AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to over 30 million articles from top publications available through your library.

Attack on Jewish shrine symbolizes death of hoped-for peace.

Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL)

| October 07, 2000 | COPYRIGHT 2000 The Chicago Tribune. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)Copyright

Byline: Hugh Dellios

NABLUS, West Bank _ Joseph's Tomb, a small walled-in, domed building where radical yeshiva students were protected by Israeli soldiers, was to Palestinians a lingering remnant of Israeli occupation and a symbol of the unfulfilled promise of Mideast peace.

Every morning, a busload of Orthodox students from the outlawed Kach movement would be escorted into the heart of this poor, gun-filled West Bank city, where they would defiantly take up their study of the Torah. To the Palestinians, the students' presence was a provocation, and the bitter interaction between them made the tomb a tinderbox waiting to explode.

And so it did shortly before dawn Saturday when the tiny Jewish shrine was overrun, burned and torn apart by a delighted crowd of Palestinian youth who moved in after the withdrawal of Israeli soldiers.

"They (the yeshiva students) would tell their children to spit on our children," said Usama Dwaikat, 38, a neighbor of the tomb whose children cowered on the floor during the chaotic fighting that trashed the area over the last 10 days. "If we let them stay here, it's war."

Like the army outpost protecting the Jewish settlement of Netzarim in Gaza and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem, Joseph's Tomb was the scene of some of last week's fiercest fighting because it was an aberration due to be dismantled in any permanent peace treaty between the Israelis and Palestinians.

In the past, the tomb was more of a Muslim shrine and picnic ground for local residents. But in the 1980s, it was turned into a yeshiva by adherents to the radical Jewish Kach movement, who lived in a nearby settlement and whose leader, Eli Rosenfeld, is known for describing assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin as a traitor to Israel.

Related articles from newspapers, magazines, journals, and more
Thousands pray at Rachel's Tomb. Worshippers fear Palestinian takeover of holy...
Newspaper article from: Jerusalem Post Herb Keinon July 28, 1995 700+ words
...remain in Israeli hands. The tomb itself was packed, with the...he came to the matriarch's tomb. "If we don't give respect...They don't have to worry. A Palestinian-Israeli solution can be found...idealized paintings of Rachel's Tomb - the white-domed building...
Palestinian President visits Zayed's tomb.
News wire article from: WAM - United Arab Emirates News Agency November 1, 2009 700+ words
...Dhabi, Nov 01st, 2009 (WAM)--Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen and his entourage, have visited the tomb of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. He was also accompanied by Palestinian Ambassador to UAE HE Khairi Al Oridi...
Rabin: New road to link Gilo to Rachel's Tomb
Newspaper article from: Jerusalem Post HERB KEINON July 26, 1995 700+ words
...control of Rachel's Tomb, since it was reported...Israeli soldiers inside the tomb, Palestinian police outside, and...road from Gilo to the tomb. Last week NRP faction...order to prevent the Palestinians from building on both...
Rabbinical Students Return to Joseph's Tomb
Newspaper article from: Israel Faxx December 2, 1996 700+ words
...s Tomb in Palestinian-ruled Nablus...soldiers and one Palestinian dead. Joseph's Tomb is the only...Jerusalem. Sixty Palestinians and 15 Israeli...At Joseph's Tomb, several Israeli...rioters and Palestinian police besieged...
Yeshiva head calls for enlarging Israeli area around Joseph's Tomb
Newspaper article from: Jerusalem Post HERB KEINON September 30, 1996 700+ words
...guard the tomb, and that Palestinian soldiers...depend on the Palestinians to guard...depending on the Palestinians." To do...control at the tomb has to be...taken over by Palestinian forces on...belonging to Palestinian Preventive...that the Palestinians who stormed ...
Decision on Joseph's Tomb in a few days
Newspaper article from: Jerusalem Post HERB KEINON December 13, 1995 700+ words
...preserved" at Joseph's Tomb. Under the agreement, Palestinian policemen will be...inside, and joint Palestinian-Israeli units will...access routes to the tomb. For security reasons...taken over by the Palestinians. Ofri said that...
Battle at Joseph's Tomb symbolizes discord in Mideast.(Originated from...
Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service Sipress, Alan October 2, 1996 700+ words
...hundreds of Palestinian protesters...Joseph's Tomb, a symbol for Palestinians of Israel...school at the tomb as tensions...Scores of Palestinian police tried...the crowd, Palestinian police opened...Joseph's Tomb was over...soldiers and two Palestinians lay dead...
Six fall in battle for Joseph's Tomb
Newspaper article from: Jerusalem Post ARIEH O'SULLIVAN September 27, 1996 700+ words
...1996 HUNDREDS of Palestinian policemen and...stormed Joseph's Tomb in Nablus yesterday...from inside the tomb at nightfall, when the Palestinian Police, under...column reached the tomb, most of the...and evacuated. Palestinian witnesses said...
For more facts and information, see all results
©2009 Gale, a part of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
About us | FAQs | Contact us | Privacy policy | Terms and conditions
Other Gale sites: Encyclopedia.com | HighBeam Research | Acquire Content | Books & Authors | Goliath | MovieRetriever | Smart QandA