:''See ''
Muqata'ah
Under the Ottoman Empire, ''Mukata’a'' were ''Hass (Ottoman), hass-ı hümayun'', parcels of land owned by the Ottoman crown. These were distributed through the ''iltizam'' auction system; rights to collect revenue from the land were sold to t ...
'' for the Ottoman instrument for financing state expenses. ''
:''This article deals mainly with the Mukataa of Ramallah.''
![Ramallah Muqata'a 2013](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Ramallah_Muqata%27a_2013.jpg)
Mukataʿa ( ar, المقاطعة al-muqāṭaʿah) is an Arabic word for headquarters or administrative center. Mukataas were mostly built during the
British Mandate as
Tegart fort
A Tegart fort is a type of militarized police fort constructed throughout Palestine during the British Mandatory period, initiated as a measure against the 1936–1939 Arab Revolt.
Etymology
The forts are named after their designer, British p ...
s and were used both as British government centers and as dwellings for the British administrative staff. Some Mukataas also included
police station
A police station (sometimes called a "station house" or just "house") is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, al ...
s and
prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...
s. After the British left, the buildings often functioned similarly under the
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
ians, and then the
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
is.
After the
Oslo Accords
The Oslo Accords are a pair of agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993; , the Mukataas were used as governmental offices and headquarters for the
Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine, . The Mukaatas in
Ramallah
Ramallah ( , ; ar, رام الله, , God's Height) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the ''de facto'' administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusale ...
and
Gaza, the two major
Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
cities, were also used as headquarters to the high Palestinian Authority leadership, including as office for
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...
, long-time Palestinian Authority president.
![Ramallah President](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Ramallah_President.jpg)
During
Operation Defensive Shield
Operation "Defensive Shield" ( he, מִבְצָע חוֹמַת מָגֵן, ''Mivtza Homat Magen'', literally "Operation Shield Wall") was a large-scale military operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces in 2002 during the Second Intifada ...
in April 2002, the
Israeli Defence Forces
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branch ...
raided the Mukataas in the
West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
. Some Mukataas, including the Mukataa in
Hebron
Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after East J ...
, were entirely demolished.
Arafat's compound
The Mukataa in
Ramallah
Ramallah ( , ; ar, رام الله, , God's Height) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the ''de facto'' administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusale ...
, built in the 1930s during the British Mandate by the British engineer Sir
Charles Tegart, was a military headquarters, a court of law and a prison. In May 1948, Jordan took over, and used the compound again as a prison and as a residence for Jordanian army officers and their families. From the occupation in 1967 it was the Israeli military headquarters, until the establishment of the
Palestinian Authority
The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine, in 1994. In 1996, Arafat moved in and the Mukataa became the official West Bank headquarters, known as Arafat's compound.
[''Inside Arafat's compound of rubble'']
BBC, 22 September 2002
Israeli siege of March 2002
On 29 March 2002, the
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...
raided the compound and placed it under siege during
Operation Defensive Shield
Operation "Defensive Shield" ( he, מִבְצָע חוֹמַת מָגֵן, ''Mivtza Homat Magen'', literally "Operation Shield Wall") was a large-scale military operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces in 2002 during the Second Intifada ...
. The Israeli army destroyed the offices of three security services, along with a VIP guesthouse, a prison, sleeping quarters for guards, a large kitchen, a car repair shop and a large meeting hall.
[
The siege was lifted on 2 May after 6 men wanted by Israel – 4 of them convicted of involvement in the October 2001 assassination of the Israeli tourism minister ]Rehavam Ze'evi
Rehavam Ze'evi ( he, רחבעם זאבי ; 20 June 1926 – 17 October 2001) was an Israeli general and politician who founded the right-wing nationalist Moledet party, mainly advocating population transfer.
He was assassinated by Hamdi Quran ...
– were moved to a prison in Jericho to be guarded by U.S. and British wardens. The US-brokered plan was to enable Israel to avoid angering the United States over the Israeli Cabinet decision to bar a UN fact-finding mission from investigating allegations surrounding Israeli army actions in Jenin
Jenin (; ar, ') is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate of the State of Palestine and is a major center for the surrounding towns. In 2007, Jenin had a population of app ...
refugee camp during operation Rampart. Although the military had withdrawn from the compound, the cities and refugee camps in the West Bank remained surrounded by Israeli troops.[''Arafat asks Tenet to pressure Israel, aide says'']
CNN, 4 June 2002
Siege of 6 June 2002
On 6 June 2002, the IDF executed a new siege after having attacked the headquarters with tanks, bulldozers and armored vehicles. Arafat's office building was partly destroyed, besides other parts of the compound.
Anton La Guardia and Alan Philps, The Telegraph, 11 June 2002 The attack was a retaliation for a suicide bombing carried out by Islamic Jihad.
While Arafat was building a new Cabinet, the Israeli army five days later strengthened the siege on his headquarters with the support of US President George W. Bush. The White House rejected Egypt's call for a quick timetable for Palestinian statehood and Bush hinted that an international conference was a long way off, "because no one has confidence in the emerging Palestinian government."[
]
Siege of September 2002
After a suicide bombing struck Tel Aviv on 19 September 2002, the Mukataa was again placed under siege. During the next ten days, the IDF destroyed all of the buildings that had survived the former sieges with bulldozers and explosives, including the main interior ministry building. Only part of the building where Arafat and his people remained was left.[
The siege re-ignited Palestinian support for Yasser Arafat. On 24 September 2002, the UN Security Council demanded an end of the siege, but Israel ignored the Resolution.
UN Under-Secretary-General ]Terje Rød-Larsen
Terje Rød-Larsen (born 22 November 1947) is a Norwegian diplomat, politician, and sociologist.
Rød-Larsen came to wide international prominence as a key figure in the 1990s negotiations that led to the Oslo Accords—the first-ever agreements ...
, one of the architects of the Oslo Accords
The Oslo Accords are a pair of agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993; , said on 27 September that ''"the Israeli army's siege of Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...
amid the ruins of his bulldozed presidential compound could mean "the death" of hopes for a Palestinian state and a peace agreement."'' He alluded to the possible death of the two-state solution and said that ''"we're moving in the direction of state destruction and not state-building"''.[. Justin Huggler, The Independent, 28 September 2002]
On 11 September 2003, the Israeli security Cabinet decided to "remove" Arafat, who still remained in the besieged compound. In a statement it said ''"Recent days' events have proven again that Yasser Arafat is a complete obstacle to any process of reconciliation... Israel will act to remove this obstacle in the manner, at the time, and in the ways that will be decided on separately..."''.''Israeli Cabinet Decides in Principle for Arafat Expulsion''
FOX News, 12 September 2003 The compound remained under siege until Arafat's transfer in October 2004, for medical care in a French hospital.
Temporary burial-place of Arafat
In the early days of November, when it was clear his death
Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
was near, several locations were mentioned as possible burial sites. Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
was the first choice, but Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon (; ; ; also known by his diminutive Arik, , born Ariel Scheinermann, ; 26 February 1928 – 11 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006.
S ...
said he would not allow this.
Following Arafat's death on 11 November 2004, the Palestinian leadership decided that he was to be "temporarily" interred in the Mukataa compound, pending the establishment of a Palestinian state
Palestine ( ar, فلسطين, Filasṭīn), officially the State of Palestine ( ar, دولة فلسطين, Dawlat Filasṭīn, label=none), is a state located in Western Asia. Officially governed by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PL ...
and the transfer of his body to the Dome of the Rock
The Dome of the Rock ( ar, قبة الصخرة, Qubbat aṣ-Ṣakhra) is an Islamic shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, a site also known to Muslims as the ''al-Haram al-Sharif'' or the Al-Aqsa Compound. Its initial ...
compound on the Temple Mount
The Temple Mount ( hbo, הַר הַבַּיִת, translit=Har haBayīt, label=Hebrew, lit=Mount of the House f the Holy}), also known as al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, lit. 'The Noble Sanctuary'), al-Aqsa Mosque compoun ...
in Jerusalem. Plans for Arafat to lie in state at the Mukataa prior to burial were canceled, because thousands of emotional mourners overwhelmed Palestinian security forces. Arafat was buried within the compound on 12 November, in a temporary manner. On 11 November 2007, a larger tomb clad in Jerusalem stone
Jerusalem stone (Hebrew: אבן ירושלמית; Arabic: حجر القدس) is a name applied to various types of pale limestone, Dolomite (rock), dolomite and
Dolomite (rock), dolomitic limestone, common in and around Jerusalem that have been u ...
, and designed by Palestinian architects opened to the public. The message on the tomb indicated that the final resting place of Arafat shall be in Jerusalem, if it comes under Palestinian control.
References
External links
IDF Bulldozers tear down the Mukataa
(Waronline.org Forums)
(Aljazeera)
{{coord, 31, 54, 44.4, N, 35, 12, 30.83, E, display=title, type:landmark_region:IL
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Arabic words and phrases
Palestinian National Authority
Buildings and structures in Al-Bireh
Tegart forts