Wow, that did not take long!
I was in Mamilla Mall, an area between 1948 and 1967 that was part of “No Man’s Land.” That is, the area within meters from occupying Jordanian soldiers’ pot shots at Jews who came too close to the Jerusalem Old City Walls.
Today the restored store fronts are part of a gentrified, upscale mall. One of Jerusalem, Israel’s most successful scenes of diversity.
Walking home, I passed Mamilla Cemetery, which is across the street from the new Jerusalem Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The land for ancient Mamilla Cemetery was a large area. But the well connected, Husseini family managed in 1929, to get much of the land reclassified for their building campaigns.
When we moved to Israel, the fenced off part of Mamilla Cemetery was one of the city’s greatest eyesores. Nine years ago, it was a garbage dump. Too bad, I did not take photos to document such things, an area overgrown with weeds and garbage. Ugly sites were not on my agenda back then.
However, when plans for the Museum of Tolerance became known, the situation on the ground changed, almost over night. Remember? Mamilla Cemetery New Incitement?
The exact area of the cemetery might be in question, but one thing is not, when cleaning up the area starts, something and trouble will soon follow.
I walk by often, watching the changes over time, so I noticed a new area was cleaned up this week.
This spot with graves so clearly seen from the street, was buried in weeds until recently. I took these photos thinking, another clean up, trouble is soon to follow.
Within hours, scanning Google headlines, there it was Israel builds pub on historic Jerusalem cemetery .
The Arab League has condemned the Israeli construction of a pub on a historic cemetery in East Jerusalem.
Earlier this month, Israeli authorities opened a pub on part of the Mamilla cemetery, which is believed to date back to the seventh century.
In a Monday statement, the Cairo-based Arab League described the Israeli construction as a “grisly crime.”
So here you have it, please see for yourself, the “grisly crime” pub scene.
The new restaurant is located across the road from the fenced off area of the Mamilla cemetery, on land that has been Gan Ha’atzmaut, Independence Park.
For decades this has been a public Jerusalem park, not part of the cemetery proper.
When the Arab League and Waqf want to start up trouble, stretching the facts on the ground is not a problem. What’s a few meters if it will incite their masses?
Ho hum, just another case of Arab League wanting to erase every trace of Jews.
