The English version of the book “Al-Qassam Cemetery: The Plundered Waqf: A Report on the Expropriation of the Endowment through Fraudulent Laws and Whitewashed Justice” has recently been published by the Mezan Human Rights Foundation in Nazareth.
The book includes two introductions, the main preface, and a historical background on Al-Qassam Cemetery, which is located in the depopulated Palestinian village of Al-Sheikh, in the Haifa district. The largest section of the book, titled “Confronting the Plans and Exposing Judicial Manipulation”, details the documents and evidence uncovered by Mezan, some of which are published for the first time. These documents, dating back to the 1960s and 1970s, reveal what is described as a “deal” between the then trustee of the waqf (endowment), Suhail Shukri, and Israeli authorities.
The book also features a section dedicated to the popular movement and ongoing struggle following the Israeli Supreme Court’s rejection at the end of 2021 of an appeal filed by the families and relatives of those buried in Al-Qassam Cemetery, through Mezan, regarding the cancellation of the expropriation of part of the cemetery and its sale. The court ruled that the case was a “historical issue,” not a “property matter.”
In the final section, the book presents historical maps and documents used by the Mezan Human Rights Foundation in its long legal battle in Israeli courts, revealing the process of expropriating the endowment of Al-Qassam Cemetery through manipulative laws and a biased judicial system.
The Arabic version of the book was originally published in 2022, with a total of 94 pages in a medium-sized format. The book is written by author and researcher Saher Ghazawi, a member of the Mezan Foundation team.
To download and read the English version of the book, click here.
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