PA: Tomb of Jewish Patriarch Joseph is a purely "Islamic holy site" which is a "target for Israeli Judaization"
“Since the occupation of the West Bank in 1967, the Islamic historical holy sites have become a target for Judaization and falsification of the Palestinian history, and also for defilement and running wild under the protection of the Zionist occupation forces.
The situation of the Joseph’s [Tomb] holy site that is located at the eastern entrance of Nablus… is similar to the situation of more than 25 holy sites in the West Bank, which the settler groups are repeatedly falsifying under the protection of the occupation soldiers…
Under the cover of darkness and under tight military protection, hundreds of settlers invade Nablus almost every week on the pretext of prayers at the site known as Joseph’s Tomb and of holding their Talmudic (i.e., Jewish) rituals, as they claim that the bones of prophet Joseph, peace be upon him, are located at the site and that they have a historical right to it. Nablus historian Dr. Abdallah Kalbouneh… debunks the Israeli version and explains… that ‘the Prophet Joseph holy site’ was established on Islamic waqf lands (i.e., an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law; see note below)…
After the occupation of Nablus in June 1967, the holy site became a destination of the settlers for holding prayers and Talmudic rituals, even though it is an Islamic site registered at the Islamic Waqf Department.
Director of the Settlement Portfolio in the Northern West Bank Ghassan Daghlas said: ‘In 1986 the occupation turned the site into a Jewish yeshiva (religious studies academy), and at the start of the 1990s the tomb became a point of settlement. The situation blew up there during the [Western Wall] Tunnel Intifada in 1996 (see note below -Ed.), when seven Zionist soldiers were killed in the area.’
Daghlas continued: ‘With the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000 (i.e., PA terror campaign 2000-2005, more than 1,100 Israelis murdered) the area of the tomb was a center of confrontations, and a number of Palestinians died as Martyrs there (refers to terror attacks at the site, including its desecration and destruction by Palestinian rioters on Oct. 7, 2000, hours after Israel handed it over to the PA -Ed.). After the incident of shooting settlers in the area of the tomb in 2011 in which a settler was killed (refers to murder of Ben Yosef Livnat by PA Security Forces members; see note below -Ed.), the Israelis brought large stones in trucks, unloaded them at the site, and afterwards claimed that this is the grave – and this is documented.’ …
Daghlas thinks that Joseph’s Tomb has become 'an Israeli dagger in the city’s hip,’ and despite its location in densely populated territory, the settlers insist on organizing regular visits at the site under religious cover, and this is part of the Zionist policy that seeks to create a foothold for itself in every Palestinian city.”
A waqf is an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law. Palestinians define all of Israel as waqf, and thereby Israel exists on Islamic holy land. Palestinian leaders have explained that under Islamic law Muslims are commanded to free the waqf from non-Muslims.
The Western Wall Tunnel Intifada - Three days of PA terror attacks on Israeli civilians and military in September 1996, to protest Israel's opening an excavated tunnel adjacent to the base of the Temple Mount. The tunnel is an underground continuation of what is exposed today of the Western Wall. The terror was led by Arafat's security services.
The second Intifada – PA terror campaign (2000-2005) in which more than 1,100 Israelis were murdered.
Ben-Yosef Livnat – 24-year-old Israeli civilian who was murdered by three PA Security Forces members when they shot at his car as he was leaving Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus after praying there on April 24, 2011. Four other Israelis in the car were wounded. The terrorists were arrested by Israel in May 2013 after having each served a 1-year prison sentence from the PA.