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Jewish worshippers discover Samaria site spray-painted with graffiti calling for martyrdom; Mesika calls act "barbaric." Palestinians vandalized Joshua's Tomb in Samaria's Timnat Heres with Arabic graffiti overnight Thursday. Hundreds of Jewish worshippers, escorted by the IDF, arrived at the site which is located between Barak and Ariel, and discovered graffiti on surrounding walls which advocated martyrdom.

If you needed any more evidence that the Jewish left is really advocating surrender to the Palestinians instead of peace with the Palestinians, check out the reaction of the Jewish left to the Palestinian claim that Rachel's Tomb and the Kotel (Western Wall) are really mosques. There's been almost no reaction at all. Oh, the Jewish left has had their hands full with really important issues, such as defending the anti-Israel J Street sugar daddy George Soros, and letting Israel know how naughty she is for simply announcing plans for apartment houses in Jerusalem because that upsets the Palestinians and...

Israel on Sunday approved a plan to develop Jerusalem's Western Wall plaza which will cost 85 million shekels (about 23 million U.S. dollars), citing preservation of archaeological sites and the need to upgrade aging infrastructure as its main goals. (Xinhua/Yin Dongxun) Israel on Sunday approved a plan to develop Jerusalem's Western Wall plaza which will cost 85 million shekels (about 23 million U.S. dollars), citing preservation of archaeological sites and the need to upgrade aging infrastructure as its main goals. The plan, slated to stretch from 2011 to 2015, is a "direct continuation of a plan that was approved in...

Kings of Controversy Was the Kingdom of David and Solomon a glorious empire—or just a little cow town? It depends on which archaeologist you ask. The woman sitting on a bench in the Old City of Jerusalem, round-faced and bundled up against the autumn chill, chews on an apple while studying the building that has brought her both fame and aggravation. It doesn't really look like a building—just some low stone walls abutting an ancient terraced retaining wall 60 feet high. But because the woman is an archaeologist, and because this is her discovery, her eyes see what others might...

‘Muslim tolerance allowed the Jews to stand in front of it and weep,’ says Information Ministry official. The Western Wall belongs to Muslims and is an integral part of Al-Aksa Mosque and Haram al-Sharif (the Islamic term for the Temple Mount complex, meaning the Noble Sanctuary), according to an official paper published on Monday by the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Information in Ramallah. The paper, which has been presented as a “study,” was prepared by Al-Mutawakel Taha, a senior official with the ministry, to “refute” Jews’ claims to the Western Wall. In the past, PA leaders and officials have also...

JERUSALEM (RNS) The Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism, is actually a Muslim shrine, according to an official report published Monday (Nov. 22) by the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Information. The document, which was written by Al-Mutawakei Tahad, a senior ministry official and respected writer, states that the Wall -- long considered the sole surviving piece of the Second Jewish Temple built atop the Temple Mount more than 2,000 years ago-- is actually part of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, built on Haram al-Sharif, the Arabic name for the Temple Mount. Archeologists maintain that Al-Aqsa was built atop the ruins of...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the Palestinian leadership on Thursday to renounce an official Palestinian report asserting the Western Wall, one of Judaism's holiest sites, is not Jewish. Al-Mutawakil Taha, deputy information minister in the Palestinian Authority, published a five-page study on Wednesday disputing Jews' reverence of the shrine as a retaining wall of the compound of Biblical Jewish Temples destroyed centuries ago. The wall is adjacent to a politically sensitive holy complex in a part of Jerusalem that Israel captured in a 1967 war. The area, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as...

Large quantities of explosives have been placed in the Joseph’s Tomb complex in Shechem, preventing our forces now operating in Shechem from entering the holy site and liberating it once again from the hands of PLO militia forces. The IDF abandoned the holy site on 7 October 2000, in the beginning of the Oslo War, after soldier Madhat Yousef was permitted to bleed to death over a period of hours as the government negotiated with the PA to permit forces to extricate the army force and the gravely wounded soldier. Since that time, PA residents who immediately disgraced the sanctity...

* UNESCO has declared that Rachel's Tomb near Jerusalem is the Bilal ibn Rabah mosque - endorsing a Palestinian claim that first surfaced only in 1996 and which ignores centuries of Muslim tradition. * As opposed to the Temple Mount and the Cave of the Patriarchs which also serve as the location of mosques, Rachel's Tomb never served as a mosque for the Muslims. The Muslim connection to the site derives from its relation to Rachel and has no connection to Bilal ibn Rabah, Mohammed's first muezzin. * Rachel's Tomb, located some 460 meters south of Jerusalem's municipal boundary, has...

(IsraelNN.com) A team of Jewish workers accompanied by the IDF spruced-up two nights ago the tomb of the Biblical Joseph in Shechem. The restoration was performed by the Shechem Echad organization, which is responsible for restoring historic Jewish graves throughout Samaria. snip At present, the IDF usually allows access to Joseph’s Tomb once a month, but limits the number to 1,000 people. Due to the security situation, the IDF only gives limited advanced notice when Joseph’s Tomb is officially open to Jews. Due to a large waiting list, the Shomron Community Council also does not publicize extensively the dates when...

Following recent settler violence in the West Bank, the IDF Central Command canceled a number of scheduled visits to Joseph's Tomb in Nablus last week and says it will not permit any until the settler leadership forcefully condemns the attacks, The Jerusalem Post has learned. The decision was made by Samaria Brigade commander Col. Itzik Bar and was delivered to the settler leadership by Maj. Nehemia Hen, who is in charge of settlement security in the area. Jews have been allowed access to Joseph's Tomb since the beginning of the year in monthly visits coordinated with the Samaria Brigade. Each...

Two Breslav Hassidim and a settler, braving Palestinian terrorists, broke through an IDF barricade in Nablus Wednesday night and entered Josef's Tomb to pray. The three were arrested by the IDF as they left the tomb and were transferred to police for investigation. A special military directive forbids entering the tomb, which is in Area A, a territory under the complete control of the Palestinian Authority. An IDF officer in the OC Central Command said that large numbers of Breslav Hassidim and settlers who attempted to enter the tomb forced him to direct forces away from anti-terrorist activities inside Nablus....

Thursday, September 29, 2005 Wanton Destruction in Gaza Bodes Ill for the Future The torching of synagogues and the looting and destruction of greenhouses in Gaza doesn't bode well for a future Palestinian state if one is to ever exist. Indeed, the destruction of those synagogues makes it far more unlikely that Israel will concede areas with important Jewish holy sites in Judea and Samaria. The greenhouses, donated to the Palestinian people by wealthy American Jews who bought them from the former settlers, used to provide Israel with $60 to $100 million in agricultural exports annually. They could have provided...

Palestinians opened fire towards seven Breslav Hasidim who had entered the site of Joseph's Tomb in Nablus early Thursday morning without coordinating the visit with the IDF in advance. The seven Jews arrived in Nablus by illegally bypassing a number of roadblocks, Army Radio reported. Security forces who were alerted to the scene managed to rescue the Hasidim, who were brought in for questioning. Police requested that their remand be extended. In related developments, OC Central Command Maj. Gen. Yair Naveh met with residents from the Yitzhar settlement in the West Bank as well as with local rabbis in order...

Will the Real News Fabricator Please Stand Up? May 19, 2005 By Debbie Schlussel The Detroit News and its star reporter, David Shepardson, got caught with their pants down. They ran a fake story. But no-one noticed. No-one, except me—which lead to Detroit News Editor and Publisher Mark Silverman and his minions racing to hush the story and bury it, looking for some silent way to cover-up their very large, very exposed rears. They printed Shepardson’s phony story about a terrorist, and I exposed it, last week. Shepardson ran with it, without even a modicum of fact-checking (easily done with...

Seven Wounded, Two Seriously, in Joseph´s Tomb Shooting Attack 12:11 Dec 12, '03 / 17 Kislev 5764 Seven Breslover Hassidim were wounded very early this morning in a terrorist shooting attack as they were leaving the site of Joseph's Tomb in Shechem. Seven Breslover Hassidim were wounded very early this morning in a terrorist shooting attack. It occurred as they were leaving the site of Joseph's Tomb in Shechem. Two of the victims - Moshe ben [son of] Esther and Nachman ben Frieda - are in serious condition or worse, and are undergoing emergency surgery in Tel HaShomer Hospital. Shortly...

Oct. 16, 2003 Palestinians set fire to Joseph's Tomb By MARGOT DUDKEVITCH Joseph's Tomb set on fire Photo: AP Advertisement The IDF permitted hundreds of Jewish worshippers access to Joseph's Tomb in Nablus to pray at the shrine early Thursday. Later the worshippers left in buses accompanied by IDF forces who guarded them throughout the visit. Shortly after their departure a group of Palestinian youths arrived at the site and set fire to the shrine throwing burning tires inside the compound. The local Palestinian fire brigade arrived and extinguished the flames. It was the fourth time authorization was given to...

On Joseph´s tomb and the Temple Mount The government has still said and done nothing about the desecration of Joseph's Tomb in Shechem - and the army is not happy about it. Senior IDF officials say that the government's apathy is costing Israel a price in both the religious and security spheres. Lt.-Col. Rabbi Avi Ronsky told Arutz-7 that he has first-hand knowledge of the contacts between the army and the government in this area, and "the decision to do something about it is solely in the hands of the Prime Minister." Lt.-Col. Ronsky says that the PA interprets...

Silence about Joseph´s Tomb Desecration The government has still said and done nothing about the desecration of Joseph's Tomb in Shechem - and the army is not happy about it. Senior IDF officials say that the government's apathy is costing Israel a price in both the religious and security spheres. They feel that the PA interprets it as a weakness of the Israeli military. Their recommendation is to repair the damage and to ensure permanent Israeli presence - if not of civilians, then at least of IDF forces. IDF officers showed Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz photos of the damage, which...