Bab al-Rahma Cemetery | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Details | |
Location | |
Coordinates | 31°46′44″N 35°14′13″E / 31.77889°N 35.23694°E |
Bab al-Rahma cemetery is located along the eastern wall of Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.[1] It extends from Bab Al-Asbat (Lions' Gate) to the end of the Al-Aqsa Mosque wall near the Umayyad palaces on the southern side.[2] It has an area of about 23 acres. The Bab al-Rahma cemetery contains many graves of the Companions, most notably Ubadah ibn al-Samit and Shadad ibn Aus, and on the graves of Mujahideen who participated in the conquest of Jerusalem during the Omari and Ayyubid conquests.[3] The road to Lions' Gate separates the cemetery in two, Bab al-Rahma Cemetery to the south and Al-Asbat Gate Cemetery to the North.[4]
Since at least 2011,[5] Palestinian sources assert that the Israeli government intends to convert part of the cemetery into a biblical garden.[6][7][8] According to Israel's courts and Nature and Parks Authority, work near the cemetery is minor and no displacement of graves is allowed.[9] Despite the restriction, burial activities continue with adding new graves on a regular basis, providing ongoing water contamination of the Gihon spring in the City of David.[citation needed]