Israeli Jewish extremists desecrate Islamic cemetery in East Jerusalem

Israeli desecration of Islamic cemetery in East Jerusalem

Saturday November 29, 2008 13:06 by Maisa Abu Ghazaleh - Palestine News Network

Jewish extremists continue their attacks on Arab property in Jerusalem, but this time not on the living. The target is an historic Islamic cemetery as the Israelis are already desecrating Maman Allah (Mamilla) for a “Museum of Tolerance.”

Muhammed Dajani told PNN today that his family tomb was destroyed in East Jerusalem’s Jabal Seyun, Mount Zion.

“Extremists belonging to a Jewish school removed some of the graves and headstones, while the administration demolished the wall which protected the cemetery for hundreds of years.”

The Chairman of the Committee for the Care of Islamic Graves, Mustafa Abu Zahra, said that the occupation authorities demolished the cemetery fence. The Israeli administration is sponsoring projects in the area affecting the cemetery that is one dunam with approximately 200 graves.

Abu Zahra said that the cemetery dates back to Salahuddin. "It is imperative to support this process and effort of protecting the cemetery because these graves, their history and heritage, do not belong to the people of Jerusalem and Palestine, but to the King of the Islamic nation and history. The mosques of Jerusalem, cemeteries and monuments, all belong to the Islamic nation. This human heritage must be preserved in the face of schemes by the Israeli authorities. All international forums must be called upon to stop Israeli violations of Islamic places."

Dajani said that his family learned of the attack on the cemetery by people working in the area. “There are many destroyed headstones and special parts of the graves because of the Israeli actions in the region in addition to the daily acts of settlers which include throwing old furniture and garbage into the cemetery.”

Dajani explained that the family would bear all the expenses of rebuilding the fence and restoring the original detailing on the ancient stones as best they can. He also said that the family would file an international justice complaint, referring to the United Nations resolution forbidding the Israelis from changing the landscape of any area it occupies.

Israel prepares for demolishing whole neighborhood in Jerusalem

[ 29/11/2008 - 04:04 PM ]

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)--

The Islamic-Christian front for the defense of Jerusalem warned that a group of Zionist settlement enterprises especially the Israeli municipality had earmarked more than $300,000,000 for the demolition of a whole neighborhood in the Silwan town called Al-Bustan located southeastern of Jerusalem's old city.

Dr. Hasan Khater, the secretary-general of the front, explained that the Israeli municipality of occupied Jerusalem and other settlement enterprises, namely, the east Jerusalem development company, the authority of archeology, the authority of nature and the Elad foundation allocated the money to destroy all houses, buildings and Arab remains in the neighborhood in order to judaize it.

Dr. Khater also said that the IOA will displace more than 1,500 Palestinian natives from the neighborhood in order to build a Jewish neighborhood in its place, pointing out that the IOA actually started to send large trucks laden with iron bars and building materials to the area.

He underlined that the people of Silwan with the support of a number of Jerusalemites, foreign activists and human rights organizations are trying to stop this settlement project.

Khater added that this Zionist scheme would lead to the isolation of the Aqsa Mosque and the old town from the southern side as a prelude to the complete encirclement of the eastern and northern sides as well in case the IOA implemented its judaization projects in the Bab Al-Rahma cemetery and the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

He appealed in this regard to the international community and the legal and human rights organizations to assume their role in protecting the holy city and its identity from the Israeli attempts to judaize it and counterfeit the demographic, cultural and religious facts in the city.

More than 88 houses in Al-Bustan will be demolished, these houses are home to more than 1,500 Palestinian residents a large percentage of them are children. If this demolition were carried out, it would be the largest demolition act after the demolition of Al-Maghareba neighborhood inside the old city in 1967. The house owners in Al-Bustan received court orders demanding them to evacuate their houses.

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