Riots over Israel heritage sites

Jeremy Last - Tuesday 23rd February 2010


Rioting broke out in Hebron this week after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced controversial plans to include an ancient Jewish tomb in the West Bank city on a new list of national heritage sites.

When Netanyahu first revealed details of the heritage programme at the Herzliya Conference earlier this month he made no mention of the Cave of the Patriachs, the centuries-old site where Jewish tradition holds that Biblical characters Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were buried.

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However, the premier is believed to have given in to demands from coalition partner Shas, the ultra-Orthodox party, in order to try and ensure the Jewish history of the location will be upheld, even though Hebron is considered to be part of a future Palestinian state.

The news prompted local Palestinians to burn tires and hurl stones and Israeli soldiers on Sunday, in protest against the proposed move.

The heritage list was approved at a special cabinet meeting held on Sunday morning in Tel Hai, the Galilee town where Jews and Arabs fought battles in the 1920s.

Also included on the list and adding to the controversy was Rachel's Tomb, a small grave site in Bethlehem.

Netanyahu said the aim was to reconnect Israel's youth and new immigrants to the country's long historical past through an investment of some 400 million shekels in approximately 150 sites.

Two hiking trails will be created - a historical trail of archaeological sites from the Biblical, Second Temple and other eras in the history of the Land of Israel and "a trail of the Israeli experience that joins the main sites which relate the history of a People's return to its Land."

"Our existence here in our country depends not only on the strength of the IDF and our economic and technological might. It is anchored, first and foremost, in our national and emotional legacy," Netanyahu said at the meeting.

Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser has been charged with coordinating the heritage plan and on Sunday introduced a 50-page outline document explain its significance.

"A crisis in values is threatening our collective identity. A new generation of Israelis, for whom the Zionist experience is foreign, take their lives here for granted and is being raised in an environment of cultural shallowness with dwindling knowledge and spirituality. Zionism for them lacks charm and vitality," Hauser wrote. "Success in the values arena begins with the ability to tell the story of the link between the nation and the land."

While Netanyahu was hampered by criticism from right wing politicians and groups before agreeing to include West Bank locations on the list, he came under fierce attack from the left and the Palestinians after changing his mind.

Meretz chairman Haim Oron said the announcement was "another attempt to blur the lines between the State of Israel and the occupied territories,"

And Palestinian Authority spokesman Ghassan al-Khatib claimed the declaration is "a further step in violating international laws that consider these sites part of the occupied Palestinian land.

Meanwhile, settlers leader Dani Dayan welcomed Netanyahu's decision.

"Their omission was unacceptable. It made the list a political one and not a historical one," he said of the Cave of the Patriachs and Rachel's tomb.

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