The story of the Maqams
Takeover of Palestinian sacred and heritage sites in the West Bank
Prayer sites, Maqam sites (burial sites or memorials of sheikhs – Muslim holy men), functioned as organizing focal points – religious, cultural and social – in Palestine’s rural areas. Palestinians used to hold pilgrimages to the Maqam and the sacred trees surrounding them on holidays and religious occasions (mawassem)1 for prayer, religious ceremonies and rituals, circumcision celebrations and weddings, public and private occasions, and simple family recreation outdoors.
The list of holy men who had tombs and Maqam sites named after them is long. Maqam nams are taken from the Qur’an, the Bible, the New Testament and from local model personages, and all Maqam sites are sactified by Muslems without distinction.
Ever since the Israeli occupation of the West Bank in 1967, the Civil Administration has recognized two types of prayer sites:
Prayer sites named after Biblical personages, recognized by the staff officer for religious affairs: these have been renovated and are at present destinations of Jewish massive pilgrimages;
Prayer sites, Maqam, sanctified by Muslims alone, that have not been recognized, but neglected, destroyed, or vandalized by Jewish settlers. They are caged in settler-colonies, inside military firing zones and nature reserves, and their neglect endangers their actual survival. Palestinians are forbidden access to them and may not renovate them nor maintain their own traditions.
Such discrimination does not abide by either Israeli or international law, that commit the occupier to maintain freedom of worship and ritual sites of the occupied population.
A team of MachsomWatch volunteers has surveyed 40 Maqam sites where accessibility to Palestinians is either prevented all thtogether or restricted. The Survey does not encompass the Situation in its entirety.
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.
This video tells the stories of Maqam E-Nabi Daniel, near Bethlehem and of two other Maqams north of Jerusalem.
E-Nabi Daniel is caged between the settlement Neve Daniel and its outpost Sdeh Boaz. The villagers from the area used to come there to pray and celebrate. One day it simply disappeared and a picnic area for settlers was constructed.
Two additional Maqams from the Mamluk era near Giv’at Ze’ev suffered different sad fate. They are caged in a military fire zone (never used for this purpose…). Palestinians cannot reach them and they are deteriorating.
Thus an important Palestinian cultural aspect is dissappearing.
This video tells the stories of Maqam E-Nabi Daniel, near Bethlehem and of two other Maqams north of Jerusalem.
E-Nabi Daniel is caged between the settlement Neve Daniel and its outpost Sdeh Boaz. The villagers from the area used to come there to pray and celebrate. One day it simply disappeared and a picnic area for settlers was constructed.
Two additional Maqams from the Mamluk era near Giv’at Ze’ev suffered different sad fate. They are caged in a military fire zone (never used for this purpose…). Palestinians cannot reach them and they are deteriorating.
Thus an important Palestinian cultural aspect is dissappearing.
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
Read more...
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
Read more...
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.