Jerusalem, Between Urban Area and Apparition From Multi ethnic city to nationalism? Jerusalem in the early 20th century Mamilla 1 Introduction : Jerusalem, City of Collision. Home to the most sacred sites to all three religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam; that embraces within it the Western Wall, a remnant from the Second Temple and the holiest place in Judaism, the holy Sepulcher and the Al- Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam. A city that is highly significant to Palestinians and Israelis alike, regardless to how each side see it –a crucial focal point in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A city of symbolism, that is very important to Palestinians and Israelis, both of who see Jerusalem as their nation’s capital, in which both justify the conflict over the city through religious and historical motives that are empowered by political ones. However, to live in Jerusalem is to be constantly reminded of the raw tensions running just beneath the roughly hewn Jerusalem stone, where every action and what often seems like every step is fraught with political, cultural, religious and ethnic consequence. Unsurprisingly, even the dead in the Holy City are subject to the conflicts of the living. Since the occupation of Israel to Jerusalem, Israel has been building and expanding colonies beyond the Green Line and as of the 1990s it has been settling Jews in the middle of densely populated Palestinian neighborhoods. Jerusalem became a unified city, in which an unprecended separation between its residences occurred. Arabs and Jews are totally separated, culturally, socially and of course politically. The scenes of separation are as well very clear to the eye. Arab neighborhoods are separated from the Jewish ones, in what is called east and west sides of the city. Within integrated parts, that is enforced within planting Jewish radicals inside Palestinian neighborhoods, such as Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan and Mount of olives. The Jewish residents (settlers) are surrounded with their dignified surroundings that are totally excluded from the Arab ones. As one walks in the city, roads also form what became a natural separation between Arabs and Jews. The infrastructure is different; facilities are obviously different from both sides. Commencing with the beginning of the 1960's, Israel apparently began "encroaching" on the Mamilla cemetery. Initially, a road was paved connecting Hillel St. and Ben Sira St. at the northern tip of the site. Thereafter, the plot created to the north of this road was re- zoned, which, in 1976, led to the necessity of thee re-parcelization scheme of the entire 2 bloc, mentioned above. A number of buildings were erected on this northern tip of the site, and the parking lot was established, with only the northern part of the parking lot involving groundbreaking and construction, with the southern part of the lot only being paved over, with no underground construction.1 Mammilla Mammilla from an Israeli view: Mammilla was originally established in 1890 just west of the Old City by Muslim and Christian Arabs but during the 1920s was inhabited by Jews as well. The Mammilla district was an important commercial area, site of the municipal buildings as well as the first post office outside the Old City walls. As a result of the 1948 war, The War of Liberation in 1948 with its heavy shelling left many buildings badly damaged and deserted; as a result the neighborhood turned into a border area and suffered decay, becoming a home for the poor of Jerusalem. The King David Hotel and the YMCA at the edge of the district maintained some of the neighborhood's prestige, however. After the Six Day War, when the area became safe, the residents were evacuated to other neighborhoods so that a major overhaul of the community could be undertaken. Since 1990, Mammilla has developed into the site of many prestigious residential projects. The new projects, beginning with David’s Village and now King David’s Residence, the Alrov project with its promenade of cafes and stores, and the rebuilding of the famous Palace Hotel by the Reichman family have brought elegance and life back to the area.2 Mamilla from an international scholarly view The Jewish chosen-ness led to genocide time and again. Outside of Jerusalem’s Jaffa gate (Bab al-KHalil), there was once a small neighborhood called Mamilla, destroyed by real-estate developers just a few years ago. In its place they created a kitschy ‘village’ for the super-rich, abutting the plush Hilton Hotel. A bit further away there is the old Mamilla cemetery of the Arab nobles and the Mamilla Pool, a water reservoir dug by Pontius Pilate. During the development works, the workers came upon a burial cave holding hundreds of sculls and bones. It was adorned by a cross and the legend: ‘God 1 http://www.ipcri.org/files/The%20Tolerance%20Museum%20-ENGLISH.pdf 2 (http://www.eifermanrealty.com/shownb.aspx? id=53) 3 alone knows their names’. The Biblical Archaeology Review, published by the Jewish American Herschel Shanks, printed a long feature by the Israeli archaeologist Ronny Reich on this discovery.3 The dead were laid to their eternal rest in AD 614, the most dreadful year in the history of Palestine until the Twentieth Century. The Scottish scholar Adam Smith, wrote in his Historical Geography of the Holy Land: “until now, the terrible devastation of 614 is visible in the land, it could not be healed”. In 614 local Palestinian Jews allied with their Babylonian co-religionists and assisted the Persians in their conquest of the Holy Land. 26,000 Jews participated in the onslaught. In the aftermath of the Persian victory, the Jews perpetrated a massive holocaust of the Gentiles of Palestine. They burned the churches and the monasteries, killed monks and priests, burned books. The beautiful basilica of Fishes and Loaves in Tabgha, the Ascension on the Mount of Olives, St Stephen opposite Damascus Gate and the Hagia Sion on Mt Zion are just at the top of the list of perished edifices. Indeed, very few churches survived the onslaught. The Great Laura of St Sabas, tucked away in the bottomless Ravine of Fire (Wadi an-Nar) was saved by its remote location and steep crags. The Church of the Nativity miraculously survived: when Jews commanded its destruction, the Persians balked. They perceived the Magi mosaic above the lintel as the portrait of Persian kings. This devastation was not the worst crime. When Jerusalem surrendered to the Persians, thousands of local Christians became prisoners of war and were herded to the Mamilla Pool area. The Israeli archaeologist Ronny Reich writes: They were probably sold to the highest bidder. According to some sources, the Christian captives at Mamilla Pond were bought by Jews and were then slain on the spot. It had come at length, the long-expected hour of triumph and vengeance; and the Jews did not neglect the opportunity. They washed away the profanation of the holy city in Christian blood. The Persians are said to have sold the miserable captives for money. The vengeance of the Jews was stronger than their avarice; not only did they not scruple to sacrifice their treasures in the purchase of these devoted bondsmen, they put to death all they had purchased at a lavish price. It was a rumor of the time that 90,000 perished.4 An eyewitness to the massacre, Strategius of St Sabas, was more vivid: Thereupon the vile Jews… rejoiced exceedingly, because they detested the Christians, and they conceived an evil plan. As of old they bought the Lord from the Jews with silver, so they purchased Christians out of the reservoir… 3 "The Vengeance of the Jews Was Stronger Than Their Avarice": Modern Historians and the Persian Conquest of Jerusalem in 614 (published in Jewish Social Studies Volume 4, Number 2, Indiana University) 4 Henry Hart Milman, History of the Jews, Oxford University 4 How many souls were slain in the reservoir of Mamilla! How many perished of hunger and thirst! How many priests and the sword massacred monks! How many maidens, refusing their abominable outrages, the enemy gave over to death! How many parents perished on top of their children! How many of the people were brought up by the Jews and butchered, and became confessors of Christ! Who can count the multitude of the corpses of those who were massacred in Jerusalem!’ Strategius estimated the victims of the holocaust at 66,000.5 The holocaust of the Christian Palestinians in year 614 is well documented and you will find it described in older books. It has been censored out of modern guides and history books. Elliott Horowitz described, in his brilliant expose of the Jewish apologia how almost all Jewish historians suppressed the facts and re-wrote history. The cover- up continues even now. 6 The Sixth Century was a century of strong Jewish influence, and it had more than its fair share of genocide. Just a few years before 614, in 610, the Jews of Antioch massacred Christians. The Jewish historian Graetz wrote: [The Jews] fell upon their Christian neighbors and retaliated for the injuries which they had suffered; they killed all that fell into their hands, and threw their bodies into the fire, as the Christians had done to them a century before. They shamefully abused the Patriarch Anastasius, an object of special hate, and his body dragged through the streets before he was put to death.7 After the Arab conquest, a majority of Palestinian Jews accepted the message of the Messenger, as did the majority of Palestinian Christians, albeit for somewhat different reasons.