Brooklyn activist fights for Mt. of Olives

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The struggle to maintain one of the world’s holiest Jewish sites remains an uphill battle of enforcement and political will. On June 14, visitors to Har Hazeitim, the Jewish cemetery atop the Mount of Olives in eastern Jerusalem, found a massive desecration of monuments in the Kolel Polin section, where the stones were broken to a degree that made the identification of a dozen deceased nearly impossible.

Avrohom Lubinsky, chairman of the International Committee on Har Hazeitim called this “the most grotesque and vicious destruction of tombstones to date.” He noted that the deceased Polish-born Gerer hasidim in the Kolel Polin section were American and British citizens, hinting at the United States’ neglect on this topic.

Security sources told Lubinsky that while 62 cameras keep watch on the cemetery, the Kolel Polin section is in a valley and often hard to detect. Eventually, 142 cameras will be on the mountain. But even with surveillance and photographic proof of vandalism, there is little done by the police, as Arab minors are usually released after a relatively lenient penalty. To deter future acts of vandalism, MK Yoel Hasson of Kadima is proposing a bill providing mandatory three-year jail sentences, even for minors, as well as holding their parents responsible.

Located opposite the Temple Mount, Har Hazeitim served as a base for Jewish priests in ancient times, where they prepared the parah adumah for sacrifice. The cemetery atop the mountain is the oldest Jewish graveyard in the world, and contains numerous rabbinic remains, such as the Ramban, and political luminaries including Menachem Begin and other fellow Irgun veterans.

In September, Lubinsky will return to Israel to propose that the government appoint a top-ranking watchdog official responsible for Har Hazeitim.