Mandelbaum Gate Symbol of the Division of Jerusalem | Encyclopedia

A historic gate built in March 1948 and removed in June 1967, it became a border point between Jordan andIsrael Open to diplomats and staff United nations And Christian pilgrims to visit the holy places in Jerusalem And in Bethlehem During Christian holidays, especially Christmas and New Year.

Pope Paul VI passed through it during his visit to the occupied territories.West Bank 1965, the gate symbolizes the division of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Palestinians.

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Mandelbaum Gate is a former checkpoint between the Israeli and Jordanian sectors of Jerusalem north of the western edge of the Old City along the Green line.

The first checkpoint of the Joint Armistice Commission between the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and Israel was moved to the Mandelbaum Gate, and the gate became a symbol of the divided status of the city.

The city was divided into two parts: the western part, which was taken over by the Israeli occupation during 1948 warwhich includes most of the neighborhoods and villages of western Jerusalem, and the eastern part that fell under Jordanian rule, under which In the old city of Jerusalem And the rest of the Palestinian neighborhoods and villages.

This division was established in the Rhodes Agreement of 1949, this “temporary” agreement that over time became a reference for many international resolutions and political discussions that consecrated the division of Jerusalem.

Mandelbaum Gate is a large square of dusty asphalt in the Musrara area. It has two gates, one on the west and one on the east, each of which can accommodate one car. Each is located in a tin wall filled with stones and painted with white lime.

The Mandelbaum Gate represented a preoccupation for the remaining Palestinians, as it symbolized the possibility of their expulsion through it from their occupied neighborhood to the eastern part of the city. According to these preoccupations, the Palestinians did not leave their homes there much except for extreme necessity in search of food and water and the necessity of communicating with lawyers regarding their conditions and their looted property.

In 1967, the occupation took control of the gate and removed the wall dividing the city. The features of the Mandelbaum Gate were gone, but the square where the sundial statue sat remained. Near the gate, Israel established a museum in the area called the contact line.

Day of the week to pass

In the Mount of Olives area, there was a special area for Zionist gangs that was within the Jordanian borders, but according to the armistice agreement, this area – which is currently the area of ​​the Hebrew University and Hadassah Hospital – remained under occupation rule.

The agreement allocated one day a week for a convoy to pass through the gate to deliver food and aid to the group in the area. The basic condition was that only policemen with light weapons would pass, but the occupation allowed soldiers in the army disguised as police officers to pass through the gate in preparation for occupying the city in 1967.

The Mandelbaum Gate area included several buildings and facilities, a police station, a customs station, and a shed with a vehicle inspection gate.

Over the years, much of the buildings and facilities of the Mandelbaum Gate were destroyed, and a number of original buildings remained, one of which, perhaps the central one, was a two-storey stone structure, with an impressively beautiful slate roof built in a typical style and with oriental decorations.

This building was a police station and a transit point between Jordan and Israel, and next to it was built an international structure of a shed fixed on pillars with a barrier and an iron gate for moving and checking vehicles, and next to the “Mandelbaum Transit Building” there is a hut that was a customs house.

Mandelbaum was a German Jewish merchant whose full name was Samiha Mandelbaum. He built a two-story house on land he had purchased in East Jerusalem, and then added a third floor to it. He intended to encourage the Jews to expand the northern borders of Jerusalem, but the Islamic Waqf Authority in Jerusalem prevented the Palestinians from selling other lands to the Jews.

taken over Haganah gang They attacked the building and forced its residents to leave it and fortified themselves in it, and placed painted wooden pieces on its roof that looked like anti-aircraft guns to those seen from above, but the Jordanian forces attacked the house and left it in ruins.

End of Mandelbaum Gate

On June 5, 1967, war broke out on several fronts: on the Israeli, Syrian, Jordanian and Egyptian fronts. During 6 days of war and using various weapons – especially the air force – Israel took control of several areas, namely the West Bank andGaza strip (It came to control the entire area of ​​Mandatory Palestine), in addition to Syrian Golan Heights AndSinai peninsula Egyptian.

Since the first day, the Jerusalem front has been ignited in several locations that were the scene of clashes between the Israeli army and the Jordanian army, the most important of which were the areas of Jordanian fortifications in Ammunition Hill Near the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, the battles led to complete Israeli control over Jerusalem, which destroyed the symbolism of division that the Mandelbaum Gate represented during its 18 years of existence.