Posted on: 2006
By Saira W. Soufan
The destruction of the Maghrebi Quarter in Jerusalem was one of the first points of the Israeli campaign to change Jerusalem’s Arab character after the conquest of 1967. 
On the 3rd day of the Six Day War, Israeli paratroopers entered the Old City of Jerusalem in order to conquer the Temple Mount, Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Maghrebi Quarter which dates back to 1320 a.d. was razed to the ground and it’s Arab inhabitants evicted in order to enlarge the area in front of the Western or Wailing Wall. Two ancient mosques, Al-Buraq and Al-Afdali were destroyed as well as the desecration of the historic Mumillah cemetery in which many famous Muslim heroes were entombed.
The loss of personal properties, homes, businesses, schools, and mosques cannot be calculated. Statistics, architectural planning, and urban layout information has been wiped from text books and records as if the 647 years of the Maghrebi Quarter did not exist. For the Israeli occupiers, it is enough that the Western Wall was located a little too near the Maghrebi Quarter to warrant it’s destruction. The Western Wall was expanded from the original 22 meters to 60 meters due to the demolishing of the Arab area. The Maghrebi Quarter of Jerusalem was the second smallest quarter located within the old city walls, the smallest being the Jewish quarter until 1967.
A testimony from one of the displaced families of the Maghrebi Quarter sketches out some of the losses incurred. The Abu Saud families were residents of Old Jerusalem until the destruction in 1967 of the Maghrebi quarter. The Abu Saud residences consisted of 21 branches of their family living within villas and apartments. Small businesses, a bookstore, the Abu Saud Mosque were demolished along with the rest of the quarter to make way for the Jewish expansion. Due to the close proximity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock to the Maghrebi quarter, the Abu Saud families had set up a School for Islamic Studies. This was also razed to the ground. One of the elder occupants from the Abu Saud family, Um Musa, refused to move from her chair in her home on the day of destruction. She was threatened by Israeli Occupation Authorities to leave otherwise they would bring the building down upon her head. “Destroy my house but I will not leave my home, I remain here.” The IOA proceeded to manhandle Um Musa and physically carried her outside to watch the annihilation of her home.
These activities were repeatedly condemned by international opinion as endangering Muslim holy sites and threatening their ancient foundations. This led the UN General Assembly and Security Council to pass several resolutions condemning Israel’s excavations and appealing to it to preserve Jerusalem’s historical heritage. UNESCO has repeatedly called upon Israel to desist from altering the city’s cultural, structural and historical character, but to no avail. The Archbishop of Canterbury, after his visit to Jerusalem in 1971 remarked,” It is distressing indeed that the building program of the present authorities is disfiguring the city and its surroundings in ways which wound the feelings of those who care for its historic beauty and suggest an insensitive attempt to reclaim as an Israeli city one which can never be other than the city of the three great religions and their peoples.”
None of the large or small families of the Maghrebi Quarter took compensation for their demolished properties. The IOA offered to buy the properties for a nominal fee in order to appease their guilt from the theft and destruction of Arab properties. The Arab families refused any sale or compensation to give validity to the fact that this was an illegal and forced plementation by the Israelis. Till today the families of the Maghrebi Quarter visit the demolished sites of their homes in order to remember the heritage of their fathers and forefathers.
