Rasmea Odeh’s victims – then and now
June 10, 2015
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On a windswept hillside terrace in the massive Har HaMenuchot Cemetery on the western edge of Jerusalem, 1969 terror victims Edward Joffe and Leon ("Arie") Kanner are buried together, next to Edward's parents Roslyn and Hyman Joffe.
The cemetery itself reflects the history of the conflict.
Har HaMenuchot was opened in 1951, after Jordanian troops seized "East" Jerusalem after Israel declared Independence in 1948. Jordan's conquest included not only the Jewish Quarter of the Old City but also the Mount of Olives Cemetery, the traditional Jewish burial ground. The Jewish Quarter was ethnically cleansed of Jews and its Jewish landmarks, while Mount of Olives Cemetery was ransacked, its tombstones used for building projects and many of its graves paved over for roads. Har HaMenuchot was built in response.
[caption id="attachment_130311" align="alignnone" width="600"] [Har HaMenuchot Cemetery, Jerusalem][/caption]
My wife and I visited the Joffe and Kanner graves at Har HaMenuchot on June 1, 2015. [Featured Image]
The cemetery is so huge, so seemingly discombobulated, so logistically impenetrable even when armed with plot and section numbers, that it took us almost an hour to find the graves. We were accompanied by a local Rabbi who helped us say prayers. We placed small stones on the graves, in the Jewish tradition. And we were overcome with emotion.
The inscriptions on the graves are simple, and nearly identical. Edward's brother Harold provided the translation:
[caption id="attachment_130324" align="alignnone" width="600"] [Edward Joffe and Leon Kanner Headstones][/caption]