Religious site ransacked in W. Bank

By Kesava Menon

MANAMA, OCT. 7. Palestinian civilians and security men today took control over a religious site known as Joseph's tomb in the town of Nablus in the Palestinian-controlled part of the West Bank. The Israeli army unit that was posted at this site was pulled out late last night. Palestinian civilians who entered the site were reported to have vandalised it before Palestinian security men sealed off the complex.

The 10-day old confrontation between Israelis and Palestinians has reached a very critical phase with reports that Israeli soldiers posted on the northern border have opened fire on Palestinian refugees in Lebanon who tried to tear down a fence on the border between the two countries. At least one person was believed to have been killed.

Since the Israeli evacuation from Lebanon in May this year, many Lebanese and Palestinians had travelled to the border to throw stones at Israeli security men and jeer at them. But little damage and few casualties had occurred during those episodes. It is uncertain whether the Lebanese resistance will be reactivated on account of today's developments.

Israel's Deputy Defence Minister, Mr. Ephraim Sneh, told CNN that the withdrawal from the Joseph's tomb had been a tactical measure. Israel's defence planners had thought that it was difficult to maintain a small unit in the isolated position that the tomb was and therefore the move. There had been occasions in the last 10 days when Palestinian gunmen had exchanged fire with the Israeli soldiers inside the site.

At his meeting with the Palestinian Authority President, Mr. Yasser Arafat, in Paris on Wednesday, the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr. Ehud Barak, had agreed to make slight adjustments in the deployment of his troops so that the possibility of confrontation between them and Palestinians could be reduced. It is unclear whether the pull-back from Joseph's tomb was also related to this commitment. However, by pulling out their troops from the site, Israel has posed a political challenge to the Palestinian Authority.

One of the strongest arguments that Israel puts forward for its control of religious sites, especially the Al Aqsa/Temple Mount complex in Jerusalem is that only they can be entrusted to ensure that religious sites are kept open for the people of all the faiths that consider them holy.

Their argument is that the Palestinian Authority cannot be trusted to be as impartial. By now pulling out of Joseph's tomb and letting the Palestinian security forces take over the site, the Israelis have put the latter on the spot.

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Section  : International
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