Ma'ale ha-Zeitim

Ma'ale ha-Zeitim (Hebrew: מעלה הזיתים‎. lit. Olive Heights) is a Jewish neighborhood on the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem, near the Arab neighborhood of Ras al-Amud.

History

In 2003, a group of eight Jews moved to a compound of three dilapidated homes surrounded by graves in the Sephardi section of the Mount of Olives cemetery. According to the General Burial Society of Jerusalem, which legally owned the site, drug users had taken over the compound, which had become a dumping site for construction debris and a chop shop for stolen cars. Other Jewish property in the area was a gas station a few hundred meters from Ma'aleh Hazeitim and several other buildings. The burial society plot had been acquired in the mid-19th century by philanthropists Moshe Wittenberg and Nissan Bak, trustees for kollels affiliated with the Chabad and Wollin hassidim. Land on the outskirts of the Mount of Olives was designated as part of the existing Jewish cemetery, but the Turks did not permit the Jews to bury their dead there. Meanwhile, the kollels leased the land to an Arab farmer who grew the wheat for Passover matza. In 1923, when the British changed the land ownership laws, the land was formally transferred to the Wollin and Chabad kollels. Irving Moskowitz, an American businessman and philanthropist purchased the land in 1990. ^[1]

After the Arab Israeli war of 1948, the land was administered by the Jordanian Custodian of Enemy Property, an organization established to handle property owned by Jews in the Jordanian controlled West Bank.

In 1967, the land was transferred to the Israel Land Administration, which placed it under the jurisdiction of the Jerusalem Municipality.^[2]

In September 1997, plans for the construction of new Jewish homes on the land provoked an international outcry. Despite American pressure to halt building in the area, the plan was backed by Jerusalem mayor Ehud Olmert.^[3]

In May 2011, two demonstrations were held by the Solidarity movement, to protest Jewish housing activity in Ras el-Amud. The first took place during the dedication ceremony of Ma'ale HaZeitim. The ceremony was attended by numerous officials, including members of Knesset, government ministers, and the mayor of Jerusalem,.^[4][5] At the second demonstration police arrested six protesters after fighting broke out between protesters and security guards. Protesters claimed that the guards had attacked them and the police had broken a protester's hand. The police claimed that the protestors attempted to break into homes belonging to Jewish residents.^[6]

References

Kollel/Beit Midrash Zichron Moshe in Maaleh Hazeitim- www.zichronmoshe.org

Neighborhoods of Jerusalem Jerusalem neighborhoods east of the 1949 armistice line are depicted in green, those west of the line in blue (see Green Line). Old City Armenian Quarter Christian Quarter Muristan Jewish Quarter Muslim Quarter Bab al-Huta Central Neighborhoods Arzei HaBira Batei Ungarin Beit David Beit Ya'akov Beit Yisrael Bukharim Downtown Triangle Geula Givat HaVradim Givat Ram Katamon Kerem Avraham Kiryat HaLeom Kiryat HaMemshala Kiryat Shmuel Kiryat Shomrei Emunim Kiryat Wolfson Ma'alot Dafna Mahane Israel Mahane Yehuda Mazkeret Moshe Mea Shearim Mekor Baruch Mishkenot Sha'ananim Mount Zion Musrara Nahalat Shiv'a Nachlaot Nayot Neve Granot Neve Sha'anan Rehavia Romema Rova Mevo Ha'ir Russian Compound Sha'arei Hesed Shmuel HaNavi Talbiya Yemin Moshe Zikhron Moshe Zikhron Yosef Northern Neighborhoods Al-Ram Beit Hanina Ezrat Torah French Hill Givat HaMivtar Har Hotzvim Kafr 'Aqab Kiryat Belz Kiryat Mattersdorf Kiryat Sanz Mount Scopus Neve Yaakov Pisgat Ze'ev Ramat Eshkol Ramat Shlomo Ramot Ramot Polin Sanhedria Sanhedria Murhevet Shikun Chabad Shuafat Tel Arza Unsdorf Eastern Neighborhoods American Colony Al Bustan Al-Issawiya At-Tur Bab a-Zahara Ir David Jabel Mukaber Kiryat Menachem Begin Ma'ale ha-Zeitim Nachalat Shimon Nof Zion Ras al-Amud Sheikh Jarrah Shimon HaTzadik Silwan Wadi al-Joz Southern Neighborhoods Abu Tor Arnona Baka Beit Safafa East Talpiot German Colony Gilo Givat HaMatos Givat Oranim Givat Massuah Greek colony Har Homa Katamonim Malha Mekor Chaim Pat Ramat Rachel San Simon Sharafat Sur Baher Talpiot Umm Tuba Western Neighborhoods Bayit VeGan Beit HaKerem Ein Karem Givat Beit HaKerem Givat Shaul Givat Mordechai Har Nof Ir Ganim Kiryat HaYovel Kiryat Menachem Kiryat Moshe Motza Ramat Beit HaKerem Ramat Denya Ramat Sharett Yefeh Nof Historical Neighborhoods Atarot Batei Munkacs Batei Saidoff Ezrat Yisrael Kirya Ne'emana Knesset Yisrael Lifta Mamilla Moroccan Quarter Ohel Shlomo Sha'arei Yerushalayim Sheikh Badr See also: Ring Neighborhoods

Coordinates: 31°46′24″N 35°14′25″E / 31.77333°N 35.24028°E / 31.77333; 35.24028