Question. Will Palestinians Protect Freedom of Religion and Holy Places in Jerusalem? by Mitchell Bard

...The consistent violation of agreements that the Palestinians have already signed regarding freedom of religion and the protection of holy places, in addition to the religious persecution and mistreatment of non-Muslims, provide ample practical evidence of why the international community should have grave concerns about giving the Palestinians control over any part of Jerusalem.

Mitchell Bard..
Algemeiner.com..
10 January '18..

For the sake of argument, let us assume that the Palestinians one day achieve their goal of securing a capital for a Palestinian state in Jerusalem. What would this likely mean for the residents and visitors to the city?

The hope would be that the city’s holy places would be protected and accessible — and that everyone would enjoy freedom of worship, as they do under Israel’s jurisdiction. But past precedent — as well as more recent Palestinian behavior — is not reassuring.

The part of Jerusalem that the Palestinians demand for their capital was under Arab control from 1948-1967. Jordan occupied the city and the West Bank for 19 years — and, curiously, the Palestinians never demanded an end to the “occupation” or the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. These demands only emerged when Israel — that is Jews — took control over the area. Palestinians have never been able to explain the nearly two-decade gap in their supposed longing for self-determination in the land that they speciously claim has been theirs since time immemorial.

Before advocating a redivision of Jerusalem, proponents should read the history of that period.

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Jerusalem - Whose Holy Sites are Under Attack?

Leo Rennert..
American Thinker..
01 April '13..

To hear Mahmoud Abbas tell it, Al-Aqsa Mosque -- Islam's third holiest shrine -- is under systematic attack by Israel. And not only Al-Aqsa, which sits atop Temple Mount, but all other Christian and Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem. Such was the alarm sounded by the Palestinian leader at last week's Arab League summit. In return, Arab leaders pledged a $1 billion fund to protect "Arab East Jerusalem."

Abbas followed up this Sunday during a trip to Amman, where he and King Abdullah signed an agreement to protect holy sites in Jerusalem. Again, Al-Aqsa was depicted as a prime target of Israeli attacks. But for good measure, the two leaders also professed to become protectors of all Muslim and Christian shrines in Jerusalem.

Not only was all this a bogus concoction since Al-Aqsa and all other religious shrines in Jerusalem remain open and under full Israeli protection. But conspicuously missing from all these supposedly threatened targets were Jewish holy sites in Israel's capital, where Temple Mount and the Western Wall are Judaism's most sacred places.

Somehow it escaped the attention of Abbas and King Abdullah that, if they really were sincere about protecting all sacred sites in Jerusalem, the only actually vulnerable shrines in Jerusalem and adjoining West Bank are Jewish ones.

Freund - Take Back The Holy Sites

Michael Freund..
jewishpress.com..
13 June '12..



Displaying their customary respect for Jewish holy sites, Palestinian vandals struck again last month, desecrating an ancient synagogue in Naaran near Jericho.

In addition to damaging priceless relics, the perpetrators spray-painted swastikas, Palestinian flags and political slogans, adding insult to injury in their hate-filled assault. The defilement of the site was discovered by a group of Israeli worshippers who visit it regularly to maintain a Jewish presence in the area.

The synagogue in question was built more than 1,500 years ago, predating the establishment of Islam and serving as tangible proof that the Jewish presence in the Land of Israel preceded that of our foes. Indeed, perhaps that is one of the reasons why the Palestinians attacked it. After all, the Naaran synagogue gives the lie to their dubious claim to the land.

Needless to say, this latest outrage received virtually no coverage in the mainstream press. Only a handful of Israeli news outlets bothered to mention it, and the international media showed no interest in sharing the story with their audiences.

Rubin: Palestinian police murder Jew who ‘sneaks in’ to worship

Jennifer Rubin
Right Turn
Washington Post
26 April '11


http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/palestinian-police-murder-jew-who-sneaks-in-to-worship/2011/03/29/AFVuyRlE_blog.html#pagebreak

Over the weekend one Israeli Jew was killed and four others were injured. The Post reported on Sunday:

Palestinian police opened fire on a group of Israelis who sneaked in to pray at a Jewish holy site in the West Bank city of Nablus on Sunday, killing one and wounding four others, officials on both sides said. Palestinian officials said that the worshipers, who were in three cars, had ignored warning shots after arriving in the early-morning hours for an unauthorized visit. The officials said that the policemen involved were held for questioning. The incident was under joint investigation by Israeli and Palestinian officials. The shooting occurred near Joseph’s Tomb, a site inside Palestinian-controlled Nablus where Jewish settlers and strictly Orthodox Jews arrive periodically to pray under Israeli army escort, in coordination with the Palestinian police. . . Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak issued a statement calling the killing “a murder.”

A chilling report from Ynet news service provided some detail:

One of the Breslovers who was in the second car in the convoy and was lightly wounded told Ynet: “We arrived at the tomb like on many occasions in the past. Near the tomb we saw a spikes chain. One of the guys jumped out of the car and moved it aside.


“At this point a uniformed Palestinian police officer with a Kalashnikov in a jeep woke his colleagues up and they started firing into the air. . . . I was in the front seat. We started driving fast in the direction of the tomb; we got out of the vehicles and kissed the tomb.


“When we got back to the vehicles the police shot at the vehicles, they were screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’. It was crazy, they were shooting to kill. I screamed at the driver to drive out of there quickly. When we got to Har Bracha we attended to the wounded.”

Many non-Israelis were surprised to learn that “groups of Breslov Hassids and settlers regularly sneak in to Joseph’s Tomb to pray in addition to those who arrive on the visits coordinated by the Israeli army, according to organizers of the authorized pilgrimages.”

The killing in turn set off riots. By the Palestinians. The Jerusalem Post reported: “Dozens of Palestinians rioted near Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus on Sunday following an incident in which a PA police officer opened fire on Israeli worshipers, killing one and injuring four others. The rioters set tires on fire at the religious site, Israel Radio reported. Settlers claimed that Palestinians vandalized Joseph’s tomb in the wake of the attack.”

Despite the high-profile incident and subsequent violence the Obama administration was mute. No statement from the State Department. Nothing from the White House. No doubt the administration would prefer to ignore the incident as it vainly struggles to revive the moribund peace process and dangles before the Palestinians the prospect of a divided or internationalized Jerusalem, where, of course, holy sites would be protected and full access guaranteed.

I spoke yesterday with Dore Gold, former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations and an adviser to multiple Israeli governments. He told me, “What makes the attack all the more glaring on the issue of Jerusalem is the comparison of all the reports about religious freedom in the Old City on Good Friday and Easter. Jerusalem works — only those who want to divide the city will undermine the freedom that Jerusalem now enjoys.” Indeed, under Israeli control, freedom of worship is protected. When the Arabs controlled the city, it was a different story:

After the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem was captured, the destruction, desecration and systematic looting of Jewish sites began and continued. 57 ancient synagogues (the oldest dated to the 13th century), libraries and centers of religious study were ransacked and 12 were totally and deliberately destroyed. Those that remained standing were defaced, used for housing of both people and animals. The city’s foremost Jewish shrine, the Western Wall, became a slum. Appeals were made to the United Nations and in the international community to declare the Old City to be an ‘open city’ and stop this destruction, but there was no response. This condition continued until Jordan lost control of Jerusalem in June 1967.


On the Mount of Olives, the Jordanian Arabs removed 38,000 tombstones from the ancient cemetery and used them as paving stones for roads and as construction material in Jordanian Army camps, including use as latrines. When the area was recaptured by Israel in 1967, graves were found open with the bones scattered. Parts of the cemetery were converted into parking lots, a filling station, and an asphalt road was built to cut through it. The Intercontinental Hotel was built at the top of the cemetery. Sadar Khalil, appointed by the Jordanian government as the official caretaker of the cemetery, built his home on the grounds using the stones robbed from graves. In 1967, the press published extensive photos documenting that Jewish gravestones were found in Jordanian Army camps, such as El Azariya, as well as in Palestinian walkways, steps, bathrooms, and pavement.

Gold also dismissed the notion that the victims were to blame for the shootings. “In the case of Joseph’s Tomb, perhaps the Breslaver Hassidim did not coordinate their visit, but that might be a basis for detaining them for a few minutes to ask some questions and letting them continue — but that is no basis for killing them,” he said. Moreover, he reminded me that the Palestinians’ behavior is contrary to international agreements. He observed that “the Palestinians undertook to protect ‘free, unimpeded and secure access’ to Jewish holy sites in the West Bank, including Joseph’s Tomb. The international community expects us or anyone else to rely on them for protecting Jerusalem? This is before they re-engage with Hamas!”

Indeed, experience and facts keep getting in the way of the Obama administration’s Middle East peace process. Murder, incitement to violence and the Palestinians’ continued violation of their own existing obligations suggest we are not on the cusp of a new era of Middle East peace. Could it be that building mother-in-law apartments in East Jerusalem isn’t the root of the problem?

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Enough blame to go around

Treppenwitz
treppenwitz.com
24 April '11
Posted before Chag



http://www.treppenwitz.com/2011/04/enough-blame-to-go-around.html

Early this morning several vehicles containing Jewish worshipers made a clandestine visit to Joseph's tomb in Shechem (Nablus). This kind of unauthorized visit to the Jewish holy site is not an uncommon occurrence, especially on the part of Brealev Hassidim, since according to the current security arrangements, only one nighttime visit per month is allowed... and then only to a small number of people.

According to published sources, there is currently a list of thousands of Jews waiting for permission to visit the site.

Because of this backlog, many Jews have become accustomed to visiting the tomb and adjoining synagogue under cover of darkness in the early morning hours; finishing their prayers as the sun comes up. This has been done largely with a wink and a nod from both the Israeli and palestinian security forces.

Until today, that is.

At about 6:00 AM this morning, several vehicles containing a group of Breslev Hassidim came under a hail of automatic machine gun fire, allegedly from Palestinian security forces. One worshiper was killed and several were wounded before they managed to make their way to an Israeli check point.

To my way of seeing things, this ludicrous, not to mention dangerous, situation has been deliberately allowed to develop by our leftist, anti-religious defense minister in much the same way that he has fostered the fallacy that the very presence of Jews within stones throw (and firing range) of Arabs is deemed sufficiently provocative to spark calls to remove the Jews rather than the stone throwers and shooters.

There is absolutely no reason why we should be meticulously maintaining access to Muslim holy sites (such as the Temple Mount) for Arabs, while Jews are routinely denied access to those same, and other, sites.

We'll leave aside my personal conviction that Islam is a modern, made up religion that flies in the face of all historical evidence, not to mention is incapable of coexisting with other faiths.

What really bothers me (aside from the wanton slaughter of innocent Jews), is the ongoing trend of discounting millennium old Jewish claims to holy sites in our own land, while holding as sacrosanct any and all Muslim claims and sensibilities, however modern and inconsistent with historical and religious texts.

The PA is calling this morning's murder shooting a "security event, not an act of terror". I beg to differ.

As I said earlier, both the Israeli and Palestinian security services are quite familiar with these unsanctioned early morning prayer visits, and have treated them as harmless for years. That the Palestinian police felt comfortable opening fire on these vehicles today indicates that they have received new orders.

I am so sick of Jews being arrested and assaulted for daring to move their lips in silent prayer on the temple mount. I am sick of our holy places having to be fortified like bunkers in order to ensure the safety of arriving worshippers (Rachel's tomb), and of Jewish life and property being deemed equally unworthy of protection by our own defense minister.

Jews praying at Jewish holy sites is not a provocation. It is not a security threat. It is not an obstacle to peace. Only the mindset of those who feel otherwise creates a climate where peaceful coexistence can never be achieved. And I include both Israelis and Palestinians in that accusation.

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Did We Really Condemn the Palestinian Call to Violence?

Jennifer Rubin
Contentions/Commentary
18 March '10

In his interview with Bret Baier on Fox News yesterday, Obama said: “And what we’ve said is we need both sides to take steps to make sure that we can rebuild trust, and yesterday when there were riots by the Palestinians against a synagogue that had reopened, we condemned them in the same way because what we need right now is both sides to recognize that is in their interests to move this peace process forward” (emphasis added).

But did we really condemn the Palestinian violence? On March 16 (the day to which the president refers), the State Department spokesman had this to say: “As we said yesterday, we are concerned about statements that could potentially risk incitement because we recognize that there’s a great deal of tension in the region right now. Today, you had Hamas say ‘Call for a day of rage.’ This is irresponsible.” No use of the word condemn.

At the White House, Robert Gibbs had this to say: “Well, again, as I said earlier today and as I said last week when asked about this, there are actions that each side takes that hurt the trust needed to bring these two sides together. The State Department reiterated — or I will reiterate what the State Department said yesterday about the deep concern that we have around inflammatory rhetoric around the rededication of a synagogue in Jerusalem. That’s not helpful on that side of the ledger.” And later there was this exchange:

Q: You partially answered this, but Israel claims over the years it’s tried to protect holy sites — Christian, Muslim and Jewish holy sites. Have you ever discussed this with the Palestinians and asked them to refrain from attacks on either people’s holy sites?

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