PM’s Jerusalem Day declaration triggers archaeological dispute over Mamilla pool site

Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza

The Israeli government is to approve the rehabilitation of an ancient reservoir that once supplied water to Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mayor Moshe Lion said.

Mamilla Pool is one of several reservoirs that sustained inhabitants of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is outside the walls, about 700 yards north-west of Jaffa Gate in the centre of the Mamilla Cemetery, a site of predominantly Muslim burials.

The government's announcement coincided with Jerusalem Day, when the Israeli far-right celebrates the 1967 capture of East Jerusalem.

On Monday, Mr Netanyahu and Mr Lion visited the 30,000 cubic-metre Mamilla Pool, a site from the Byzantine period.

"My dream was that we would restore it, fill it with water, and it would be a world attraction," said Mr Netanyahu.

"We'll start planning. We'll talk about those details later. But we want to launch it. It starts with an idea, and then it could be something that people from all over the world and all over the country will come to see this wonderful place."

The approval of the work will "breathe life into it and transform it into a Jerusalem gem in the form of a heritage site and space for the benefit of the public," a statement said.

"I'm very much in favour. I adopted what you suggested several years ago, and we are now on the eve of Jerusalem Day," Mr Leon said.

"It costs money, and we will do everything to make it an efficient expenditure. But this place will definitely become a Jerusalem gem."

The plan to restore the site is controversial. "It's seizing another part of what's left of the ancient Muslim cemetery," Aviv Tatarsky, a researcher at the Ir Amim organisation in Jerusalem and heritage campaigner, told The National.

Jerusalem is a city with thousands of years of history and archaeological findings from more than 5,000 years ago – predating the Israelites. It is a complex history, he said.

"You can also find remains from the Jewish kingdoms, Greek, Roman, Muslim, and Ottoman periods, and even the British period."

Mamilla has long been a place for Muslim burials and many grave stones can still be seen.

"Imagine if this would be done in whatever country to a Jewish cemetery?" said Mr Tatarsky. "What kind of outcry and 'anti-Semitism' and all that. So, that's the way the government wants to celebrate Jerusalem? Israel controlling Jerusalem? We're wiping out Muslim presence on both sides of the green line".

Archaeology in Jerusalem is not just about history, it is a means for the Israeli state to tighten control over Palestinian areas, reshape the city's identity and push Palestinian residents out under the pretext of historical preservation, Mr Tatarsky adds.

"As an archaeological site it's (Mamilla) extremely important. There is a Palestinian neighbourhood right next to a mosque. Israel is using archaeology to prevent the development of (a Muslim) neighbourhood and take over public spaces so large parts are not serving the residents," he said

Large parts of the neighbourhood are now off-limits because of archaeological digs or tourist attractions, he said. This stifles development, restricts Palestinian movement, undermines community building and advances broader political goals.

"It is used to present the place not as a contemporary Palestinian neighbourhood but as a Jewish heritage site so 'It's ours – it belongs to us'," he said.