The cemetery occupies prime land, adjacent to "downtown" Jerusalem of cafes and fashionable restaurants. It is next to Independence Park, the hangout of the young beer drinkers who can’t afford the city bars. Hemmed in on all sides by Israeli establishments, it was a matter of time that the cemetery became a target for the construction frenzy of Jerusalem. The cemetery is ill-tended, no doubt, and some of its land was already sold by muftis past to the Israeli government. But what remains is still symbolic of Palestinian history and the ideathat it might disappear touches raw nerves. Known as "Maman Allah" to the Muslims, which evolved into"Mamilla" for the Jews, the area until 1967 sat on the border between Israeli and Jordanian-controlled sections of Jerusalem.