46 years have passed since Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Naomi Tsur visited her grandfather’s grave on the Mount of Olives. She recently visited the site under police escort, for the first time since 1967.
Jerusalem DeputyMayor NaomiTsur recently made a moving journey to Har Hazeitim to visit the grave of her grandfather. What would be a common event for most mourners was anything but typical for Tsur – under Police escort, it was the first time she paid her respects to the gravesite since 1967. Fear of frequent attacks en route to and inside the world’s largest and oldest Jewish cemetery played a role in the decades which elapsed since Tsur’s original visit 46 years ago, not allowing the Deputy Mayor to remember the site of the actual tombstone.
The final resting place of Tsur’s grandfather was identified by the Israeli branch of the International Committee for the Preservation of Har Hazeitim. Founded by New York City businessmen Abraham andMenachem Lubinsky, whose Shoah-surviving parents are buried on Har Hazeitim, the two dedicated brothers have made it their personal mission to preserve and safeguard the cemetery where Prime MinisterMenachem Begin, Nobel Laureate Shai Agnon, AmericanZionist leaderHenrietta Szold, reviver of modernHebrew Eliezer Ben-Yehudah, religious Zionism founderRabbi Abraham IsaacKook and three Biblical prophets are buried, among countless other notables of the Jewish People.
AfterNaomi Tsur’s long-awaited return to her grandfather’s grave, she was then guided byHarvey SchwartzandJeff Daubeof the Committee to other areas of the extensive cemetery where more than 150,000 Jews have been buried in a period stretching over 3,000 years.
Desecration of graves and illegal construction
Tsur’s deeply personal pilgrimage took place against the backdrop of the present-day struggle that exists at Har Hazeitim.
Tsur witnessed illegal building of Arab homes on cemetery grounds, a mosque expansion in defiance of a yet-to-be-executed Jerusalemmunicipality demolition order and rampant garbage dumping that desecrates the holy site. The Deputy Mayor also learned about widespread grave desecrations and continuous violence directed against cemetery visitors. Those en route to the Cemetery and visitors onsite have suffered from stone-throwing incidents, Molotov cocktails and violent attacks by the local Arab population. Two United StatesCongressmen visiting Har Hazeitim were subjected to a stoning attack and, on a separate occasion, a near-lynching of a groom trying to visit his mother’s grave on the way to his wedding was narrowly avoided.
But positive developments are underway amidst this dark cloud. Due in large part to the efforts of the International Committee for the Preservation of Har Hazeitim, includingMalcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations and other prominent Jewish leaders and organizations, steps are being taken to sustainably improve the situation.
The Jerusalem Development Authority, with support from the Prime Minister’s Officeand theJerusalemMunicipality, has installed 132 video cameras and implemented 24-hour surveillance of the site, with more security improvements scheduled.
An Israel Police station has been temporarily established onsite with plans for a permanent structure. 18 police officers are currently assigned to the station that has made more than 75 arrests in the last few months.
Under the auspices of the International Committee for the Preservation of Har Hazeitim, the Lubinsky Brothers, Hoenlein and major Jewish organizations are lobbying the Prime Minister’s Officefor further improvement efforts in response to demands from Jews around the world who visit the Cemetery.
“The International Committee for the Preservation of Har Hazeitim is committed to returning safety and sanctity to Har Hazeitim,” said American businessman and ICPHH Chairman Abraham Lubinsky. “Even after our demands are met and every Jew is free to visit their departed in peace in an appropriate environment befitting this immensely important Jewish cemetery, we will continue to watch over the hallowed ground to assure that violence and vandalism never again plague this place. Only then will generations of Jews buried on Har Hazeitim truly be able to find eternal rest.”
Har Hazeitim remains a functioning Jewish cemetery with regular burials. Many Holocaust survivors are buried here, including 228 soldiers and British Mandate resistance fighters who were casualties of the War of Independence in 1948 and before.
Furthermore, the Committee has pressed for the introduction of Knesset legislation – applying to all cemeteriesinIsrael,of all faiths – which would stipulate equal punishment for minors as well as punishment for attacks carried out in cemetery perimeter areas directed at visitors to intimidate and/or cause direct bodily harm.
As the ultimate response to those who would erode the integrity of the ancient Jewish burial ground, planning is underway for garbage clean-up and beautification efforts, signage, educational programming and tourism promotion.
English translation of February 28, 2013 Maariv-NRG.co.il article:
http://www.nrg.co.il/online/11/ART2/446/958.html?hp=11&cat=1102
