Editing Mount of Olives (section)

==History==
[[File:Mount of Olives (before 1899).jpg|thumb|The Mount of Olives, {{Circa|1899}}]]
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|footer=The Jewish Cemetery on the Mount of Olives, 155 years apart. The map, from 1858, [[cartography of Jerusalem|considered the most accurate in existence at the time]], marks the Jewish graves clearly on the bottom left. The aerial photo, from 2013, is taken from the south.
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From [[Biblical times]] until the present, [[Jews]] have been buried on the Mount of Olives. The [[Silwan necropolis|necropolis on the southern ridge]], the location of the modern village of [[Silwan]], was the burial place of Jerusalem's most important citizens in the [[First Temple Period|period of the Biblical kings]].<ref name=Ussishkin70>{{cite journal|title=The Necropolis from the Time of the Kingdom of Judah at Silwan, Jerusalem|author= Ussishkin, David |journal=The Biblical Archaeologist|volume= 33|number= 2 |date=May 1970|pages=33–46|doi=10.2307/3211026 |jstor=3211026 |s2cid=165984075| issn=0006-0895}}</ref>

The religious ceremony marking the [[Rosh Chodesh|start of a new month]] was held on the Mount of Olives during the [[Second Temple period]].<ref name="Har-el 1977 120–123">{{cite book |last=Har-el |first=Menashe |title=This is Jerusalem |publisher=Canaan |location=Jerusalem |year=1977 |pages=120–23 |oclc=3629547 }}</ref> During the time of the [[Roman administration of Judaea (AD 6–135)|Roman procurator]] [[Antonius Felix]] (52–60 CE), a Jewish prophetic figure known as "[[Egyptian (prophet)|the Egyptian]]" gathered his followers atop the Mount of Olives in preparation for an invasion of the city or in the belief that he would cause the walls of Jerusalem to fall, allowing them to enter (depending on the version). This group was crushed by the Romans. While "the Egyptian" managed to flee, many of his followers were killed or taken captive, and the remainder escaped.<ref>[[Josephus]], ''[[the Jewish War]]'', 2.261-63; ''[[Antiquities of the Jews]],'' 20.169-72</ref><ref name="GR1993">{{Cite book |last=Gray |first=Rebecca |title=Prophetic figures in late Second Temple Jewish Palestine: the evidence from Josephus |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-19-507615-8 |location=New York, N.Y. Oxford |pages=116–117}}</ref>

[[Roman army|Roman soldiers]] from the [[Legio X Fretensis|10th Legion]] camped on the mount during the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70)|Siege of Jerusalem]] in the year 70 AD.<ref name=":62">{{Cite book |last=Rogers |first=Guy MacLean |title=For the Freedom of Zion: the Great Revolt of Jews against Romans, 66-74 CE |date=2021 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-24813-5 |location=New Haven |pages=547}}</ref> After the destruction of the [[Second Temple]], Jews celebrated the festival of [[Sukkot]] on the Mount of Olives. They made pilgrimages to the Mount of Olives because it was 80 meters higher than the [[Temple Mount]] and offered a panoramic view of the Temple site. It became a traditional place for lamenting the Temple's destruction, especially on [[Tisha B'Av]].<ref name="Har-el 1977 120–123" /> In 1481, an Italian Jewish pilgrim, [[Meshullam of Volterra]], wrote: "And all the community of Jews, every year, goes up to [[Mount Zion]] on the day of Tisha B'Av to fast and mourn, and from there they move down along Yoshafat Valley and up to Mount of Olives. From there they see the whole Temple (the Temple Mount) and there they weep and lament the destruction of this House."<ref>{{cite book|last=Nom de Deu|first=J.|title=Relatos de Viajes y Epistolas de Peregrinos Judíos a Jerusalén|location=Madrid|year=1987|page=82 |oclc=18733605 }}</ref>

In 1189, in the wake of the 1187 [[Battle of Hattin]] and reconquest of the land by [[Saladin]], the sultan gave the Mount to two of his commanders.

In the mid-1850s, the villagers of [[Silwan]] were paid £100 annually by the Jews in an effort to prevent the desecration of graves on the mount.<ref name="Har-El2004">{{cite book|author=Menashe Har-El|title=Golden Jerusalem|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Z2cFY9iGqgC&pg=PA244|date=April 2004|publisher=Gefen Publishing House Ltd|isbn=978-965-229-254-4|page=244}}</ref>

[[Prime Minister of Israel]] [[Menachem Begin]] asked to be buried on the Mount of Olives near the graves of [[Irgun|Etzel]] members [[Meir Feinstein]] and [[Moshe Barazani]], rather than [[Mount Herzl]] national cemetery.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/the-good-jailer-1.217549 |title=The good jailer |last=Sheleg |first=Yair |date=2007-04-07 |access-date=2010-07-16 |newspaper=[[Haaretz]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131115031510/http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/the-good-jailer-1.217549|archive-date=2013-11-15}}</ref>

===Status since 1948===
[[File:הר היתים (והר הבית).jpg|thumb|Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives]]
The [[1949 Armistice Agreements|armistice agreement]] signed by Israel and Jordan following the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]] called for the establishment of a Special Committee to negotiate developments including "free access to the holy sites and cultural institutions and use of the cemetery on the Mount of Olives". However, during the 19 years the [[Jordanian annexation of the West Bank]] lasted, the committee was not formed. Non-Israeli Christian pilgrims were allowed to visit the mount, but Jews of all countries and most non-Jewish Israeli citizens were barred from entering Jordan and therefore were unable to travel to the area.<ref>To Rule Jerusalem By Roger Friedland, Richard Hecht, 2000, p. 39, "Tourists entering East Jerusalem had to present baptismal certificates or other proof they were not Jewish."</ref><ref>Thomas A Idinopulos, Jerusalem, 1994, p. 300, "So severe were the Jordanian restrictions against Jews gaining access to the old city that visitors wishing to cross over from west Jerusalem...had to produce a baptismal certificate."</ref><ref>Armstrong, Karen, Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths, 1997, "Only clergy, diplomats, UN personnel, and a few privileged tourists were permitted to go from one side to the other. The Jordanians required most tourists to produce baptismal certificates—to prove they were not Jewish ... ."</ref>

By the end of 1949, and throughout the Jordanian rule of the site, some Arab residents uprooted tombstones and plowed the land in the cemeteries, and an estimated 38,000 tombstones were damaged in total. During this period, a road was paved through the cemetery, in the process destroying graves including those of famous persons.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5okHDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT152|title=Between Cultural Diversity and Common Heritage: Legal and Religious Perspectives on the Sacred Places of the Mediterranean|last1=Ferrari|first1=Silvio|last2=Benzo|first2=Andrea|date=2016-04-15|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317175025|language=en}}</ref> In 1964, the [[Seven Arches Hotel|Intercontinental Hotel]] was built at the summit of the mount. Graves were also demolished for [[parking lot]]s and a [[filling station]]<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/10/world/middleeast/10jerusalem.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2&em | work=The New York Times | title=Parks Fortify Israel's Claim to Jerusalem | first1=Ethan | last1=Bronner | first2=Isabel | last2=Kershner | date=2009-05-10 | access-date=2010-03-27}}</ref> and were used in [[latrine]]s at a [[Jordanian Army]] barracks.<ref>{{cite book|last=Alon|first=Amos|author-link=Amos Elon|title=Jerusalem: Battlegrounds of Memory|publisher=Kodansha Int'l|location=New York|year=1995|page=[https://archive.org/details/jerusalembattleg0000elon/page/75 75]|isbn=1-56836-099-1|quote=After 1967, it was discovered that tombstones had been removed from the ancient cemetery to pave the latrines of a nearby Jordanian army barrack.|url=https://archive.org/details/jerusalembattleg0000elon/page/75}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Meron Benvenisti|title=City of Stone: The Hidden History of Jerusalem|url=https://archive.org/details/cityofstonehidde00benvrich|url-access=registration|year=1996|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-91868-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/cityofstonehidde00benvrich/page/228 228]}}</ref><ref>Har-El, Menashe. [https://books.google.com/books?id=9Z2cFY9iGqgC&pg=PA126 Golden Jerusalem], Gefen Publishing House Ltd, 2004, p. 126. {{ISBN|965-229-254-0}}. "The majority (50,000 of the 70,000) was desecrated by the Arabs during the nineteen years of Jordanian rule in eastern Jerusalem."</ref><ref>Tessler, Mark A. [https://books.google.com/books?id=3kbU4BIAcrQC&pg=PA329 A History of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict], Indiana University Press, 1994. p. 329. {{ISBN|0-253-20873-4}}.</ref> The [[United Nations]] did not condemn the Jordanian government for these actions.<ref>{{cite book|last=Blum|first=Yehuda Zvi|author-link=Yehuda Zvi Blum|title=For Zion's Sake|year=1987|publisher=Associated University Presse|isbn=978-0-8453-4809-3|page=99}}</ref>

===State of Israel===
Following the 1967 [[Six-Day War]] restoration work was done and the cemetery was reopened for burials. Israel's 1980 [[Jerusalem Law|unilateral annexation]] of East Jerusalem was condemned as a violation of international law and ruled null and void by the UN Security Council in [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 478|UNSC Resolution 478]].

Tombs in the [[Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery]] have been prone to vandalism, among them the tombs of the [[Gerrer Rebbe]] and [[Menachem Begin]].<ref>[http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=163398 Mount of Olives security beefed up to stop vandalism], Jerusalem Post 17-12-2009</ref><ref>[http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Editorials/Article.aspx?id=175637 Has Israel abandoned the Mount of Olives?], Jerusalem Post 15-05-2010</ref><ref>[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3888827,00.html Vandalism returns to Mount of Olives cemetery], Ynet News 12-05-2010</ref><ref name=shameful>[http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Editorials/Article.aspx?id=194272 Shameful dereliction at the Mt. of Olives Cemetery], Jerusalem Post 06-11-2010</ref>

On 6 November 2010, an international watch-committee was set up by [[Jewish diaspora|Diaspora Jews]] with the aim of reversing the desecration of the Jewish cemetery. According to one of the founders, the initiative was triggered by witnessing tombstones that were wrecked with "the kind of maliciousness that defies the imagination."<ref name=shameful/>