‘Shadow of the Wall’ Exposes Israel’s Official Role in the Destruction of Jerusalem’s Mughrabi Neighborhood

January 28, 2022 Articles, Features, Videos
A view of the historic Mughrabi neighborhood in Jerusalem. (Photo: Courtesy of United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division, via Wikipedia)

By Romana Rubeo  

Israel had an official role in the destruction of Jerusalem’s historic Mughrabi neighborhood in 1967 but tried to hide it, a new book published on Friday, January 28, revealed, France24 news site reported.

The book, titled ‘In the Shadow of the Wall: The life and death of the Mughrabi quarter of Jerusalem’, will be translated into English later this year by Stanford University Press.

The book’s author, French historian Vincent Lemire, explains that, before the 1967 war, a Muslim neighborhood of about 135 homes was placed at the base of the Buraq Wall (so-called Western Wall) in the Old City of Jerusalem.

The neighborhood, which was established in the 12th century by Muslim leader Salah al-Din (Saladin), was the home of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat during his youth.

In his book, Lemire disputes Israel’s version, according to which “15 private Jewish contractors destroyed the neighborhood to make space for the Western Wall plaza”, France24 reported. 

Despite Israel’s role having already been discussed in the past, Lemire told Agence France Presse (AFP) that his work offers “definitive, written proof on the premeditation, planning and coordination of this operation”.

Lemire makes reference to a meeting between then-Jerusalem mayor Teddy Kollek and the Israeli army commander on June 9, 1967, where “one of the items on the agenda is the destruction of the Mughrabi quarter.”

After the 1967 war, Israel occupied the remainder of historic Palestine in what Palestinians refer to as ‘Naksa’, meaning setback or defeat. Between June 25-27, Israel illegally annexed the Holy City of Jerusalem and many parts of the West Bank, in a move that was never recognized by the international community. 

(The Palestine Chronicle)

– Romana Rubeo is an Italian writer and the managing editor of The Palestine Chronicle. Her articles appeared in many online newspapers and academic journals. She holds a Master’s Degree in Foreign Languages and Literature and specializes in audio-visual and journalism translation.

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1 Comment

  1. There has never been any doubt about Israel’s official role in the the decision to destroy al-Magharibah neighbourhood adjacent to the so-called Western / Wailing Wall which took place on the night of 10-11 June 1967.
    See: “The Bride and the Dowry: Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinians in the Aftermath
    of the June 1967 War” by the Oxford-based Israeli historian Avi Raz (Yale University Press, 2012), pp. 112-113.

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