in establishing "new powerful, concepts, images, and icons" to explain and legitimise its policies in Jerusalem. The government's use of the term "reunification" to describe its occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967 is cited as one such example, which in Alban's view, falsely implies that this area belonged to Israel in the past. Noting the reality of the fear among Israelis that Jerusalem would become redivided under dual sovereignty or internationalizationproposals, Alban's writes that such fears were "exploited politically to justify the forced retention and Judaization of East Jerusalem."[19]Steve Niva writes that Israeli policies calling for the Judaization of Jerusalem and the rest of historic Palestine in the 1970s, augmented Muslim fears that Israel was an extension of Western imperialism in the region.[20]
Settlements and House Demolitions
Over roughly three decades, from 1967 to 1995, of 76,151 housing units built in Jerusalem, 64,867 (88%) were allocated for Jewish residents with 59% of these units built in East Jerusalem as new Jewish neighbourhoods.[21]
Yiftachel writes that by 2001, Judaization in Jerusalem had entailed the incorporation of 170 square kilometers (66 sq mi) of surrounding land into the city's boundaries and the construction of 8 settlements in East Jerusalem housing a total of 206,000 Jewish settlers.[22] In an essay he co-authored with Haim Yaacobi, they write that, "Israel would like the Palestinian residents of Jerusalem to see Judaization as 'inevitable', a fact to be accepted passively as part of the modern development of the metropolis."[23]
Plans are underway to construct a new Israeli settlement in the last piece of open land linking Arab East Jerusalem to the West Bank that will house about 45,000 residents on a land area larger than Tel Aviv, the second-largest Israeli city.[24] According to Alghad, a Jordaniannewspaper, the Israeli government elected in 2009 is soliciting tenders for the biggest settlement plans in West Bank.[25] These plans have been described by the Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti as, "an announcement against peace and against the Palestinian state and it means the Israeli government is not a partner for peace." This settlement is considered to by Palestinians as one method by which to Judaize the city.[26]
In 1981, the Supreme Court of Israel ruled that non-Jews could not buy property in the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem so as to "preserve the homogeneity" of the Jewish Quarter. On the other hand, no law prohibits Jews from buying property or living in East Jerusalem.[27] Israel Shahak, citing the ruling, wrote that: "only Jews have a right to permanent residence in Jerusalem as a natural right. The state of Israel does not recognize the right of an Arab or another non-Jew to live in Jerusalem even if he was born there."[28] The efforts of fundamentalist Jewish groups who enjoyed government backing in attempts to take over Palestinian homes in the Muslim and Christian Quarters of the Old Citybetween 1993 and 2000 are cited by Rubenberg as one example of the Judaization of Jerusalem. Meron Benvenisti writes that these groups succeeding in taking over several buildings, "but only after receiving massive assistance from the government to, among other things, finance an extensive system of armed guards to protect them day and night, and hire armed guards for their children anytime they go out into the streets."[29]
Rubenberg also cites settlement construction as an example of the Judaization of Jerusalem, citing in particular the construction of bypass roads that connect Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem with those in the West Bank so as to create a newly expanded Jerusalem metropolis integrally linked with Israel proper.[18] Jeff Halper, an anthropologist and director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), describes the Judaization of the city as one of the effects of settlement growth and house demolitions in East Jerusalem, describing it as being aimed at "eliminat[ing] the idea that there is an East Jerusalem, to create one unified, Jewish Jerusalem."[30] In March 2009, defending its planned demolitions against Palestinian houses in the Bustan area of Silwan that would leave 1,500 people homeless, Jerusalem authorities said the houses were built illegally, without zoning and construction permits. Palestinians andhuman rights organisations countered that "Israel makes it almost impossible for Palestinians to get the requisite permits, as a part of the policy to Judaise the eastern part of the city."[31]
The E1 Plan which includes the demolishing of some Palestinian homes and the building of a new Israeli settlement is described by thePalestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) as another method by which the Judaization of Jerusalem is being implemented.[32][33][34]
Residency Rights
Other means by which the Israeli government is "Judaizing Jerusalem", according to Leilani Farha, are via the revocation of residency rights,absentee property laws, and discriminatory taxation policies.[35] Since 1982 the Israeli Interior Ministry has not permitted the registration of Palestinian children as Jerusalem residents if the child's father does not hold a Jerusalem ID card, even if the mother is a Jerusalem ID cardholder.[36] In 2003, the Citizenship and Entry into Israel law was enacted, which denies spouses from the occupied Palestinian territories, who are married to Israeli citizens or permanent residents (Jerusalem ID card holders), the right to acquire citizenship or residency status, and thus the opportunity to live with their partners in Israel and Jerusalem. In Israel, foreign spouses who are Jewish are automatically granted citizenship under Israel's Law of Return.[36]
Replacing Arabic Place Names With Hebrew Names
Another major aspect of Israel's effort to Judaize Jerusalem was to replace the Arabic names of streets, quarters and historical sites withHebrew names.[37] The Jordanian newspaper, al-Ra'i, published a list of such names and accused the Israeli government of changing the Arab names systematically to erase Arab heritage in Jerusalem and prevent the reassertion of Arab sovereignty over the city.[citation needed]The newspaper also claimed the new names had nothing to do with the old names and sometimes attributed a Jewish patrimony when in fact there was no such relation. One example it cited was the site named Solomon's Stables by the Israeli government, which the newspaper claimed was not built in Solomon's time, but at the time of the Roman emperor Hadrian.[37] Solomon's Stables were named as such by crusaders, who built the stables, because they were adjacent to the location of Solomon's temple. This name was used by the Israeli government.
Demographic Debate
Benvenisti writes that complete data on the demographics of Jerusalem are not collected by any one official source and that as a result, data are interpreted and used selectively and inconsistently by both Palestinian and Israeli sources. Figures pointed to by Palestinians as evidence of their success in preserving the Arab character of Jerusalem, are also sometimes used as "proof of the Judaization of Jerusalem". Benvenisti writes that despite immense Israeli effort, "the demographic balance in the city has hardly changed at all."[38]
Critiquing international news reporting on Jerusalem for centering on Arab and Palestinian claims regarding the Judaization of Jerusalem, Dan Diker writes that the underlying assumption of such reporting is that "eastern Jerusalem" has always been an Arab city, ignoring "the fact that Jerusalem has had an overwhelmingly Jewish majority as far back as the mid-nineteenth century, well before the arrival of the British."[39]Drawing on a study of urban planning and demographic growth in Jerusalem conducted by Justus Reid Weiner, Diker writes that between 1967 and 2000, "Jerusalem's Arab population increased from 26.6 percent to 31.7 percent of the city's total populace, while the city's Jewish population decreased accordingly."[39] He also writes that Arab housing construction heavily outpaced Jewish building during the same period, attributing this in part to "the direct sponsorship of illegal construction by the Palestinian Authority."[39]
In "Is Jerusalem being "Judaized"?, Weiner reviews demographic figures from the mid-19th century through to the present and concludes that the "demographic evidence does not support the allegations that Israel is 'Judaizing' the city."[40] His view is that speculation as to whether or not a policy of Judaization exists is rather pointless when there is no "effective implementation of tangible measures to implement such a program."[40]
Support For Judaization Efforts
According to Nur Masalha, the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem (ICEJ), established in 1980 in the former home of Edward Said, supports "exclusive Israeli sovereignty over the city and the Judaisation of Arab East Jerusalem."[41] The ICEJ website notes that its embassy was founded "as an act of comfort and solidarity with Israel and the Jewish people in their claim to Jerusalem" It also notes that the ICEJ administers several aid projects, engages in advocacy for Israel, and assists "aliyah to the Jewish homeland."[42]
The Elad Association promotes the Judaization of East Jerusalem. Operating in the city for some 20 years to acquire properties belonging to Palestinians in Kfar Silwan, Palestinians say it has "taken over" substantial sections of the village.[43] Elad also funds the digs being conducted near the Temple Mount. In 2008, Haaretz reported that at least 100 skeletons dating to the Islamic era (c. 8th-9th centuries AD) found a few hundred meters from Al-Aqsa mosque were removed and packed into crates before they could be examined by archaeological experts.[44] The excavations at Al-Aqsa are described in Arab media in the context of Israeli efforts to Judaise Jerusalem.[45]
Criticism Of Judaization Efforts
The United Nations has criticised Israel's efforts to change the demographic makeup of Jerusalem in several resolutions. All legislative and administrative measures taken by Israel, which have altered or aimed to alter the character, legal status and demographic composition of Jerusalem, are described by the UN as "null and void" and having "no validity whatsoever".[46]
According to David G. Singer, the magazine America published four articles between 1969 and 1972 that "censured Israel for its policy of Judaizing Jerusalem: moving Jews into the former Jewish section of the Old City, building new housing projects around the Holy City, and permitting — even encouraging - Christian Arabs to migrate from Israel."[47]
In a six-point document drafted as a result of discussion between the leaders of Fateh, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad, among other Palestinian groups in March 2005, three issues were listed as "liable to explode the calm" between Israeli and Palestinians, one of these being "the Judaization of East Jerusalem."[48]
In a 2008 report, John Dugard, independent investigator for the United Nations Human Rights Council, cites the Judaization of Jerusalem among many examples of Israeli policies "of colonialism, apartheid or occupation", that create a context in which Palestinian terrorism is "an inevitable consequence".[49]
In a joint communiqué issued by King Abdullah of Jordan and King Mohammed VI of Morocco in March 2009, both leaders stressed their determination "to continue defending Jerusalem and to protect it from attempts to Judaise the city and erase its Arab and Islamic identity."[50]And in February 2010, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem was quoted in Israeli Media as saying "halting the ongoing Judaization of Jerusalem” would be a significant topic at an upcoming Arab League Summit.[51]
In 2011, EU envoys in the Middle East reported to Brussels that various Israeli policies amounted to "systematically undermining the Palestinian presence" in Jerusalem.[52]
Richard Falk, Special Rapporteur for the UN on the occupied Palestinian territories, said that "the continued pattern of settlement expansion in East Jerusalem combined with forcible eviction of long residing Palestinians are creating an intolerable situation that can only be described, in its cumulative impact, as a form of ethnic cleansing". Falk said that Israel's actions reveal systematic discrimination against Palestinian residents of the city, and recommended that the International Court of Justice assess allegations that Israel's occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem possesses elements of apartheid and ethnic cleansing.[53]
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