Tonight at 8 PM Israel time, there will be a ceremony dedicating a Sefer Torah (Torah scroll) to be used at the Ma’arat HaMachpela, the Cave of the Patriarchs where tradition says Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their wives are buried.
It is the second holiest site in Judaism after the Temple Mount.
The ceremony will include a concert. The money raised for the event is being used to provide vacations to families of children with cancer in Israel.
In response, Palestinian Arabs are now claiming that the site is the fourth holiest in Islam, and saying that the idea of Jews dedicating a Torah to a synagogue is a desecration of the site.
They are threatening violence.
The Hebron Waqf said in a press release: “Some Hebrew sites published a promotional video stating that the settlers will present at 8 pm on Thursday a Torah scroll to the Haram al-Ibrahimi Mosque with a concert.
“This attack is a grave violation of the sanctity of the Haram al-Ibrahimi Mosque and a dangerous precedent, and it affects the feelings of Muslims,” the statement said.
The Waqf said that “the occupation government has full responsibility for the visits of the settlers and their desecration of the Haram al-Ibrahimi Mosque, the change in its Arab Islamic features, and the imposition of punitive measures against it.”
The organization called on all international and human rights institutions, especially UNESCO, to shoulder their responsibilities towards the holy place, and to stop this “grave violation.”
In a veiled threat, the Waqf said “the occupation government bears full responsibility for what happens as a result.” Meaning that Muslims will riot.
The Palestinian Authority issued a very similar statement denouncing the event.
Ma’an published this video of a large tourist group visiting the holy site, whom they call “settlers,” in order to inflame Arabs to stop large numbers of respectful Jews and non-Jews from visiting the holy site.
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