Abbas Warns Of 'Religious War'

JERUSALEM — The Palestinian president warned Tuesday that the region could plunge into a "religious war" over Israel's plans to recognize a disputed West Bank shrine as one of its own national heritage sites.

Mahmoud Abbas spoke during a visit in Belgium, following an announcement by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the Cave of Patriarchs in Hebron earlier this week.

The Hebron site is holy to both Jews and Muslims. Jews revere it as the traditional burial place of the Bible's Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Muslims also see Abraham as their forefather, and control of the shrine is a flashpoint between Palestinians and Israelis.

Palestinians in Hebron rioted Monday to protest the Israeli decision, and tension there continued Tuesday.

After Abbas spoke, Nir Hefez, a spokesman for Netanyahu, denounced the criticism of the Israeli move. "This is a hypocritical campaign of lies," Hefez said in a statement, insisting that Israel is "dedicated to the freedom of worship of the members of all religions at all the holy sites."

Comments

[misaacm]

09:45 PM on 02/24/2010

If Abbas threatens war every time an Israeli politician makes a proposal he disagrees with, the Israelis might get the idea that Abbas doesn't want peace. I guess that he has been listening to those Mullahs the Palestinian Authority subsidizes (with our tax $), who declare Jews "sons of pigs and monkeys". I guess with a sex scandal threatening to bring down his government, he is looking for something to distract his people with.

[WBMD]

03:21 PM on 02/24/2010

The Tomb of the Patriarchs is the perfect example of why Israel MUST be in control of the Jewish Holy Sites.even

Hebron is the second holiest city in Judaism, after Jerusalem, and was the original Capital of the Jewish state, until King David moved it. It was a Jewish holy site before there was such a thing as a Muslim.

When the Muslims conquered the Middle East, they appropriated it, and the Tomb of the Patriarchs became the Mosque of Abraham. For 2000 years, Muslims have forbidden the Jews access to their synagogue inside of the tomb, restricting them to no higher than the seventh step on the outside wall if they wanted to worship.

After the Israelis won control of Hebron, defending themselves in 1967, they opened the shrine to visit and worship by all of any, or no, faith. Muslim sensitivities were respected by reserving large parts of the shrine for Muslim prayer only, on specific days. Abbas, the Palestinians, and their vocal supporters on these blogs are bleating for a return once again to those days where Jews were prevented from worshipping at their holy sites.

Why would anyone believe that that should happen?

[woodpecker4]

01:44 PM on 02/24/2010

Abbas arguments are irrelevant. 1947 Palestine belongs to the Palestinian.

[JustMeInNY]

02:08 PM on 02/24/2010

No it does not.

[GonzoFactor]

03:13 PM on 02/24/2010

Wishful thinking does not create reality.

[Durango]

01:35 PM on 02/24/2010

When the Muslims ran things they had a pretty good record of keeping shrines open to all faiths.

Tourist dollars spend very well.

[WBMD]

03:23 PM on 02/24/2010

Right. See: Joseph's Tomb; Church of the Holy Sepulchre; Buddhist statues; Hindu holy sites; access to the Dome of the Rock.

[Talossa]

09:07 AM on 02/25/2010

Absolutely not true. Under Jordanian rule Jews were banned from visiting the holiest site in their religion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Wall#Jordanian_rule_1948.E2.80.931967

[SiberianRat]

10:23 AM on 02/24/2010

Too bad Abbas' comments will fall on deaf ears--the Israeli government doesn't care about anything outside of its own dangerous ideology.

[AwakeNow]

12:57 PM on 02/24/2010

Agreed comrade

[WBMD]

03:24 PM on 02/24/2010

What does ideology have to do with opening holy sites, improving them, and allowing all access to worship?

[alysheba 3]

07:04 PM on 02/26/2010

You really need to look at a recent report regarding Israel's cracking down on other religions. You know, the intolerance.

http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=169435&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Then there is the spitting on Christians

http://jta.org/news/article/2010/01/17/1010205/spitting-on-christians-in-jerusalem-raises-eyebrows

And you want the world to think Israel will be tolerate of other religions?

Yeah, right. Whatever.

[Kandahari]

09:48 AM on 02/24/2010

Islam has a history of destroying other religious shrine and erecting their own on top. If you see India, many of the mosques are built over Hindu temples (Ayodia). But when those folks go t oclaim them they cry foul about how Islamic place of worship is being hijacked by others.

The lefties of the world continue to support the Islamists in such cases.

[Talossa]

09:03 AM on 02/25/2010

We had an eerie experience in Tiberias, on the Sea of Galilee. Next to our hotel there is an ancient, crumbling mosque. Since the Arabs abandoned Tiberias in 1948 there have been no Muslims there to maintain it. When we asked our guide why they don't just tear it down and use the land, he replied, "We don't tear down mosques."

[bpomer]

08:53 AM on 02/24/2010

israel has made all of the religious sites internationally available to all faiths. That is not true of Muslim control sorry truth. Lets be clear Abraham is important not only to Jews and Muslims but to Christians as well. The site should be universally open. Is the Dome of the Rock which was built on top of the most important Jewish site open. Can Jews get near it with causing riots. Muslims can go to Jew sites.

[Richard Pearce]

02:15 AM on 02/24/2010

For an article that goes into greater depth, and is pretty balanced, http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-02/24/c_13185291.htm

[infidel2]

05:41 AM on 02/24/2010

Thanks for the link, and yes it was fairly balanced.

[alexa07]

03:01 PM on 02/24/2010

It's a national disgrace that we can't have articles like this with more than one perspective in the US media.

[woodpecker4]

11:51 PM on 02/23/2010

Abbas term ended more than a year ago. Hamas is the only democratically elected government of Palestine.

[StCuthbert]

11:11 AM on 02/24/2010

When does Hamas' term end?

[Cleansweep]

01:53 PM on 02/24/2010

There is no state named Palestine. Hamas is in control of Gaza.

[riff4u]

09:53 PM on 02/23/2010

I have been to Hebron on several occasions. If you go to the Mosque of Abraham, on one side Muslims pray and worship, and on the other side the Jews pray. If the Israelis try to take the whole thing for themselves that would be a terrible blunder.........but perhaps they want to do this to cause more tension. The Israeli govenment thrives off this kind of dispute where the US evangelical community will rally support in Washington for more aid to the Isrealis who are being attacked by the Muslims.

[admarx]

10:48 PM on 02/23/2010

"If...if...perhaps..." Please do not base your arguments on hypotheticals. They aren't trying to take the whole site for themselves. Naming it a national heritage site allows it to receive funds for repairs, restoration, and improvements. Right now they are fixing up the Muslim side and hope to fix up the Jewish side. When it was under Muslim control Jews could ascend no higher than the 7th step. When Israel took control it was opened up to people of all faiths. You have it backwards, my friend.

[Progressneeded]

11:39 PM on 02/23/2010

Right! I love your justification. And what do you call evicting Palestinians out of their homes in Jerusalem? A revitalization plan!

[WBMD]

03:27 PM on 02/24/2010

The Israelis have been in control of the Tomb for 40 years, during which they opened it to worship by all. For the 2000 years previous, the Muslims excluded the Jews. Why would you begin to worry that Israel would "try to take the whole thing for themselves", at this point?

[riff4u]

11:28 PM on 02/28/2010

"For the 2000 years previous, the Muslims excluded the Jews." That's interesting since Islam is less than 1500 years old.

[Cynthia Rays]

08:17 PM on 02/23/2010

Having been to Hebron and seen what the Israeli settlers are doing to the local Palestinians, throwing garbage on them, harassing children on their way to school, closing all the shops in the market, and with israeli soldiers pointing weapons at anyone who wants to witness what is going on it is hard to imagine the designation of this area as a "holy site" . The problem in Israel/Palestine is really not about religion it is about power and land.

[JustMeInNY]

01:50 PM on 02/24/2010

Interestingly I have not witnessed what you have in Hebron less than six months ago. Strange.

[woodpecker4]

08:03 PM on 02/23/2010

Abbas is no longer the president of Palestine.

[almazza98]

09:44 PM on 02/23/2010

I really can't stand Mahmoud Abbas. He is so irrelevant.

[Talossa]

09:01 AM on 02/25/2010

Extremists can't stand him because he has turned the West Bank around and has made it an economic success story. The more economic success, the less appeal violence and extremism will exert on the Palestinian people, and the closer we will finally be to peace.

[chaimschwartz]

12:02 AM on 02/24/2010

He never was! He was the President of the Palestine Authority!!

[julian101]

07:02 PM on 02/23/2010

What a perfectly reasonable thing to fight over

[StCuthbert]

06:24 PM on 02/23/2010

Mahmoud Abbas, working for peace. What a guy.

[alysheba 3]

07:05 PM on 02/26/2010

Better than Netanyahu.

[WBMD]

07:08 AM on 03/01/2010

Really, alysheba. What specific offer or concession has Abbas made to further the peace process?

[Fight4Freedom2008]

05:36 PM on 02/23/2010

John Lennon said it best... Imagine