PLO respects Oslo Agreement regarding Joseph's Tomb

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Text: PLO respects Oslo Agreement regarding Joseph's Tomb [though allowed it to be vandalized]

[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: One has to wonder about Gershon Baskin's sense of humor. He gets a PA official to claim in a letter that the PLO respects the Oslo Agreement vis-a-vis Joseph's Tomb when he knows that the PA not only allowed the holy site to be ransacked, burned and worse back in October 2000 - they allowed for gross elements of the carnage to remain at the site for many years following the attack.]

Palestine Liberation Organization
Palestine National Authority
Office of the President

18 April 2009

Mr. Gershon Baskin
Israel/Palestinian Center for Research and Information (ICPRI)

Dear Mr. Baskin,

The PLO sticks by the Oslo agreement as the framework for Israeli-Palestinian interim bilateral relations. Therefore, and since "Joseph's Tomb" is recognized as a Jewish Holy place in the Oslo Agreement, the PLO reiterates and respects what has been agreed upon in the Agreement with regards to that site. At the same time, the PLO expects that Moslem holy/historic places in the Ma'man Allah (Mamilla) Islamic Cemetery in Jerusalem be respected and not be removed under any pretext.

Yours sincerely,
Rafik Husseini

[Bureau chief to Mahmoud Abbas]


In Oct. 2000 Arab mobs ransacked the historical burial place of Biblical Joseph son Of Jacob. "Raising from the Ashes" is a short documentary film with detailed updates on Jewish efforts to restore Joseph's tomb (or Kever Yosef in Hebrew) to its rightful honor. For more details on how to have the full presentation shown in your community contact David Ha'ivri haivri@gmail.com