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Last update - 02:12 30/04/2008 Agnon next to Haggai, Begin next to Avshalom By Nadav Shragai Tags: Mount of Olives, Jerusalem Had they not existed, the government in Israel would have to invent them: "the right-wing NGOs," a code-name for those belonging to the Zionist bubble, who insist on sticking to the classic Zionist way in its place of origin: Zion, Jerusalem. For a long time we had not heard such good news in our city like those informing us of the expansion of the Jewish neighborhoods of Ma'aleh Hazeitim (Ras al-Amud) and the Mount of Olives. This settlement is not an obstacle to an agreement, as it has been argued, but an obstacle against disaster, because an agreement that will divide the heart of historic Jerusalem - and Ras al-Amud is definitely part of that historic area of Jerusalem - will not only hurt the feelings and aspirations of many Jews, and the right and primacy of the Jewish people to Jerusalem; an agreement of this sort will also return the Mount of Olives - which is adjacent to Ras al-Amud and is the oldest Jewish cemetery in the world, where Jews have buried their loved ones for 3,000 years - back to the terrible days on the eve of the Six-Day War. Advertisement During the 19 years in which Jews had been absent from the mountain and the areas adjacent to it, the Jordanians and local residents smashed tens of thousands of headstones, scattered them and used them as construction materials at the local latrines, in homes and passages, and as stones for sidewalks. The enormous damage to the mountain is something that the state of Israel continues to find difficult to reconstruct. Handing over the areas adjacent to the mountain to the Palestinians will prevent or disrupt the continued Jewish burial at the Mount of Olives, on whose land lie for eternity - next to the common folk - figures who are central to the history of the Jewish people: Rabbi Ovadia of Bertinoro, a commentator on the Mishnah; Rabbi Yehuda Hasid, who built the Hurva synagogue, which was destroyed by the Jordanians in 1948, and whose cupola decorates the horizon of the Old City; Shai Agnon; Uri Zvi Grinberg; Menachem Begin, Eliezer Ben Yehuda, Rabbi Kook the elder and younger, Pinchas Rutenberg, Yoel Moshe Solomon, the Rivlins, and according to Jewish tradition, Haggai, Zachariah, Malachi and Absalom. The Jewish settlement at Ma'aleh HaZeitim (Ras al-Amud), which is adjacent to the Spanish "Hatzor Section," fits well with the nearby area, where until recently stood the Samaria police headquarters, as well as other complexes acquired by Jews. The land on which the neighborhood of Ma'aleh Hazeitim was built was purchased in the middle of the 19th century by the philanthropists Moshe Wittenberg and Nissan Bak, who held it as caretakers for two kolels, that of Habad and that of Wolich. It was not taken from any one. Whoever takes a look at a map of Jerusalem will see that from the point where the police headquarters stands at Ma'aleh Hazeitim, which will soon be occupied by Jews, and in a radius of 1,500 meters, one finds the Jewish Quarter, Yemin Moshe, part of Jaffa Road, Hutzot Hayotzer, the Khan Theater, the Abu Tur neighborhood, the Rockefeller Museum, and part of the neighborhood of Morasha. There is no need for Qassam rockets or mortars here. Every single one of these points are within range of the machine guns already in the possession of the Palestinians - of the sort that they have already used for years to shoot from Beit Jala toward the neighborhood of Gilo, the minute they were given the opportunity to do so. The Palestinians are one thing, but how bizarre are the plans of some Israelis who are both mistaken and who distort the reality, offering to give up such a point of historical and security significance, and include it as part of the future Palestinian capital. Even Teddy Kollek, one of the sternest opponents to the settlement of Jews in the middle of densely populated Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem, was honest enough to express an ambivalent attitude to the setting up of a neighborhood there. Once he opposed the plan, and another time he supported it, once he learned that its areas are relatively distant from the main body of the Arab village, and after he heard the testimonies of those participating in funerals, who were pelted with stones, and on occasion who came under fire, on their way to the Mount of Olives. During the past 200 years the demographic situation in many parts of Jerusalem has been changed, and the position of the Jews has strengthened. On the Mount of Olives, the vast majority of the dead may be Jews, but place of the living Jews there has both logic and a future. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Clear, present danger Survey : 52% of youth believe Israel faces existential threat. Feeling guilty Europe's criticism of Israel is more than just anti-Semitism.   1.   Questions for Nadav Shragai 09:49  |  Clickfool 30/04/08   2.   The mindset which fuels "anti-semitism" 10:04  |  Natallie Durson 30/04/08   3.   A strong presence in Jerusalem is good for the Jewish homeland 10:09  |  Denise Thompson 30/04/08   4.   For Natallie Durson # 2 10:41  |  Clickfool 30/04/08   5.   #3 Denise Thompson "Which Jewish capital?" 10:45  |  Maureen Ann 30/04/08   6.   no clickfool! 1/800th! 11:30  |  Sue 30/04/08   7.   For Sue # 6 11:52  |  Clickfool 30/04/08   8.   To klichool and all the ignorants 12:45  |  Arthur 30/04/08   9.   #7 boris the clucking fool and a outrageous lies 13:16  |  victor hardman1 30/04/08   10.   Denise Thompson 13:43  |  Detlef 30/04/08   11.   #5 Moron Anne the ignorant 14:02  |  Hastaroth 30/04/08   12.   to arthur 14:09  |  fab 30/04/08   13.   Victor Hardman and the 1920 San Remo Conference # 1 14:16  |  Clickfool 30/04/08   14.   Natalie, Clickster, this is a circus 14:16  |  Rowan 30/04/08   15.   Victor hardman and the 1920 San Remo Conference # 2 14:18  |  Clickfool 30/04/08   16.   Denise #3 - Telling it like it is 14:18  |  WWACD 30/04/08   17.   Rowan from England 14:33  |  WWACD 30/04/08   18.   For Rowan # 14 14:35  |  Clickfool 30/04/08   19.   Iran can help remove the illegal settlers from E Jerusalem 14:47  |  Aounist 30/04/08   20.   We must never leave a single settlement. 15:02  |  Chaim 30/04/08   21.   BORIS THE CLUCKING FOOL AND SAN REMO 15:43  |  victor hardman 30/04/08   22.   That`s nice, Clickster old boy 16:06  |  Rowan 30/04/08   23.   For Victor Paul Harris Hardman again # 21 16:09  |  Clickfool 30/04/08   24.   # 1 Clicky...just because there is a threat 16:09  |  Lynn 30/04/08   25.   Lynn, can you clarify what you mean by "appease the Arabs" 16:25  |  Ibrahim 30/04/08   26.   The hebrews came from Ur,Mesopotamia,around 1,500 B.C. 21:50  |  lakshmi 30/04/08   27.   Building vs Blogging 06:40  |  Steve 01/05/08

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