Joseph's Tomb -- Updated to 2014

Arab mobs attacked Joseph's Tomb today. The first time that had happened was in the year 2000, on the same day as the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. The mobs killed one Israeli soldier, as it happened a Druze Israeli whose name was Yusuf, that is, Joseph. I wrote up the story and gave historical background here. One of the claims made by the Arab rioters and their supporters in 2000 was that the tomb was not that of the Biblical Joseph but of a Muslim holy man or shaykh also named Yusuf. One of the provisions of the ill-fated Oslo accords was that Israeli troops would guard Joseph's Tomb which is now located within the city of Nablus. I don't recall any Arab statement, official or otherwise, that explained why Arabs were attacking the tomb --literally trying to take it apart stone by stone after Israeli troops were withdrawn.

Arab mobs have again attacked the tomb. To me, the repeated attacks on the tomb by Arabs demonstrate that they see it as a Jewish holy place, not a Muslim holy site. Otherwise they would try to protect it, not harm it.

Times of Israel reported:

Palestinians tried to burn Joseph’s Tomb in the city of Nablus Sunday night, PA sources said. Palestinian security forces using tear gas prevented the rioters from the reaching the site, sacred to Jews, Christians, Samaritans, and Muslims.

Link to TOI article here.