San Simon monastery in Katamon

Katamon (Hebrew: קטמון‎) is a neighbourhood in south-central Jerusalem, Israel. The official Hebrew name, Gonen (Hebrew: גּוֹנֵן‎), never caught on, and is only used in municipal publications. Most residents continue to call it Katamon, derived from the Greek kata tōi monastēriōi ("below the monastery").

Katamon is bounded by the neighborhoods of Talbiya in the northeast, and the German Colony and Greek Colony to the southeast. The neighbourhood is bounded on its south side by Rachel Imenu street and Hizkiyahu Ha'Melech street (separating it from the Greek Colony), and on its east side by Kovshey Katamon street (separating it from Talbiye). These streets connect to Emek Refaim and Rehov ha-Palmach¹ respectively. On its western side, the neighbourhood connects loosely to several younger neighbourhoods collectively called the "Katamonim" (or "Gonenim", their official municipal name), running around the side of the monastery hill.

Katamon was home to affluent Christian Arabs before it was captured in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. A major site in Katamon was the St. Simon monastery, on a hilltop to the north. The monastery is now surrounded by a large park in the neighborhood known as Givat Oranim. Another major attraction of the neighborhood is the L. A. Mayer Institute for Islamic Art.

The neighbourhood's architectural style is comprised mainly of 50's through 70's Israeli construction, dotted with surviving Arab construction predating the 1948 war. Many of the pre-1948 structures were demolished by explosives after the war to prevent the return of their owners and solidify Jewish control over this part of the city. Today, most houses are no more than three or four stories tall, with the exception of a few 7-story apartment blocks on the hilltop, as well as several low-cost 50's-style low-cost housing complexes further down the hill. The southeastern and northwestern edges of the neighbourhood, close to Ha'Palmach and Emek Refa'im streets, have seen ample new construction during the 70's and 90's, focused mainly on upper-class housing.

During the Siege of Jerusalem (1948), the neighborhood was an Arab salient between two besieged Jewish neighborhoods. A fierce battle ensued over control over the monastery that left many dead and wounded on both sides. A gutted Jordanian Legion tank was left as a monument at St. Simone park, but was removed in the late 90's due to being a potential public hazard.

In her autobiography, Palestinian author Ghada Karmi describes growing up in Katamon, from which she and her father, noted linguist Hasan Karmi, and the rest of the family had to escape in 1948 after fierce fighting broke out. Arab scholar and poet Khalil al-Sakakini and land specialist and writer Sami Hadawi also escaped Katamon at this time. Al-Sakakini's daughter Hala wrote about revisiting the neighborhood in 1967.²

On September 17, 1948, UN Mediator Folke Bernadotte and UN Observer André Serot, were assassinated by members of the Jewish underground while driving on Rehov ha-Palmach.

The neighbourhood was home to the Hapoel Jerusalem football club from its foundation in the 1930s until it moved to the YMCA Stadium in the 1980s. In 2007, several dissatisfied Hapoel Jerusalem fans formed a new club, naming it Hapoel Katamon after the club's former home, although the new club does not play in the neighbourhood.³

Katamon houses several foreign consulates, most of which are concentrated on the eastern edge, including the Greek consulate, Italian consulate, and Costa-Rican consulate. At the very southeastern side is the |International Christian Embassy, Jerusalem, next to the site of the old Hapoel stadium. The Swedish consulate stands several houses down the street, in the Greek Colony neighbourhood.

Katamon also contains a large concentration of public schools in the city, with several primary schools and several high schools of different sizes. The Misgav Ladach hospital on the southern edge of the neighbourhood specializes in maternity care.

References

Bibliography:

• Sakakini, Hala: Jerusalem and I, 1987
• Karmi, Ghada: In Search of Fatima: A Palestinian Story ISBN 1-85984-694-7 Verso 2002
  • A country of the mind Guardian, Saturday October 19, 2002 (from Dr Ghada Karmi's memoir, In Search of Fatima)
  • In Search of Fatima Fateful Days in 1948 from Jerusalem Quarterly (from Dr Ghada Karmi's memoir, In Search of Fatima)

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