The Destruction of the Mamilla Cemetery: Desecration of a Sacred Site

The Ma'man Allah (Mamilla) Cemetery was the oldest Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem
with graves dating back to the seventh century, comprised of 33 acres and tens o
f thousands of graves. After 1948 the Israeli ministry that maintained the site
reassured world leaders that this important religious site would be cared for i
n perpetuity.
Less than fifteen years later, in the 1960s a park was built in part of the ceme
tery and a parking lot covered another part. These were followed by a school, f
ootball field, underground parking garage, and road. Electrical wires were laid
in other sections.
The final few acres were dug up just before the beginning of Ramadan, in the mid
dle of the night (as can be seen on the CNN video: http://www.cnn.com/video/data
/2.0/video/world/2010/08/13/vo.cemetery.demo.cnn.html) so that Israel can build
the Museum of Tolerance in conjunction with the Simon Wiesenthal Center in the U
nited States.
An enormous amount of knowledge was lost with the destruction of the Mamilla Cem
etery, according to St. Paul based archaeologist, John E. Landgraf, Ph.D., becau
se the era since the end of the Byzantine period and the beginning of the Islami
c conquest (around 638 CE) up to the present day is the least known period of hi
story in the Middle East generally. There is much to be learned by examining sk
eletal remains, headstones, and tombs. However, the Israeli Department of Antiq
uities, which has recently been taken over by the Orthodox Rabbinate, does not a
llow any human skeletal remains to be examined; Jewish remains must be re-interr
ed as quickly as possible out of respect, whereas non-Jewish remains at the Mami
lla Cemetery were disposed of along with tombstones and other debris in construc
tion dumpsters.
Dr. Landgraf, who participated in a number of archaeological digs in Israel and
the West Bank between 1965 and 1980, said that the Israeli Department of Antiqui
ties was seldom interested in the preservation of remains or artifacts from the
Islamic period. In the late 1960s the discovery of Muslim graves at Tell Gezer
did not interest the American head archaeologist at the time, and so bulldozers
were used to push remains, artifacts, and debris back into the graves.
Archaeological excavations are a way of learning about the past in an orderly fa
shion. One exposes history a layer at a time, and by careful examination knowle
dge can be gained of the various eras and cultures. When Israel occupied East J
erusalem in 1967 Israeli archaeologists used bulldozers to excavate the Western
(Wailing) Wall area down to the late Roman period, destroying the homes of Pales
tinians living there at the time, and along with them the 1500-year history of t
he people who had lived there since the Byzantine period. â Thus there is a loss of
continuity in our understanding of the past,â said Dr. Landgraf.
It is ironic that in the midst of mass hysteria over an Islamic center to be bui
lt in lower Manhattan, because some people feel that this would be disrespectful
to the dead, that a genuine desecration of a sacred place occurs, unreported in
most mainstream media. "The unfortunate reality is that Indigenous populations
live in a world in which we are never safe from colonizer assaults â even when we a
re dead,â says Wazayatawin, Ph.D., Indigenous Peoples Research Chair and Associate P
rofessor, Indigenous Governance Program, University of Victoria, someone who has
worked on behalf of Indigenous peoples in this hemisphere for many years, and s
ees many parallels with the experience of Palestinians. â The ongoing desecration of
Indigenous burial sites, including the Mamilla Cemetery in West Jerusalem, refl
ects a deeply embedded colonizer mentality that views subjugated peoples as fund
amentally inferior and unworthy of even the most basic dignities afforded other
human beings," she says.
Dr. Wazayatawin continues, "The act of erasing a people's memory from the landsc
ape is a necessary element in the colonization process. In order for the coloni
zers to legitimize their occupation of another's land, they must eradicate all m
emories of the colonized, including even the human remains that demonstrate a de
ep and powerful connection to the land itself."
Everywhere in Israel are the eradicated memories of the dispossessed Indigenous
people. Old mosques are transformed into bars and nightclubs, so that patrons d
rink alcohol where Muslims used to pray. The history museum in Jaffa (more of a
tourist site than an educational institution) is inexplicably silent about the
existence of people in the city between the Roman times and Napoleonâ s invasion. St
reet names are changed from their ancient Arabic names to new Hebrew ones. Gold
a Meirâ s famous comment â there is no such thing as a Palestinian peopleâ reflected he
e, not a reality, but it has been repeated so often that many Israelis believe i
t. The destruction of a cemetery shows starkly how little regard Israel holds f
or the humanity of the Palestinians. As Dr. Wazayatawin says, "There is somethi
ng terribly wrong with a culture that digs up the dead of others. The societal
justification for such a crime reveals its own sickness."