Al-Manara Square
Al-Manara Square (
History
Early history
Until the end of the 19th century, the site of al-Manara Square was part of a dirt road that connected Ramallah to the nearby town of
In 1918, after the fall of Ottoman Empire, the United Kingdom established the British Mandate of Palestine and designated Ramallah as capital of its own administrative district. In 1935 Ramallah and neighboring al-Bire2h were connected to an electricity grid. And electrical switchboard controlling the street lights was placed on a pole planted on a dirt road separating them which was dubbed "al-Manara" or "The Lighthouse." During the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine the British authorities built the Muqata'ah and a prison 800 meters from al-Manara, where both still stand.[1]
The roads leading to al-Manara were widened to accommodate the Muqata'a. The infrastructure around the square continued to improve until the
In 1951, during Jordanian control of the West Bank, the electrical pole was replaced with by a monument proposed by Ramallah's commissioner (Jalil M. Badran) and designed by a Ramallah artist. The monument consisted of five lions on a stone pillar surrounded by fountains and flower beds.[1] The stone lions used on the monument have been described as "traditional symbols of bravery, power and pride."[2] The five lions represented Ramallah's original inhabitants, five families known as Ibrahim, Jerias, Shqair, Hassan, and Haddad. All five of these families were descended from the Rashid al-Haddadin family, which migrated to Ramallah in the 16th century from the areas of Al-Karak and Shoubak in Jordan.[3]
Israeli occupation
Israel captured Ramallah during the Six-Day War in 1967, dismissed the municipality and installed a military governor to oversee the district's affairs. In 1982 Israeli commander Moshe Biton issued a decree to demolish Al-Manara Square and the monument was stored in a municipal treasury. Palestinians protested the Israeli occupation and did civil disobedience during the First Intifada.[1] On 10 October 1987, Israeli troops shot and killed one woman and injured four peaceful protesters in the square.[4] Demonstrations, including a shopkeepers strike, in the square continued from 1987 until 1993 when, due to the Oslo Accords, the Israeli military left the city.[1][5]
Palestinian control
When Palestinian municipal councils retook control they rebuilt the monument at the site of the previous Al-Manara monument, inside a
The square continues to be used to protest the actions of Israel and of Palestinian leaders. In 2007 Palestinian police broke up protests against the
In the early 2000s, a group of criminals lynched two IDF troops who had accidentally crossed the border. They later dragged their bodies there. [13]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Adania Shibli, Al-Manara Square: Monumental Architecture and Power, The Jerusalem Quarterly, Spring, 2006.
- ^ Meredith Buel, Palestinian Cabinet Resigns Amid Calls for Political Reform in West Bank, GlobalSecurity.org, February 14, 2011.
- ^ Qaddourah, Y. Tarikh Madinat Ramallah (New York: Al Hoda Printing, 1954).
- ^ Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh, Shepherds' nights, Israeli troops and more, Salem-News.com, December 9, 2011.
- ^ The Palestinians Belittle U.s. Role, New York Times, June 22, 1990.
- ISBN 978-0-415-94440-3
- ^ 'Right time' to pursue Mid-East peace: Bush, ABC News Australia, November 28, 2011.
- ^ Robert Blecher, Operation Cast Lead in the West Bank Archived 2009-11-18 at the Stanford Web Archive, Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol 38, no. 3 (Spring 2009), p. 64.
- ^ Harriet Sherwood, Palestine papers provoke anger on streets of West Bank and Gaza; Protesters try to storm al-Jazeera studios in Ramallah, while in Gaza City anger is focused on Palestinian negotiators, The Guardian, January 24, 2011.
- ^ Amira Hass, Many Palestinians think Fatah-Hamas unity efforts distract from the occupation, Haaretz, April 3, 2011.
- ^ Saud Abu Ramada, Emad Drimly, Int'l group members join hunger strike of Palestinian prisoners, Xinhua News Agency, October 10, 2011.
- ^ See also Al-Manara Square March 17 video, Youtube.com, 2011; video of protesters in solidarity with prisoner hunger strikers.
- ^ "BBC News | MIDDLE EAST | Lynch mob's brutal attack".
External links
- al-Manara Square video, Youtube.com, 2007.