The Shepherd Hotel was a hotel in the
Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of
East Jerusalem
East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the sector of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to the western sector of the city, West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel.
Jerusalem was envisaged as a separat ...
.
History
The building was built in the 1930s by Baruch Katinka, a Jewish engineer and partner in the Albina Katinka Dunia construction company. It was commissioned as a home for the Muslim
Mufti of Jerusalem
The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem is the Sunni Muslim cleric in charge of Jerusalem's Islamic holy places, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The position was created by the British military government led by Ronald Storrs in 1918.See Islamic Leadership i ...
,
Haj Amin al-Husseini, who never lived there.
[Jay Gatsby in Jerusalem](_blank)
Haaretz
''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...
The mufti transferred the right to live there to his personal secretary,
George Antonius and his wife Katy, who were local celebrities and hosted parties and social gatherings there. After Antonius died in 1942, his widow continued to reside in the house and became involved romantically with the commander of the British forces in Palestine,
Evelyn Barker
General Sir Evelyn Hugh Barker (22 May 1894 – 23 November 1983) was a British Army officer who saw service in both the First World War and the Second World War. During the latter, he commanded the 10th Brigade during the Battle of France in 1 ...
.
![MuftiHouse](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/MuftiHouse.jpg)
In early 1947, Katy Antonius left the house after a nearby building was blown up by the
Irgun
Irgun • Etzel
, image = Irgun.svg , image_size = 200px
, caption = Irgun emblem. The map shows both Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan, which the Irgun claimed in its entirety for a future Jewish state. The acronym "Etzel" i ...
, which claimed it tried to warn her but her telephone was constantly busy. After the establishment of the
State of 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 ...
, the building was taken over by the Hashemite Kingdom of
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 ...
and reopened as a hotel for pilgrims. A new wing was added which obscured the original architecture.
Following the
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...
,
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 ...
occupied
East Jerusalem
East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the sector of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to the western sector of the city, West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel.
Jerusalem was envisaged as a separat ...
and the hotel was declared "absentee property" (AP) and became the property of the Government of Israel under the "Absentee Property Law". It was used by the Ministry of Justice and as a district courthouse.
The land use of the building is part of Plan 2591 approved in 1982 by the Jerusalem District Committee of the Interior Ministry, and is designated for residential use.
The Custodian of Arab Property sold the building and surrounding land in 1985 to
Irving Moskowitz
Irving Moskowitz (January 11, 1928 – June 16, 2016) was an American physician, businessman, and activist. His activism, in part, sought to create a Jewish majority in Palestinian Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem by purchasing land.
Biogra ...
, a Jewish-American businessman, supporter of Israeli settlers activities in East Jerusalem, who renamed it the "Sheffer Hotel."
At the beginning of the first
Intifada in 1987, the Border Police leased the building and stayed there for about 15 years before moving to their new building alongside Highway One.
Demolition
![Sheferedisdead](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Sheferedisdead.jpg)
Following the zoning of Plan 2591, a request was made on November 6, 2008 to permit construction by C and M Properties Ltd. of two new residential buildings, which include 20 apartments, underground parking, flat roofs, and two floors above the parking level.
In March 2009, the project appeared on the agenda of the licensing committee of the
Jerusalem Municipality
The Jerusalem Municipality ( he, עיריית ירושלים; Iriyat yerushalayim), the seat of the Israeli municipal administration, consists of a number of buildings located on Jaffa Road in the city of Jerusalem.
History
British Mandate ...
but was removed later. But on July 2, 2009, at the height of U.S. efforts to press Israel to adopt a settlement freeze in order to get the peace process going, the Local Planning Committee of the Jerusalem Municipality approved the request, which included the destruction of the existing buildings on the property, except for the historic structure designated for preservation. The U.S. government voiced its displeasure over the project to Israel's Washington ambassador in 2009 after the plan received the green light from the Municipality, a direct challenge to President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
's effort to launch negotiations toward Israeli–Palestinian and Israeli–Arab peace.
Construction was delayed for six months due to a dispute with a son of
Faisal al-Husseini, a former Palestinian Authority minister for Jerusalem affairs, who claimed that the family owned part of the parking lot. The court rejected this claim. Demolition began on January 9, 2011.
The
Israeli Supreme Court ruled in February 2012 that the Husseini family could not claim ownership of the landmark because too much time had passed since Israeli authorities had transferred the property to private developers.
The new building is the first settlement construction in
Sheikh Jarrah since 1967.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shepherd Hotel
Defunct hotels
Demolished hotels
Buildings and structures demolished in 2011
Demolished buildings and structures in Israel
Sheikh Jarrah