Israeli forces attack protesters against plans to turn Palestinian graveyard into biblical theme park

Palestinians who gathered on Tuesday to protest against efforts to destroy a Jerusalem cemetery were attacked by Israeli forces.
1 min read
27 October, 2021
Israel wants to turn the cemetery into a biblical theme park [Anadolu Agency/Getty-file photo]

Palestinian protesters were attacked on Tuesday by Israeli forces as they demonstrated against the bulldozing of a cemetery in Jerusalem to make way for a theme park, according to local media.

Israeli forces attacked protesters who gathered and held prayers at Al-Yousufiyah Cemetery, where graves have been dug up and the site desecrated.

One of the protesters was detained by Israeli police.

Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Mohammad Hussein, said the planned theme park is an assault on the dead.

"The graves of human beings cannot be violated no matter the gender, nationality or religion," he said.

Israeli authorities have claimed that authorised burials at the cemetery will be untouched but video footage has shown a Palestinian woman being dragged away as she clung onto one of the graves which reportedly belonged to her deceased son.

The part of the Al-Yousufiyah Cemetery undergoing Israeli works contains graves of Arab soldiers killed during the 1967 war, some of which are not marked, as well as those belonging to other Palestinian families.

In 2014, Israel banned Palestinians from burying their dead in the Northern part of the cemetery, planned to be part of a "Bible Trail" by the Israeli municipality, who demolished some 20 graves in the area belonging to Jordanian soldiers.