4/28/11, Israel Today: Just days after Palestinians police officers murdered a Jewish worshipper at Joseph's Tomb in Nablus, an Arab mob once again set fire to the burial place of the Biblical patriarch on Tuesday. It is unclear if the riot was in celebration over the killing of 25-year-old Ben Yosef Livnat, as he prayed at the shrine on Sunday, or in protest over ongoing Jewish visits to the holy site. It is not the first time Palestinians have burned and desecrated Joseph's Tomb, which in addition to housing the burial place of the Biblical figure, is also the site of a small yeshiva. The so called "Oslo Accords" signed between Israel and Palestine in 1995 stipulated that Joseph's Tomb would remain an Israeli controlled enclave open to Jewish worshippers and religious students. However, at the start of the Al Aqsa Intifada in 2000, a Palestinian mob backed by Palestinian Authority police officers assaulted Joseph's Tomb, killing an Israeli soldier in the process. Israel subsequently surrendered control of the site on the condition that the Palestinian Authority would protect and maintain it. Instead, the Palestinians immediately destroyed the domed tomb and set fire to the yeshiva. Numerous times over the past few years, visiting Jews have reported signs of fires, swastikas, and other graffiti and desecration of both the tomb and Jewish prayer books. The repeated assaults on Joseph's Tomb have not deterred some Jews from visiting the site on a regular basis, but their ability to do so has become increasingly difficult. On Wednesday, the Israeli army arrested a group of 30 Orthodox Jews determined to pray at Joseph's Tomb. Army officials said they cannot guarantee the safety of Jews who enter the site.
In : Terrorism
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"palestinian police murder jewish worshipper" "palestinians burn joseph's tomb"