Arab Peace Monuments in Israel (Since 1948)

Arabs in Israel -- both Muslim & Christian -- are under the strict control of the Zionist (i.e. Jewish) government of the State of Israel. Despite this, Israeli Arabs have constructed some monuments to express peace, justice & freedom and to represent Arab events such as the Nakba (the "cataclysm" of 1948) & Land Day. In addition, there are numerous "unintentional monuments" of Arab subjugation, a few of which are shown below. Also included below are some physical structures (monuments) constructed by multifaith communities of both Arabs & Jews.

Click here for peace monuments in Palestine before 1949 -- with chronology of selected events before 1949.
Click here for peace monuments in Palestine (West Bank & Gaza) since 1948
Click here for peace monuments in Israel (All EXCEPT Jerusalem) since 1948 -- with chronology of selected events since 1948
Click here for peace monuments in Israel (Arab monuments ONLY) since 1948 -- THIS WEB PAGE
Click here for peace monuments in Jerusalem (West & East) since 1948
Click here for peace monuments at Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in West Jerusalem (Israel)
Click here for peace monuments related to Olive Trees & Olive Branches worldwide
Click here for peace monuments related to Quakers (Society of Friends) worldwide
Click here for peace monuments related to Rachel Corrie [1979-2003] worldwide
Click here for Oldest & Biggest Peace Monuments worldwide
Click here for Palestinian Village of Deir Yassin in West Jerusalem (Israel)
Click here for Peace Poles in Palestine & Israel
Click here for Vocabulary of the Israel/Palestine Conflict

Right click image to enlarge.

H O T E L

1930's-2011 - Shepherd Hotel, Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem. "Originally a villa built for the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. The mufti, who never lived in it, transferred property rights to his personal secretary, George Antonius [1891-1942] and his wife Katy [middle image]. After the death of George Antonius in 1942, Katy invited many of Jerusalem's elite to her house, though only one Jew. While living in the house, she had a highly publicized affair with the commander of the British forces in Palestine, Evelyn Barker [1894-1983]. In 1947, the Jewish underground Irgun blew up a house nearby. Antonius left the house, and a regiment of Scottish Highlanders was stationed there. After the 1948 war, it was taken over by the Jordanian authorities and turned into a pilgrim hotel. In 1985, it was bought by the American Jewish millionaire Irving Moskowitz and continued to operate as a hotel, renamed the Shefer Hotel. The Israeli border police used it as base for several years. In 2007, when Moskowitz initiated plans to build 122 apartments on the site of the hotel, the work was condemned by the British government. In 2009, the plan was modified, but was still condemned by the US & UK governments. Permission to build 20 apartments near the hotel was given in 2009, and formal approval was announced by the Jerusalem municipality on March 23, 2010, hours before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Barack Obama. The Haaretz newspaper reported that, 'an existing structure in the area will be torn down to make room for the housing units, while the historic Shepherd Hotel will remain intact. A three-story parking structure and an access road will also be constructed on site.' The hotel was finally demolished on January 9, 2011."

V I L L A G E

April 9, 1948 - Palestinian Village of Deir Yassin, West Jerusalem (Israel). Unintentional monument. Scene of the Deir Yassin Massacre (part of the Palestinian Nakba or Holocaust). Left photo taken in December 1996. Middle photo shows the village today as occupied by the Krar Shaul Mental Health Center & closed to the public. Right photo is Deir Yassin (in the green trees to the right of the water tower) as seen from Yad Vashem. Click here for video by Deir Yassin Remembered.

T R E E

September 24, 2003 - "Deir Yassin Remembered," Seneca Lake (western shore), Geneva, New York, New York (USA). See more complete description below.

S C H O O L

1948 - Dar El Tifl Orphanage & School, East Jerusalem. "In April 1948, Hind al-Husseini [1916-1994], a 31-year-old teacher, came across 55 young orphaned children—most under the age of nine—wandering near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. They were survivors of the massacre in the Arab village of Deir Yassin. Husseini immediately rented them two rooms. Subsequently, she established an orphanage in her Jerusalem home, a mansion built by her grandfather in 1891... Until Israel recently closed off the West Bank’s access to Jerusalem with walls & checkpoints, Dar al-Tifl al-Arabi ("The House of the Arab Child") was the largest Palestinian orphanage, serving over 1500 pupils. Today, it stands virtually empty. The film "138 Pounds in My Pocket" [by Sahera Derbas] asks how al-Husseini & her successor filled gaps left by the absence of a state able, or willing, to provide adequate welfare for disadvantaged children." The feature-length film "Miral" by American filmmaker Julian Schnabel also covers this story.

V I L L A G E

Since 1948 - Al-Ghabisiyya, near Nahariya (Israel). Unintentional monument. Close to the Lebanese border. Village (also called Samniyya?) was ethnically cleansed during the War of 1948. All houses were later destroyed. Ruined mosque (left image) is the village's only remaining building. Village land now used for forestry & a Jewish cemetery. This is representative of more than 500 Palestinian villages that were ethnicly cleased during the 1948 war & Palestinian Exodus (Nakba). Right image shows Daoud Bader (Arab citizen of Israel), Committee of Displaced Palestinians, showing visitors his former village. Both photos were made on June 21, 2011. Click here for Wikipedia article.

October 18, 1948 - The flag of the Arab Revolt is adopted by the All-Palestine Government. It will be recognised subsequently by the Arab League as the flag of Palestine. A modified version will be officially adopted as the flag of the Palestinian people by the PLO in 1964 and adopted as the flag of the State of Palestine on November 15, 1988.

H O U S E

1948-2011 - Orient House, East Jerusalem (Palestine). Unintentional monument. "Built in 1897 & owned by the Al-Husayni family until 1967... Between 1948–1950, the headquarters of the UN Relief & Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Two years later, its owner turned it into a luxury hotel called "The New Orient House." Following the 1967 war & the occupation of East Jerusalem by Israel, the property was seized by the Government of Israel as the property of a war criminal... Served as the headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the 1980's & 1990's, then as the unofficial Palestinian 'foreign office' until 2001... Demolished to make way for construction of housing on January 11, 2011, following a court decision allowing the project to proceed. A portion of the left facade was left standing as a historic site."

V I L L A G E

1970 - Neve Shalom / Wahat al-Salam / Oasis of Peace (NS/WAS), south of Latrun (Israel). Equidistant from Jerusalem & Tel Aviv-Jaffa. Founded by Father Bruno Hussar [1911-1996] & Reuven Moskovitz. Name from Book of Isaiah 32:18: "My people shall dwell in an oasis of peace." "A cooperative village of Jews & Palestinian Arabs of Israeli citizenship." /// "Its bougainvillea-splashed lanes a mishmash of stone Arab-style houses & boxy, modern Jewish homes. Schoolchildren learn Hebrew & Arabic together (a rarity in Israel) & play at one another's homes. Residents enjoy an equal say in running affairs & have elected Jews & Arabs as mayor, & share management of the 120-pupil elementary school." See Peace Garden, School for Peace (1979) & Peace Tree.

G A R D E N

Date? - Peace Garden, Neve Shalom / Wahat-al-Salaam (qv), south of Latrun (Israel).

P A R K

1975 - Canada Park, Highway 1 (Tel Aviv-Jerusalem), between Latrun & Sha'ar HaGai interchanges (Israel). A national park established & maintained by the Jewish National Fund of Canada (JNF) in the Latrun Salient, a portion No Man's Land from which Arab forces cut land communications between Jerusalem & Tel Aviv during the 1948 war & which was incorporated into Israel in 1967. The park occupies "land formerly occupied by four Palestinian villages: Dayr Ayyub, Imwas, Yalo & Bayt Nuba. Israeli forces demolished these villages immediately after the Six-Day War as part of the Israeli strategy to widen the Jerusalem Corridor. Historical ruins include a Roman bathhouse, a Hasmonean cemetery & a Crusader fortress (Castellum Arnaldi). Right image overlooks Ayalon Valley & site of Beit Nuba, now occupied by Mevo Horon settlement. Click here for article by Zochrot ("Remembering") in Tel Aviv.

M E M

March 30, 1978 - Land Day Monument, Sakhnin, Galilee (Israel). By Abed Abdi & Gershon Knispel. "First time that a symbol of Palestinian nationality appeared in the public sphere [in Israel]. From 1978 to this day, on every March 30 the monument is a central marking point of remembrance ceremonies for the Land Day events in Galilee." Land Day is an annual day of commemoration for Palestinians of events on March 30, 1976, when the Israeli government announced a plan to expropriate thousands of dunams of land for "security & settlement purposes," a general strike & marches were organized in Arab towns, & in ensuing confrontations with the Israeli army and police, six Arab citizens were killed, about one hundred were wounded & hundreds of others arrested.

S C H O O L

1977 - Peace Center, Mar Elias Educational Institutions, I'billin, Northern District (Israel). Founded by Archbishop Elias Chacour, author of "Blood Brothers" (which contains this date). Arab students from all over the Galilee gather at the institutions regardless of their origins, ethical & political views. "Father Chacour began with a kindergarten founded in 1970, an elementary school in 1997 (a new elementary school is currently under construction), a high school in 1982, a two-year technical college in 1994, a regional teacher training center in 1996, & in 2003, the Mar Elias University Campus opened. Mar Elias Peace Center is now a reality on the campus. Initially the Center will bring academics in the field of Peace Studies to campus for support of cooperative programs between Arab & Jewish schools & teachers' centers."

M U R A L S

Date? - Peace Murals, Mar Elias School, I'billin, Northern District (Israel). School founded by Archbishop Elias Chacour, author of "Blood Brothers."

F O R E S T

1978 - Peace Forest, Neve Shalom / Wahat al-Salam / Oasis of Peace (Israel). "In 1978, Israeli Ruth Dayan & Palestinian Raymonda Tawil planted a 'peace forest' in Neve Shalom. On January 11, 2007, Mrs. Dayan was awarded the Partner of Peace Award by the Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam community, where the peace forest was planted. Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam is a cooperative village of Jews & Palestinian Arabs of Israeli citizenship. The village is situated equidistant from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv - Jaffa."

S C H O O L 1979 - School for Peace (SFP), Neve Shalom / Wahat-al-Salaam (NSWAS) (Israel). A unique educational institution offering Jewish-Arab encounter programs. Equidistant from Jerusalem & Tel Aviv-Jaffa. NSWAS is "a cooperative village, jointly established by Jewish & Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, engaged in educational work for peace, equality & understanding between the two peoples."

H O U S E

P O L E

October 1991 - Open House of Ramle, Ramla (Israel). Built in 1936 by a Palestinian family. Occupied in 1948 by an Israeli family. Turned into "a preschool & daycare center for Arab & Jewish children in 1991. Runs extracurricular coexistence programs for Jewish, Christian & Muslim children in the afternoons." Described in "The Lemon Tree: An Abab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East" by Sandy Tolan (2006). Click here for 7-minute video by Sandy Tolan. /// Right image shows peace pole of unknown date.

M E M O R I A L

About 2000 - Memorial monument, on the external wall of the cemetery, 'Ailabun, North District (Israel). "Created by a young artist from the village of Naif Sam’an, trained at the Jewish-Arab club of Beit ha-Gefen in Haifa. According to Sam’an, in Beit ha-Gefen he assisted a Jewish artist in creating a memorial monument for Holocaust victims, after which he was determined to create a similar monument for the ‘Ailabun victims." /// Author's photo. /// "After the town surrendered on October 30, 1948, the commander of the Golani troops selected 14 young Arab men & had them executed, in what became known as the Eilabun massacre. The village was then looted." /// Described in Sorek, Tamir (2008), "Cautious Commemoration: Localism, Communalism, and Nationalism in Palestinian Memorial Monuments in Israel," Society for Comparative Study of Society & History, 50(2), pp. 337-368. /// "By the end of September 2000, on the eve of the second Palestinian uprising that reshuffled the political cards of Arab-Jewish relations in Israel, only three [Arab] municipalities had built monuments. Today only one of those three monuments, that in Kafr Kana, still stands and has gained public recognition as a commemorative site. The other two, in Shefa’amer & ‘Ailabun, failed to become pilgrimage sites or gathering points for political rallies. Indeed, local residents soon destroyed them, through a process that reflected the complicated relations between national, local & communal allegiances in these towns."

M E M O R I A L

September 2000 - Memorial monument, village entrance, Kafr Kana, Galilee (Israel). "Uunveiled a few days before the eruption of the al-Aqsa Intifada. The Kafr Kana municipality, headed by the secular NDA party, decided to build the monument at the main entrance of the village near the new mosque. Since its foundation, it has functioned as a gathering point for events with national significance: Land Day ceremonies, ceremonies to memorialize the events of October 2000 & political demonstrations like that held against the American invasion of Iraq in 2003." It still stands. /// Described in Sorek, Tamir (2008), "Cautious Commemoration: Localism, Communalism, and Nationalism in Palestinian Memorial Monuments in Israel," Society for Comparative Study of Society & History, 50(2), pp. 337-368. /// Upper image may not be correct. Lower image shows Arabs demonstrating in Kafr Kana on October 3, 2010 (3rd anniversary of the 2nd intifada).

L I B R A R Y

March 2001 - Sarah & Yaacov Eshel Peace Library, Givat Haviva Educational Institute, Menashe, Northern Sharon Valley (Israel). "Run by professional Jewish & Arab co-directors." "Dedicated in in the presence of its donors, Marilyn & Harry Cagin from Cleveland, Ohio (USA). The Reading Room of the Peace Library was established with the assistance of a contribution from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany, which supports institutions dealing with research, documentation and education on the Holocaust. Image shows visit of the American Ambassador.

G A R D E N

April 5, 2003 - Sculpture Garden, Anata (Occupied West Bank). "The day was hot on the eastern edge of Jerusalem. Half way up a steep hillside on the fringe of the village of Anata a group of 30 Israelis & Palestinians labored to build a sculpture garden in memory of Rachel Corrie. The sculptor was in attendance, supervising the installation of three small concrete houses within a cradle of debris from the nearby demolished home of the Shawamreh family... In attendance were members of the board of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions and representatives of the International Solidarity Movement, Ta’ayush, Gush Shalom, the American Friends Service Committee, the Christian Peacemakers Team, and others. The sculpture was created by Tel Aviv artist Danny Reisner, and the harp music performed by Sunita Staneslow."

H O U S E

August 8-21, 2003 - Arabela House, Anata (Occupied West Bank). Anata is the same as (Beit Arabiya)? "Salim Shawamreh is a Palestinian. His family was made refugees when the state of Israel was founded [in 1948], so they had to leave their home in the Negev Desert & move to the Old City in Jerusalem. Then in 1967, during the Six Day War, they were made refugees again, so went to live in the Shufat Refugee Camp [sic]. Salim trained as an engineer & saved money to build a home for his family. Despite many attempts to get a building permit, one was never granted, which is usually the case for Palestinians. Salim proceeded to build a home, but it was demolished by Israeli authorities. To date, this has happened four times, and each time the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) rebuilds their house. A fifth demolition order is on their house." Text of sign in front of the house: "Arabela House. In momorial [sic] of the death of Noha Sweedan [Nuha Swaidan] and Rechel Kori [Rachel Corrie]." Last image shows Jeff Halper, co-founder & coordinator of ICAHD, leading a tour of Jerusalem. "ICAHD estimates that at least 24,813 houses have been demolished in the West Bank, East Jerusalem & Gaza since 1967."

M U R A L

August 21, 2003 - Monument to Rachel Corrie, Arabela House, Anata (Occupied West Bank). Text of inscription: "Mike Alewitz. Labor Art & Mural Project organized by Christine Gauvreau. Donated by U.S. workers against the occupation of Iraq and the Israeli occupation of Palestine -- August 21, 2003." Painted by "labor muralist" Mike Alewitz, associate professor of art at Central Connecticut State University. Rachel Corrie [1979-2003] was an American member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) who was crushed to death on March 16, 2003, by an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) bulldozer while trying to prevent the destuction of a Palestinian home near the Rafah refugee camp in Gaza. "Alewitz was the founder & chairman of the Kent Student Mobilization Committee Against the War in Vietnam (SMC) the largest anti-war group at Kent State University prior to the May 4, 1970, massacre. He has remained a prominent anti-war and social justice activist. Alewitz has created murals on themes of peace & solidarity in Nicaragua, Chernobyl, Mexico City, Northern Ireland, Baghdad & the Occupied Territories."

S I G N

2003 - Sign, Lod/Lydda (Israel). "Eitan Bronstein, director of Zochrot ('Remembering'), posts a sign in Hebrew & Arabic on the former Arab ghetto in Lod/Lydda, which reads: 'Here were concentrated and placed under military rule approx. 1000 men and women who remained in Al Lydd after the expulsion from the city & its environs of 45,000 Palestinians...' [Anglican] Father Oudeh Rantisi, a former mayor of Ramallah who was expelled from Lydda in 1948, visited his family's former home for the first time in 1967: 'As the bus drew up in front of the house, I saw a young boy playing in the yard. I got off the bus and went over to him. "How long have you lived in this house?" I asked. "I was born here," he replied. "Me too," I said.'"

P A I N T I N G 2005 - "The Wall,", where? (Israel). Mixed media on canvas, 90x80 cm. By Abed Abdi of Haifa (Israel). Abdi sculpted the Land Day Monument in Sakhnin, Galilee (Israel) in 1978 (qv).

T R E E

About 2005 - Peace Tree, Central Lawn, Givat Haviva Educational Institute, Menashe, Northern Sharon Valley (Israel). "Hewn 4 years ago by Jewish, Arab & Druze youth participating in yet another of the Art Center's innovative and extremely creative coexistence projects." /// "Givat Haviva is conveniently situated between central & northern Israel: 20 minutes from Caesaria, 40 minutes from Nazareth, 60 minutes from Tiberias, 40 minutes from Haifa."

T H E A T E R

2006 - Freedom Theatre, Jenin Refugee Camp, Jenin (Palestine). "The only professional venue for theatre & multimedia in the north of the West Bank in Occupied Palestine... Enables the young generation in the area to develop new & important skills which will allow them to build a better future for themselves & for their society." Founded by Israeli actor & filmmaker Juliano Mer-Khamis [1958-2011] - image at far right - who was assassinated in the street very near the theatre on April 4, 2011. Person on left is acting school coordinator Rawand Arqawi, photographed on June 20, 2011.

M U S E U M

October 29, 2006 - Memorial & Museum of the Martyrs, Kafr Quasim (Israel). Also spelled Kafr Kassem. About 20 km east of Tel Aviv, near the Green Line between Israel & the West Bank, in the southern portion of the "Little Triangle" of Arab-Israeli towns & villages. They interpret the Kafr Qasim Massacre, in which the Israel Border Police killed 49 civilians on October 29, 1956... [Muslim residents] of Kafr Qasim annually observe the massacre, and the commemorative memorial was raised in the village. The Museum of the Martyrs was opened on [the 50th anniversary] October 29, 2006 [but apparently has no website]. In December 2007, Israel President Shimon Peres formally apologised for the massacre" which happened at the beginning of the 10-day Suez Crisis. News of the massacre was suppressed for weeks, then considered by Palestinians to be another Deir Yassin.

P O L E

Date? - Peace Pole?, Kafr Quasim, (Israel). Airview shows what appears to be a Peace Pole on top of some kind of mound or tell.

M U S E U M

April 16, 2007 - Abu Jihad Museum for the Prisoners Movement, Al-Quds University, East Jerusalem. "Aims to reflect the experiences of thousands of Palestinians in Israeli jails." "Khalil Ibrahim al-Wazir [1935-1988], aka "Abu Jihad" (father of the struggle), was a Palestinian military leader & founder of the secular nationalist party Fatah. As a top aide of PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, al-Wazir had considerable influence in Fatah's military activities, eventually becoming the commander of Fatah's armed wing al-Assifa. The majority of the Palestinians viewed him as a martyr who died resisting the Israeli occupation or at least sympathized with his cause, while most Israelis considered him to be a high-profile terrorist for planning the killings of Israelis. Prior to & during Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon, al-Wazir planned numerous attacks inside Israel against both civilian & military targets. On April 16, 1988, he was assassinated at his home in Tunis, apparently by Israeli commandos."

T R E E

2008 - "Tree of Peace," Hebrew University Dental School, Ein Karem, Jerusalem (Israel). "By internationally recognized artist Hedva Ser [of Paris (France)]. Celebrates the collaboration between the Hebrew University & the Palestinian Dental School, Al Quds, dental students & faculty also in Jerusalem." "Symbolizes how health care, & specifically dental heath, can be a bridge to world peace." See duplicate "Tree of Peace," School of Dentistry & Oral Health, A. T. Still University (ATSU), Mesa, Arizona (USA).

V I L L A G E

Future - Village of Lifta, West Jerusalem (Israel). "Last visible remnant of the Nakba" [sic]. "Yet another example of Palestinian history to be erased by Israel — this time, while not physically razed, it will be raped & pillaged by government planners & private developers. Even greater than the loss of the remarkable architectural beauty of the remnants of this village (which managed to escape Israeli bulldozers for 63 years) is the importance of the 'big picture' behind the story: Israel has methodically eradicated most of Palestine’s pre-1948 Palestinian history — the more than 400 conquered Arab villages it destroyed after 1948 — while reconstructing Palestine’s Jewish history. This is particularly true for Jerusalem, where the 'battle of the narratives' continues to be at the forefront of the Occupation. Other recent Jerusalem examples include the Shepherd Hotel & the ongoing struggle over the Mamilla Cemetery [in Jerusalem]. Finally, Lifta is located near Deir Yassin, the ultimate symbol of the Nakba... Lifta is an anomaly. Among the hundreds of Palestinian villages abandoned in 1948, Lifta is the only one that was neither destroyed nor reinhabited. The villages of [nearby] Ein Karem & Ein Hod [near Haifa], for example, remained standing but were inhabited by Jews. [Former Lifta resident] Yakub Odeh, 67, & others see the remaining 55 homes in Lifta & surrounding terraces as a kind of memorial to Palestinian society before Israel’s War of Independence. After the village was abandoned, the ceilings in the buildings were deliberately destroyed to deter intruders, however the homeless & others on the margins of society took up residence there. Plans call for 212 luxury housing units & a small hotel. Israelis & Palestinians dedicated to Lifta’s preservation have called the plan the end for the last Arab village of its kind."

M O S A I C

Future - "Pieces for Peace mosaic." "An Israeli-Palestinian art-dialogue project for children. More than 150 Palestinian & Israeli youth have met over the last 3 years to create 330 square feet of mosaic. This work of art is being painstakingly created from thousands of mosaic tiles. The finished mosaic project will be placed in a park on the Israel-Palestine border. The mosaic promises a fear-free future, and we hope it will be a meeting place for the peoples of the region and the world."

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