Jubar

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Boroughs of Damascus: In the northeast is Jubar (Jobar).
War scene from Jubar during the Qabun offensive, February / March 2017
Fighters of the ar-Rahman Legion in Jubar, 2015

Jubar or Jobar ( Arabic جوبر Jawbar , Hebrew ג'ובר Jober , alternative transcriptions Dshobar or Joubar ) is a district of the Syrian capital Damascus , which belongs to the Ghouta region. Before the urbanization, the place was a Jewish village 2 km northeast of the city wall, and until 2014 the very old Jobar synagogue stood here . During the civil war in Syria since 2011 , the district was the stronghold of the Islamist ar-Rahman Legion until it was handed over to government troops in 2018 . Significant parts of the district were destroyed in the civil war.

history

Jubar (ג'ובר) is mentioned in the Talmud as one of ten Jewish villages in the Damascus area. According to the Berachot of the Talmud, Rab Papa prayed here in the 4th century . In the Middle Ages , Jubar was considered the most important and longest-lived Jewish community outside the city walls of Damascus. According to the report of a Jewish traveler in 1522, shortly after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, 60 Jewish families lived in Jubar who had a "very beautiful synagogue". While Ibn Tulun (died 1546) speaks of Muslims in the mostly Jewish village of Jubar, according to the knight d'Arvieux, the village was purely Jewish in 1735.

In 1839 the village is described as "in a beautiful setting in a green, fertile place" which forms "part of the garden of the Damascus hinterland ". The approximately 1000 inhabitants and their leadership are exclusively Jews . In 1840, after the disappearance of a Capuchin father and his Muslim assistant in Damascus, the rumor of a Jewish ritual murder was spread, whereupon a mob attacked the Jewish quarter of Damascus and the village of Jubar and devastated the synagogues. The events came to be known as the Damascus affair.

While the village was still described as purely Jewish in 1839, in 1847, only seven years after the Damascus affair, 3,000 to 4,000 Muslims are said to have lived in the village, but only one family of Jews who looked after the synagogue. In 1869, a visitor had the impression that - despite the existence of the old synagogue - there had never been a significant Jewish presence in Jubar, but admitted that wealthy Jews came here for summer retreat. Even Richard F. Burton describes Dschubar 1893 as "Muslim village with a synagogue that Elijah is dedicated to the Jews of Damascus as a pilgrimage site serves."

After the establishment of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948, the restrictions on Jews in Syria were tightened in the course of the expulsion of Jews from Arab and Islamic countries . Jews were not allowed to sell real estate; but if they left the country, their property was confiscated. Palestinian refugees were resettled in the village and the ancient synagogue building was converted into a school for refugees. In 2008 around 300,000 people lived in Jubar - mostly Muslims and a small number of Christians , but no longer Jews. The largest mosque was the al-Asmai mosque .

In 2011, President Bashar al-Assad announced plans to renovate the Jubar synagogue. However, Assad was unable to keep his promise: Jubar fell into the hands of the rebels at the beginning of the civil war from 2011, and the city district became a stronghold of the ar-Rahman Legion. Here in the eastern Ghouta, the Islamist terrorist organizations sometimes also fought each other. On May 2, 2017, Abu Najib, a leader of the ar-Rahman Legion, fell in the fighting against Jaish al-Islam . From June 14 to 18, 2017, the district was massively bombed by the Syrian air force . Large parts of the building were destroyed and many people died. An attack on the ground followed on June 20, 2017, but failed despite support from the Russian Air Force . After a period of calm, massive mortar shells were fired from Eastern Ghouta on the old town of Damascus on January 8, 2018 , where numerous people died and buildings were destroyed. At the same time there was a final offensive by the Syrian army against the rebels in Ghouta. On March 9, 2018, Abu 'Ali Dhiya al-Shaghouri, commander of the ar-Rahman Legion, was killed in the fighting. On March 22nd, the ar-Rahman Legion agreed to an unlimited ceasefire agreement, which came into force the following day. Subsequently, the surrender and the withdrawal of the Islamist militia from the area were negotiated.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Josef W. Meri: The cult of saints among Muslims and Jews in medieval Syria. Oxford University Press, 2002, p. 33 ( here in the Google book search).
  2. ↑ Damascus . Jewish Encyclopedia , accessed June 1, 2020.
  3. ^ Jean Baptiste Labat: Mémoires du chevalier d'Arvieux, contenant ses voyages à Constantinople, dans l'Asie, la Syrie, etc, Tome 2 , 1735 ( here in the Google book search).
  4. ↑ The Christian reformer, or, Unitarian magazine and review, Volume 6. Sherwood, Gilbert and Piper, 1839, p. 558 ( here in the Google book search).
  5. ^ Damascus affair . Jewish Encyclopedia , accessed June 1, 2020.
  6. ↑ John Wilson: The lands of the Bible: visited and described in an extensive journey undertaken with special reference to the promotion of Biblical research and the advancement of the cause of philanthropy, Volume 2. William Whyte, 1847, p. 331. ( here in Google Book Search).
  7. ^ Josias Leslie Porter : The giant cities of Bashan and Syria's Holy places. T. Nelson, 1869, p. 340 ( here in the Google book search).
  8. ↑ Isabel Arundell Burton: The life of Captain Sir Richard F. Burton, Volume 1. Chapman & Hall Ltd., Oxford, 1893, p. 483 ( here in the Google book search).
  9. ↑ James A. Paul: Human rights in Syria. Middle East Watch, p. 92 ( here in the Google book search).
  10. ↑ Zwy Aldouby, Jerrold Ballinger: The shattered silence: the Eli Cohen affair. Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1971, p. 285 ( here in the Google book search).
  11. ^ Emil Rennert: Millennia-old synagogue in Damascus destroyed. In: world. April 2, 2013, accessed February 17, 2018 .
  12. ↑ Thousands of years old synagogue in Damascus destroyed. In: Spiegel Online. April 1, 2013, accessed February 17, 2018 .
  13. ↑ Explainer: Who's fighting whom in Syria's Ghouta?
  14. ^ High ranking rebel commander killed by infighting in East Ghouta
  15. ↑ Red Crescent worker wounded in Damascus attack , VOA, June 18, 2017.
  16. ↑ regime forces launch assault on Jobar, dozens of casualties. Iraqi News, June 25, 2017.
  17. ↑ Matthew Davis: Damascus archbishop describes Syrian Catholics' plight. The Catholic Spirit, November 16, 2018.
  18. ^ High ranking rebel commander killed in East Ghouta
  19. ↑ Breaking: Faylaq Al-Rahman agrees to ceasefire deal in East Ghouta
  20. ^ East Ghouta ceasefire begins in Faylaq Al-Rahman areas

Coordinates: 33 ° 31 '33.6 "  N , 36 ° 20' 6.3"  E