Palestinians Decry Israel’s Latest War Crime: Providing Wheelchair Access to Holy Site
David Lange
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Even the Onion could not come up with this.
Palestinian leaders have described plans by Israel to install wheelchair access at the Tomb of the Patriarchs as “tantamount to igniting a religious war in the region and in the world,” and a “war crime,” and have called for a third intifada in response. The changes will make the site more accessible for Jews and Muslims alike.
In 2019 Israeli politicians unveiled a plan to install an elevator at the site in Hebron, known as the Cave of the Patriarchs to Jews, and the Ibrahimi Mosque to Muslims. For Jews, is the burial site of the Jewish Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and Matriarchs Sarah, Rebecca and Leah. Muslims also revere Abraham as the father of Ishmael
In May, the IDF issued an expropriation order for the site so that construction on the project could commence, making the ancient biblical site wheelchair accessible. The move bypassed Hebron’s Palestinian-run municipality, which opposed the project. The Palestinian Authority also opposed the project, denouncing it as “Judaization.”
Palestinian Authority Minister for the Civilian Affairs Hussein al-Shiekh tweeted in response, “today the so-called Israeli Minister of Defense signed a decision to confiscate [and] annex parts of the Ibrahimi campus in Hebron, which is a violation of the Hebron protocol, an end of the agreement signed between the PLO and Israel [and] a continuation of the #annexation project in the [West Bank and] #Jerusalem.”
Now it appears that the Palestinian leadership kept up the rhetoric in August, denouncing the plans as a “war crime” and incitement to violence.
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On August 8, al-Hayat al-Jadida reported that PLO Executive Committee member and Head of the Department of Human Rights and Civil Society, Ahmed Tamimi had said that a meeting planned for the following day was set to discuss the plans for the site, warning: “The Palestinian people doesn’t lack means to defend itself, its homeland, and its holy sites if the international community will continue to be negligent in upholding its obligations.”
He continued: “The Palestinians have sacrificed hundreds of thousands of Martyrs and wounded and over a million prisoners over the course of the conflict with the Zionist movement and its occupying entity. The Palestinian revolutions and intifadas throughout the generations are proof of the Palestinian people’s willingness to go to the furthest extremes in order to defend its right and basic principles.”
I guess one man’s war crime is another man’s humanitarian gesture.
Now watch them take this to the UN – and the UN condemn Israel for it.
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David Lange
