Already long past time to reclaim Rachel's Tomb

...The Palestinians are renowned for the "tolerance" they show Jewish holy places. In the distant past they extended the Jews visiting the Western Wall and the Cave of the Patriarchs the same courtesy, and in the not-so-distant past they desecrated the synagogues of Gush Katif and Joseph's Tomb. Now it is the turn of Rachel's Tomb.

Nadav Shragai..
Israel Hayom..
16 February '14..

Hundreds of thousands of Jews visit Rachel's Tomb -- or her prison, to be more accurate -- every year. Our collective memory evokes images of a humble domed structure, resting in the shadow of an ancient olive tree on the outskirts of Bethlehem.

But the reality is strikingly different. Approaching the area, a fortified compound, reminiscent of a military prison, towers over you. It looks nothing like the iconic image we know from books, painting and religious artifact, and certainly nothing like the new stamp that has recently been issued in its honor.

Fifteen years ago, the defense establishment charged across our landscape, bending historical and environmental values before security needs. The Palestinians, who storm the tomb with stone and Molotov cocktails on a daily basis, left it no choice.

The Palestinians are renowned for the "tolerance" they show Jewish holy places. In the distant past they extended the Jews visiting the Western Wall and the Cave of the Patriarchs the same courtesy, and in the not-so-distant past they desecrated the synagogues of Gush Katif and Joseph's Tomb. Now it is the turn of Rachel's Tomb.

Preservation vs. Palestinian-Arab Vandalism

So one might well ask: If the Palestinian Authority really is so devoted to in-situ preservation of antiquities in the Holy Land, why does it countenance attacks on Jewish heritage sites like Rachel's Tomb and Joseph's Tomb? Don't these despicable attacks violate the Oslo Accords and international law?

Leo Rennert..
American Thinker..
14 February '13..





The Israel Museum in Jerusalem is staging its most ambitious exhibition -- a massive archeological reconstitution of King Herod's palaces and burial site, including his elaborate sarcophagus.

Both the New York Times and the Washington Post devote lengthy articles to the exhibit, including prominent mention of Palestinian protests that Israel is appropriating artifacts from the West Bank that belong to a future Palestinian state.

The Times' headline reads: ''Anger That a Herod Show Uses West Bank Objects" (by Jodi Rudoren, Feb. 14, page A9)

The Post headlines its version: "In Israel's Herod exhibit, Palestinian see cultural theft" (by Joel Greenberg, Feb. 14, page A7).

Both articles provide a forum for bogus Palestinian charges that the Israel Museum is violating international law because the exhibit somehow assumes that the West Bank will always be part of Israel, leaving no room for a Palestinian state.

This is utter nonsense. Under the Oslo Accords, signed by Israel and the Palestinians, Israel is given responsibility for antiquities in the West Bank pending a final peace deal. The accords call for both sides to protect archeological sites and also allow for excavation.

What’s next?

Fresnozionism.org
30 October '10

News Item:

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) voted recently to officially declare Rachel’s Tomb to be a mosque. UNESCO director Irena Bokova had previously stated “concern” at Israel’s decision to treat the tomb as a heritage site.

The vote called for Rachel’s Tomb and the Tomb of the Patriarchs – the burial site of the other Biblical Patriarchs and Matriarchs – to be removed from Israel’s National Heritage list.

The Palestinian Authority has claimed that Rachel’s Tomb is holy to Muslims as the site of a mosque called the Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque. The PA [Palestinian Authority] demands control over both the tomb and the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hevron, as well as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem….

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Alexander Maistrovoy: Jews in the Holy Land ? What Jews?

Alexander Maistrovoy
Solomonia
10 March '10

Welcome to the Holy Land: Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi in Hebron, Bilal Ibn Ribah mosque in Bethlehem and Al-Burak Wall...

The Israeli government announced that it would include the Cave of the Patriarchs (Me'arat HaMachpelah) in Hebron and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem as part of a comprehensive plan to preserve Israel's national heritage and religious sites ("Moreshet"). The reaction of the Arab (and all Islamic) world to the decision has once again shown the real essence of the "Arab-Israeli conflict", which actually is the holy war that Arabs had proclaimed against the Jews.

Any conflict can be resolved if the conflicting parties recognize each other's right of existence. It becomes basically irresolvable if one of parties refuses to recognize the other. The key questions of borders, the status of Jerusalem and refugees are difficult but could be resolved in case Arabs recognized the right of the Jews to live in their land.

Arabs do not recognize it. All their policy, strategy, and ideology is directed to depriving the Jews of any connection with the land of Israel: virtually, and then physically to uproot the Jews from the history of the Holy Land. Jews have neither antiquities nor holy sites, they have no past. In other words, they do not belong to this land and have no right to exist at all.

It is this genocidal approach that is characteristic of Islam. Power and possession are inherent parts of religious attitude in Islam. This approach extends to all other religions, not only to Judaism. The idea consists in depriving other cultures of their spiritual base to achieve total physical domination over them.

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Why Palestinians Riot Over Jewish Heritage Sites

Moshe Dann
Frontpagemag.com
03 March '10

Last week saw an upsurge in Palestinian riots and attacks against Israeli vehicles in Gaza and the West Bank. What crime did Israel commit to invite the wave of violence? Israel’s government simply announced that it intended to honor the country’s heritage by including the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem in a list of Israeli national “heritage” sites.

The violence-fueled Palestinian reaction may seem entirely disproportionate to Israel’s offense. But a look at the historical background shows that it is not without grim precedent.

For several decades, Palestinians have been attacking Jewish worshipers at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the Tomb of Rachel near Bethlehem, and the Tomb of Patriarchs and Matriarchs, Machpelah, in Hebron. After the Oslo and Hebron Agreements in the 1990’s, attacks intensified.

To protect visitors to Rachel’s Tomb, a fortified building was built around the tiny, 19th century building that had been built over the tomb. That wasn’t enough, since getting to the building from the closest Israeli checkpoint, a few hundred meters away, exposed Jews to sniper fire and bombs from adjacent buildings along the road. A new road was built, therefore, surrounded by high cement walls.

Palestinian riots against the rights of Jews to visit holy and historic sites are nothing new. In Jericho and Gaza, ancient Jewish synagogues from the Talmudic period have been destroyed and are off limits to Jews.

In Shechem, Nablus , the site of Joseph’s Tomb, was attacked by Palestinian mobs in 2000, fire-bombed and destroyed. A wounded Israeli soldier inside bled to death while Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and his Defense Minister, Shaul Mofaz, negotiated with the Palestinian Authority.

(Read full article)
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Let’s Be Honest with the Palestinians

Jennifer Rubin
Contentions/Commentary
01 March '10

Obama’s now ill-fated Middle East policy has proved to be disastrous. The Israelis distrust him. Ths Syrians snub him. The Palestinians are contemplating another intifada, the pretext this time being Israel’s decision to include the Cave of the Patriarchs and Rachel’s Tomb within its heritage-protection program. Obama began his foray into the Middle East by declaring that it was essential to speak “honestly” with the parties and to say the same thing in public and private. Fair enough. But alas, he seems to have reserved all that honesty for the Israelis, for whom heritage programs, apartment buildings, and the blockade of Gaza are all taken as offenses against Palestinian sensibilities. Don’t aggravate them! Don’t inflame things! Israel is expected to forgo its legitimate interests, whether for security or cultural preservation, because the Palestinians apparently are incapable of accepting it is a normal state with normal concerns.

Not only does the perpetual stream of American complaints strike the Israelis (and others) as intensely one-sided and irrelevant to the core issue that prevents peace from breaking out of “process” and into reality, but it infantilizes the Palestinians, treating them as psychotic children and playing to their worst tendencies. The upcoming Naqba Day — the epitome of victimology — is explained poignantly here:

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Sorry, Serry, I Can't Tolerate UN Hypocrisy

Yisrael Medad
My Right Word
23 February '10

The Dutch term for hypocrisy seems to be either huichelachtigheid, schijnheiligheid or plain hypocrisie. I just want to make sure Mr. Serry gets my point.

Robert Serry is the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. I heard him almost a year ago. He has has expressed concern over Israel's inclusion of Hebron's Cave of the Patriarchs and Bethlehem's Rachel’s Tomb in the National Heritage Plan. He claims as a result of this announcement that there are

"heightened tensions."

The official source is here for this:

"These sites are in occupied Palestinian territory and are of historical and religious significance not only to Judaism but also to Islam, and to Christianity as well. I urge Israel not to take any steps on the ground which undermine trust or could prejudice negotiations, the resumption of which should be the highest shared priority of all who seek peace."

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