The shrine of Sheikh Ahmed Al-Dajani in the Ma'man Allah cemetery is being desecrated... from a grave to a settler's residence
A settler removed the tomb of Jerusalemite Sheikh Ahmed bin Ali Al-Dajani from a shrine in the Ma'man Allah Cemetery, west of Jerusalem, and converted the site into his own residence.
The Al-Dajani family revealed the attack on the shrine and the tomb of the family's great-grandfather during their regular visit to the site yesterday. They immediately contacted the relevant authorities. Police forces and municipality personnel arrived at the site, removed the furniture from inside the shrine, and sealed off the site. They demanded that the family go to court to prove the existence of the shrine and tomb.
In the afternoon, the settler returned to the shrine in a new attempt to break into it. At the scene were Ahmed al-Dajani, Sheikh Ahmed's grandson and director of the Islamic Cemetery Care Committee, and Hajj Mustafa Abu Zahra, head of the Islamic Cemetery Care Committee. The settler objected to their presence, claiming he had lived at the site for thirty years. He admitted to them that he had removed the tomb.
Ahmed Al-Dajani said, "A settler removed the historic grave from inside the shrine and turned it into his own residence. This is a new assault on the cemetery and shrine, adding to the many violations that have become routine and recurring."
Al-Dajani added that Sheikh Ahmed Al-Dajani was a scholar and righteous saint, and was directly connected to the shrine of the Prophet David in the Old City. He explained that the family visits the shrine regularly, as does the cemetery care committee.
He said, "Every day, we witness attacks on cemeteries, homes, and lands in various ways, but the goal is the same: to change the reality."
For his part, the head of the Islamic Cemetery Care Committee in Jerusalem, Hajj Mustafa Abu Zahra, said, "This shrine belongs to the great-grandfather of the Al-Dajani family, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Dajani. A settler, in the dark, broke into the shrine and removed the grave and the sign documenting the year of death and confirming the identity of the buried person. History books also confirm the presence of the grave in this location. The settler placed furniture inside the shrine, and for our part, we will work to prove that this shrine is historical."
Abu Zahra addressed the series of attacks and violations that have affected the Ma'man Allah Cemetery since 1948 and continue to this day. These include banning burials there, obliterating and exhuming most graves, building hotels and large buildings, establishing a garden called "Independence Park," a restaurant, and a museum called the "Museum of Tolerance," in addition to digging a sewage network. The Ma’man Allah Cemetery was one of the largest Islamic cemeteries in Jerusalem, covering an area of 200 dunoms. Scholars, sheikhs, and notables from Jerusalem were buried there.
