Israeli authorities within the Occupied West Financial institution are reportedly planning to grab management of the Ibrahimi Mosque, stripping the Palestinian-run Hebron Municipality of administrative duties over the historic holy web site.
Recognized to Jewish individuals because the Tomb of the Patriarchs, the positioning is positioned within the coronary heart of Hebron’s Previous Metropolis, which is dwelling to about 200,000 Palestinians and roughly 800 Israeli settlers who’re guarded by 1,500 Israeli troopers. It’s believed to carry the stays of the prophet Abraham and his relations and is thus thought of a holy pilgrimage web site for the three monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
One of many oldest prayer websites on this planet, the unique construction dates again about 4,000 years in the past to the Roman period. A Christian basilica was constructed on the positioning in the course of the Byzantine interval. It was transformed right into a mosque after the Muslim conquest in seventh century CE, integrating Islamic architectural options comparable to minarets. Within the twelfth century, the Crusaders captured the positioning and reworked it right into a Christian church as soon as extra. It was reverted to a mosque in 1187 when Saladin reclaimed the town of Hebron, however has been below Israeli navy management since 1967, when Israel occupied the West Financial institution.
The inside of the Ibrahimi Mosque in 2014 (picture Hrag Vartanian/Hyperallergic)
In 1994, Brooklyn-born Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein opened hearth on Muslim worshippers throughout daybreak prayers, killing 30 individuals and wounding greater than 125. After the bloodbath, an Israeli fee referred to as the Shamgar Committee divided the positioning into two properties, with separate entrances for Jewish and Muslim worshippers.
However like Hebron, the Ibrahimi Mosque has repeatedly been subjected to intrusions and restrictions imposed by Israeli settlers and forces, comparable to bans on prayers and closures of entrances for Muslim worshippers. Two years in the past, Israeli authorities equally seized management over the positioning to put in an elevator on the tomb — a transfer that was decried by each Jewish and Muslim worshippers.
The latest choice to grab management over the mosque was made earlier this 12 months when Lieutenant Colonel Ayman Bisan, who leads Israel’s Hebron District Coordination and Liaison Workplace, wrote to Hebron Governor Khaled Dudin threatening to take over the positioning if points with the construction’s roofing weren’t resolved. On this correspondence, Bissan mentioned that authority over the positioning can be transferred to the Nationwide Planning and Constructing Council, an Israeli entity concerned within the development of settlement building within the West Financial institution.
Close to the mosque in central Hebron (picture Hrag Vartanian/Hyperallergic)
Now, Palestinian officers are reportedly urging UNESCO and the worldwide group to step in and halt any execution of this new plan. Different governments, together with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, have additionally denounced the transfer.
“The Ministry considers this an unprecedented step in Israel’s ongoing efforts to assert sovereignty over the site, Judaize it, and alter its identity and historical features,” the Palestinian Ministry of Overseas Affairs mentioned in a press release to Center East Eye (MEE).
The ministry additional warned that the transfer can be a “blatant violation of international law” that would probably escalate tensions between Palestinian residents and Israeli settlers in Hebron, based on MEE.
