March 1992, Page 23

Jerusalem Journal

Israelis Bulldozing Christian and Muslim Graves and Archeological Sites

By Frank Collins

The current frantic building of Jewish settlements and associated infrastructure in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank has raised anew the contrast between treatment of Jewish graves and historic sites on one hand and Christian and Muslim remains on the other. The Israeli authorities, under scrutiny by the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, are careful to avoid the desecration of Jewish graves. No remotely similar cautions are exercised with respect to the Christian and Muslim graves unearthed.

The Jerusalem extension of the highway system through the West Bank that is being rushed to interconnect Jewish settlements is being built over the site of a monastery, said to be that of St. Stephen. The monastery site is located near the Damascus Gate of the Old City. The remains of the ancient St. George's monastery outside Jerusalem's Jaffa Gate already have been buried under the new highway.

At first, residents of the Orthodox Jewish community in nearby Mea Shearim forcibly halted archeologists making the initial dig at St. Stephen's, contending they were violating Jewish graves. After Israel's Jerusalem District Archeologist explained that the site was Christian and part of a Byzantine monastery complex dating from the 5th and 7th centuries AD, members of the Orthodox community broke into the unattended site at night, threw paint on a rare mosaic and filled in the grave area with rocks. The paint permanently damaged the ancient mosaic.

A statement of protest on behalf of the Christian community in Jerusalem, signed by nine heads of Christian denominations, complained on Jan. 15: "Several Christian vestiges, such as St. Stephen's monastic complex and St. George's monastery outside Jaffa Gate have been denied posterity and buried under new highways. . . If appropriate and satisfactory measures are not taken to protect Christian archeological sites, we will consider seeking international protection to preserve our universal Christian heritage."

Officials at Israel's Religious Affairs Ministry rejected the protest and called the statement "sheer hypocrisy."

Less than two weeks later, on Jan. 28, a similar incident occurred inside Israel in a Muslim cemetary in the Kfar Shalem area of Tel Aviv. Muslim officials had obtained a restraining order prohibiting a developer from clearing the cemetary for construction. When the order expired, according to the Jerusalem Post, "bulldozers moved into the Arab cemetary, destroying tombstones to flatten an area for a construction site the size of a city block."

Arabs who rushed to the site found bones of the dead, most of whom had been buried in above-ground graves, scattered helterskelter over the cleared area. Kfar Shalem is part of Tel Aviv and is composed of highrise apartments and ramshackle dwellings, mostly inhabited by poor Jews. Bad faith as well as callousness was involved in the destruction of the cemetary. When the court restraining order had expired the previous week, the lawyer for the developer had assured the lawyer for the Muslim community that the developer would do nothing before consulting the community. After the bulldozing, Khaled Kaboob, the lawyer for the Muslim community, said, "What they did was entirely undemocratic and disgusting. They threw away the bones along with the garbage going to the city dump."

Israeli Repression on the Rise

In tandem with the stonewall rejectionism of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir at the Madrid and Washington Middle East peace talks, Israeli repression in the occupied territories has been on the rise. Jewish settler violence has for some time been the foremost day-to-day fear of their Palestinian neighbors. Israeli occupation authorities now have given the settlers authority to establish their own armed units, to be called "civil guards." The decision to authorize the civil guards was made at the very top, by Prime Minister Shamir, Defense Minister Moshe Arens and Attorney General Yosef Harish.

Civil guard activities are supposed to be confined to the Jewish settlements, and not to be extended to areas controlled by the army or to the roads outside the settlements. The settlers, however, have already set up impromptu checkpoints on main roads, harassing Palestinian motorists and on some occasions preventing them from going to work in Israel.

Al-Fajr, the English-language Palestinian newspaper in Jerusalem, reported, "Settlers [have] decided to escalate activities against what they termed a deterioration of security. Uri Ariel, the head of the Council of Jewish Settlements, told the press, 'Activities should be expected to be waged by settlers in the near future.' Among these activities threatened are marches to and inside Palestinian cities and villages, dispatching patrols to crossroads, establishing new settlements and using political and military pressure to fight the intifada. Ariel said, 'We have decided to take matters into our own hands because authorities are evading their responsibilities. . . '"

The newly deputized armed settlers are continuing to invade Palestinian villages. CCINGO, the Coordinating Committee of the International Non-Government Organizations in Jerusalem assisting in Palestinian relief and development, reports a number of such instances:

"Throughout January, Israeli settlers have continued to carry out attacks on Palestinian property and homes in the occupied territories. For example, a midnight raid on Jan. 9 was carried out by settlers in the village of Aboud, near Ramallah. Five houses were vandalized, windows were smashed with axes and several Palestinian residents were beaten. Notified of the incident, the Israeli Defense Forces did not respond and no action has been taken against the assailants. In Hebron market, settlers shot live ammunition at house windows and solar panels on the rooftops of Palestinian houses.

"On Jan. 14, the home of Dr. Rayid Malki, a Bir Zeit engineering professor, was the target of a violent midnight attack by armed settlers in the presence of soldiers who did not intervene. This action came after an attack on a busload of Israeli settlers. During the raid on Professor Malki's home, windows were smashed, outside walls and doors were painted with Stars of David and an attempt was made to break into the house where he, his wife and their one-month-old babe had been sleeping.

"At the beginning of this month [January], Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Arens claimed that these rampaging settlers were a 'minority' and would be punished. However, no action has been taken to support Mr. Arens' claim. It appears that the Israeli authorities are doing little or nothing to limit the current wave of violence which is being directed at Palestinian civilians."

Frank Collins is a free-lance journalist specializing in the Middle East.

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