PA: Israeli president’s lighting Hanukah candle at Cave of the Patriarchs is “declaration of war”
PA governor: Israeli president’s “invasion of” the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron is a “declaration of war”
PA: “Extremist” Israeli president “defiled” the Cave of the Patriarchs
Abbas’ advisor threatens terror, comparing Israeli President’s visit to Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount in 2000, which Arafat used as excuse to launch 5-year terror campaign – the second Intifada
Columnist of PA daily likens Herzog to Jewish mass-murderer Goldstein
The Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron is known to Muslims as the "Ibrahimi Mosque." It is the site where the Jewish patriarchs and matriarchs other than Rachel are buried as related by the Bible. Its structure housing the cave was built by King Herod roughly 2,000 years ago during the Second Temple period. After Hebron was occupied by Muslim Caliph Umar in 637 CE, the site was converted into a mosque. Islam co-opted the Jewish tradition regarding the site being the burial place of the patriarchs and matriarchs, and called it the "Ibrahimi Mosque" after Abraham.
Today, the PA claims the Cave is a holy place for Muslims alone and considers any Jewish presence there a “defilement.”
Thus, when Israeli President Isaac Herzog visited the Cave a few days ago and lit a candelabra to celebrate Hanukkah - the Jewish Festival of Lights - in PA terms the president “broke into the Ibrahimi Mosque and defiled it,” an act tantamount to a “declaration of war.”
A PA governor stated Herzog’s “invasion” of the Cave was “a declaration of war”:
PA TV’s caption on screen throughout broadcast: “President of the occupation state Isaac Herzog invaded the Ibrahimi Mosque”
Hebron District Governor Jabrin Al-Bakri: “This day is a declaration of war by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people and the Muslims through the invasion of the noble Ibrahimi Mosque (i.e., the Cave of the Patriarchs).”
[Official PA TV, Nov. 28, 2021]
Official PA TV called Herzog an “extremist,” who “defiled” the Cave:
Official PA TV reporter: “The Hebrew media published the video from the noble Ibrahimi Mosque (i.e., the Cave of the Patriarchs), and we saw the most prominent extremist settler leaders in Hebron as they accompanied this extremist [Israeli President Isaac Herzog] and defiled the noble Ibrahimi Mosque.”
[Official PA TV, Nov. 28, 2021]
Not surprisingly, Herzog’s supposed “defilement” of the Cave was a consistent theme in PA officials’ condemnations of the visit – in line with the PA’s antisemitic description of Jewish presence at sites holy to both Jews and Muslims as “defilement.”
Blaming Herzog for “defiling” the Cave and “deliberately provoking millions of Arabs and Muslims,” PA Chairman Abbas’ advisor and Supreme Shari’ah Judge Mahmoud Al-Habbash implicitly threatened Israel with terror. Stressing that “the break-in will have most severe and hard consequences, for which the occupation state will bear full responsibility,” Al-Habbash compared Herzog to Ariel Sharon (then an MP with the opposition) and his visit to the Temple Mount in 2000, which then PA chairman Arafat utilized to start his 5-year terror campaign - the second Intifada - during which more than 1,100 Israelis were murdered in suicide bombings and other terror attacks:
“Al-Habbash said that Israeli President [Isaac Herzog’s] decision to break into the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron and to defile it … constitutes… a deliberate attempt to provoke the Palestinians’ sensibilities even more, and more than this – the sensibilities of millions of Arabs and Muslims…
The supreme Shari’ah judge added that this colonialist aggressive break-in reminds us of what former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon did when he broke into the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 2000, which caused the outbreak of a mighty Palestinian [second] Intifada (i.e., PA terror campaign 2000-2005, more than 1,100 Israelis murdered).”
[Ma’an, independent Palestinian news agency, Nov. 27, 2021]
The supreme Shari’ah judge also emphasized that “the Ibrahimi Mosque, like the Al-Aqsa Mosque, is a mosque that belongs to the Muslims only.”
[Ma’an, independent Palestinian news agency, Nov. 27, 2021]
Referencing the same statement, the official PA daily cited Al-Habbash as saying that Herzog’s visit was an “explicit aggression against Islam and the Muslims” and that “Herzog is following the footsteps of Sharon and lighting a fire that will not go out, as both of them have the same mentality and the same occupying and hostile barbarity against Islam and the Muslims, against Palestine and the Palestinians, and even against freedom and all of humanity.” [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 29, 2021]
Last year, Palestinian Media Watch documented that Al-Habbash called Israel's placing of a candelabra on the roof of the Cave “a war crime,” and a “desecration.”
Similarly, PA PM Muhammad Shtayyeh also issued an implicit threat to Israel, “warning against the severe consequences” of “Herzog’s provocative break-in to the Ibrahimi Mosque.” [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 29, 2021]
Already before Herzog’s visit, the PA Ministry of Religious Affairs heated up the atmosphere, “warning” of the impending “break-in” by Herzog, threatening “consequences”:
“The [PA] Ministry of Religious Affairs warned against the anticipated break-in by Israeli President Isaac Herzog to the Ibrahimi Mosque… [PA] Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs Husam Abu Al-Rub said: ‘This is a step that provokes the sensibilities of all the Muslims and Arabs, and a blow to one of our sites that are holy to Islam.’ He added that the occupation bears responsibility for the consequences of this step.”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 28, 2021]
A regular columnist of the official PA daily went as far as to compare Israeli president Herzog to the Jewish right-wing extremist Baruch Goldstein who opened fire on Muslims praying inside the Cave of the Patriarchs in 1994, murdering 29 and wounding 125.
“We and the world had the impression that Israeli President [Isaac] Herzog belonged to the moderate and peace supporting movement in Israel… Two days ago Herzog disappointed everyone when he broke into the Ibrahimi Mosque in the center of occupied Hebron together with the most extremist and fascist leaders of the settlement enterprise…
When the Palestinian side and the Israeli side signed the Oslo Accords in 1993, we – the supporters of peace on both sides – believed that we were leaving behind us the darkest chapters in the history of the conflict.
Even before the ink was dry on the signature, in the spring of 1994, extremist [Baruch] Goldstein committed the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre (see note below -Ed.). It was clear to [then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak] Rabin and [former PLO Chairman and PA President] Yasser Arafat then that Goldstein’s goal was to sabotage peace. The question we will now ask Israeli President Herzog is: Are you Rabin or Goldstein?
Until two days ago we thought that you were Rabin’s heir, as one of his fellow members of the Labor party, but we were surprised that you chose Goldstein and his black-hearted comrades.”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 30, 2021]
Two terror organizations, the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), also joined in, calling for terror.
Islamic Jihad warned of consequences similar to the second Intifada, stating that Herzog’s visit was “a hostile act” that should be met “with full force”:
“The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine emphasized that ‘Israeli’ President [Isaac Herzog’s] break-in… is a hostile act that we must all come out against with full force… Islamic Jihad Movement Spokesman in the West Bank Tareq Izz Al-Din warned against the consequences of these break-ins and held the Zionist enemy fully responsible for their results.
He warned the Israeli occupation and the entire world that the Al-Aqsa Intifada (i.e., PA terror campaign 2000-2005, more than 1,100 Israelis murdered) broke out in response to the break-in of [former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon, who bit the dust, into the Al-Aqsa Mosque in September 2000.”
[Ma’an, independent Palestinian news agency, Nov. 28, 2021]
The PFLP made the same kind of threats, calling to “resist the visit with all forms” – the Palestinian euphemism for violence and terror:
“The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) warned against the consequences of the visit that [Israeli] President of the Zionist entity Isaac Herzog is anticipated to hold today [Nov. 28, 2021] at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron (i.e., Cave of the Patriarchs). It called to resist the visit with all forms (i.e., term used by Palestinians, which also refers to the use of violence and terror) and full force in order to thwart its racist goals: completing the Judaization of the mosque…
PFLP emphasized that this step, with all its dangerous aspects and consequences, will only strengthen our people’s determination to continue resisting the occupation until it leaves all our land, and until achieving its freedom, its independence, and the return of its refugees.”
[Website of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Nov. 28, 2021]
PMW has also reported on the PA’s protests against Israel's installing of an elevator at the Cave of the Patriarchs to make the religious site accessible for the disabled – Muslims as well as Jews.
The following are longer excerpts of the statements cited above, as well as additional ones:
Headline: “Al-Habbash: The defilement of the Ibrahimi Mosque will have most severe consequences, for which the occupation state will be responsible”
“Supreme Shari’ah Judge of Palestine and [PA] President [Mahmoud Abbas’] Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash said that Israeli President [Isaac Herzog’s] decision to break into the Ibrahimi Mosque (i.e., the Cave of the Patriarchs) in Hebron and to defile it for the so-called Israeli ‘festival of lights’ [Hanukkah] constitutes a continuation of the racist Israeli aggression against our Palestinian people and its holy sites, and a deliberate attempt to provoke the Palestinians’ sensibilities even more, and more than this – the sensibilities of millions of Arabs and Muslims (refers to Herzog lighting a Hanukkah menorah at the site -Ed.)…
In a press release, the supreme Shari’ah judge added that this colonialist aggressive break-in reminds us of what former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon did when he broke into the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 2000, which caused the outbreak of a mighty Palestinian [second] Intifada (i.e., PA terror campaign 2000-2005, more than 1,100 Israelis murdered) …
He emphasized that this planned break-in will have most severe and hard consequences, for which the occupation state will bear full responsibility.
The supreme Shari’ah judge emphasized that the Ibrahimi Mosque, like the Al-Aqsa Mosque, is a mosque that belongs to the Muslims only. He noted that its identity will not change, regardless of what the occupation does.”
[Ma’an, independent Palestinian news agency, Nov. 27, 2021]
Mahmoud Al-Habbash also serves as Chairman of the Supreme Council for Shari'ah Justice. In August 2019 PA Chairman Abbas dismissed all his advisors by Presidential decree. It is unclear what their status is today.
The second Intifada – PA terror campaign (2000-2005) in which more than 1,100 Israelis were murdered.
Headline: “Herzog breaks into the Ibrahimi Mosque and the occupation suppresses a protest vigil”
“Supreme Shari’ah Judge of Palestine and [PA] President [Mahmoud Abbas’] Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash said that [Israeli President Isaac] Herzog’s break-in to the Ibrahimi Mosque (i.e., the Cave of the Patriarchs, where Herzog lit a Hanukkah menorah) is explicit aggression against Islam and the Muslims, and a blow to the sensibilities of millions of Muslims worldwide.
In a statement, Al-Habbash said that this day is an additional black day among the black days of the occupation and its barbaric racism. He added that Herzog’s break-in to the Ibrahimi Mosque proves that the colonialist mentality that dictates the Israeli policy is no different in the so-called Israeli left from that in the right, as they all believe in the same thing: occupation, settlement, colonialism, and barbaric aggression.
The supreme Shari’ah judge emphasized that Herzog is following the footsteps of [former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon and lighting a fire that will not go out, as both of them have the same mentality and the same occupying and hostile barbarity against Islam and the Muslims, against Palestine and the Palestinians, and even against freedom and all of humanity.
Al-Habbash added that the Ibrahimi Mosque, like the Al-Aqsa Mosque and all the holy sites throughout historical Palestine, is an exclusive right of the Palestinians.”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 29, 2021]
Headline: “Shtayyeh rejects Herzog’s claims regarding the Jews’ historical right to Hebron”
“[PA] Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh rejected the claims of Israeli President Isaac Herzog, according to which the Jews have a historical right to Hebron.
In a statement he issued yesterday evening [Nov. 28, 2021], Shtayyeh said that Herzog’s statements are an attempt to determine more false facts in the Arab-Islamic city ahead of Judaizing it, imposing rule over it, and subjugating its original residents to the apartheid regime…
Shtayyeh condemned Herzog’s provocative break-in to the Ibrahimi Mosque (i.e., the Cave of the Patriarchs; Herzog lit a Hanukkah menorah at the site) and warned against its severe consequences.”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 29, 2021]
Excerpt of a column by Bassem Barhoum, regular columnist for the official PA daily:
Headline: “Herzog is in the same boat with the extremists and the fascists”
“We and the world had the impression that Israeli President [Isaac] Herzog belonged to the moderate and peace supporting movement in Israel, and we all hoped for the best when he was appointed president. This impression continued when he held warm phone conversations with senior Arab officials and with [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas upon taking his position in July [2021]. Two days ago [Nov. 28, 2021] Herzog disappointed everyone when he broke into the Ibrahimi Mosque (i.e., the Cave of the Patriarchs) in the center of occupied Hebron together with the most extremist and fascist leaders of the settlement enterprise (refers to Herzog lighting a Hanukkah menorah at the site -Ed.)…
When the Palestinian side and the Israeli side signed the Oslo Accords in 1993, we – the supporters of peace on both sides – believed that we were leaving behind us the darkest chapters in the history of the conflict.
Even before the ink was dry on the signature, in the spring of 1994, extremist [Baruch] Goldstein committed the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre (see note below -Ed.). It was clear to [then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak] Rabin and [former PLO Chairman and PA President] Yasser Arafat then that Goldstein’s goal was to sabotage peace. The question we will now ask Israeli President Herzog is: Are you Rabin or Goldstein?
Until two days ago we thought that you were Rabin’s heir, as one of his fellow members of the Labor party, but we were surprised that you chose Goldstein and his black-hearted comrades.”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 30, 2021]
Cave of the Patriarchs massacre - Baruch Goldstein, a member of an Israeli far-right movement, opened fire on Muslims praying inside the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, known to Muslims as the "Ibrahimi Mosque," murdering 29 and wounding 125 on Feb. 25, 1994. Following the attack, which was widely condemned by Israeli leaders and Jewish communities abroad, the Israeli government took concrete steps to prevent similar attacks from occurring by dividing the area of worship into Muslim and Jewish sections and designating several extremist movements, including Goldstein’s, as illegal terrorist groups.
Yasser Arafat – Founder of Fatah and former chairman of the PLO and PA. During the 1960s, 70s and 80s Arafat was behind numerous terror attacks against Israelis. Although he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 together with then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and then Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Shimon Peres “for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East" after signing the Oslo Accords peace agreement, Arafat launched a 5-year terror campaign - the second Intifada (2000-2005) – in which more than 1,000 Israelis were murdered. Arafat died of an illness in 2004.
Headline: “The [PA] Ministry of Religious Affairs warns against the Israeli president’s break-in to the Ibrahimi Mosque today”
“The [PA] Ministry of Religious Affairs warned against the anticipated break-in by Israeli President Isaac Herzog to the Ibrahimi Mosque (i.e., the Cave of the Patriarchs) in Hebron today, Sunday [Nov. 28, 2021], in order to celebrate the Jewish festival of lights [Hanukkah].
[PA] Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs Husam Abu Al-Rub said: ‘This is a step that provokes the sensibilities of all the Muslims and Arabs, and a blow to one of our sites that are holy to Islam.’ He added that the occupation bears responsibility for the consequences of this step.”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 28, 2021]
Headline: “Islamic Jihad: The ‘Israeli’ president’s break-in to the Ibrahimi Mosque is a hostile act that we must come out against”
“The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine emphasized that ‘Israeli’ President [Isaac Herzog’s] break-in is part of the plans to Judaize the Ibrahimi Mosque (i.e., the Cave of the Patriarchs) and Hebron (refers to Herzog lighting a Hanukkah menorah at the site -Ed.). It said that this is a hostile act that we must all come out against with full force.
Today, Sunday [Nov. 28, 2021], Islamic Jihad Movement Spokesman in the West Bank Tareq Izz Al-Din warned against the consequences of these break-ins and held the Zionist enemy fully responsible for their results.
He warned the Israeli occupation and the entire world that the Al-Aqsa Intifada (i.e., PA terror campaign 2000-2005, more than 1,100 Israelis murdered) broke out in response to the break-in of [former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon, who bit the dust, into the Al-Aqsa Mosque in September 2000.”
[Ma’an, independent Palestinian news agency, Nov. 28, 2021]
Headline: “The Popular Front [for the Liberation of Palestine] warns against Herzog’s visit to the Ibrahimi Mosque”
The following is an excerpt of a press release issued by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine -Ed.
“The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) warned against the consequences of the visit that [Israeli] President of the Zionist entity Isaac Herzog is anticipated to hold today [Nov. 28, 2021] at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron (i.e., Cave of the Patriarchs; refers to Herzog lighting a Hanukkah menorah at the site). It called to resist the visit with all forms (i.e., term used by Palestinians, which also refers to the use of violence and terror) and full force in order to thwart its racist goals: completing the Judaization of the mosque…
PFLP emphasized that this step, with all its dangerous aspects and consequences, will only strengthen our people’s determination to continue resisting the occupation until it leaves all our land, and until achieving its freedom, its independence, and the return of its refugees.”
[Website of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Nov. 28, 2021]
The terms “all means,” “all means of resistance,” “all forms,” are used by PA leaders to include using all types of violence, including deadly terror against Israeli civilians such as stabbings and shootings, as well as throwing rocks and Molotov Cocktails.