OLMERT ASKS ABBAS TO RESTORE JOSEPH'S TOMB

Humiliation: Olmert Asks Abbas to Restore Joseph's Tomb (IRIS blog)

Arguably the most humiliating incident in the Palestinian/Israeli peace accords has been Joseph's Tomb and the yeshiva that was housed on the site. The Oslo Accords placed the site under Israeli control, but Ehud Barak unilaterally withdrew after securing a Palestinian agreement to defend the site and insure freedom of access and Jewish worship. Instead, as the IDF was withdrawing from the site, Palestinian forces opened fire and one Israeli border policemen bled to death as IDF commanders fruitlessly negotiated with Palestinian security for an extended period to permit Israel to return to gather its wounded.

Later a Palestinian mob engaged in an orgy of destruction of the site, accompanied by Palestinian security forces. Multiple desecrations of the site ensued, and finally the Palestinian Authority turned the site into a mosque, as is traditional in the Muslim World regarding captured holy sites.

Minister Natan Sharansky was aptly quoted at the time, fruitlessly attempting to lobby Israel's Foreign Ministry to simply publish the photos of the atrocity:

If we would have razed the gravesite of one of the founders of Islam, billions of Muslims would have taken to the streets. It's inconceivable that the world should not know about this travesty.

Years later, Ehud Olmert has today asked the Palestinian Authority to restore the site:

Israel will ask the Palestinian Authority to repair Joseph's Tomb in Nablus, it was announced Sunday.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that he had instructed Defense Minister Ehud Barak to act toward the reconstruction and restoration of the tomb and that the issue would be brought up in an upcoming meeting between Olmert and PA Prime Minister Salaam Fayad.

Olmert made the announcement in a letter to a Samaria residents' committee that asked the prime minister to act on the issue in light of the poor conditions of the tomb and its compound.

Olmert wrote that "Joseph the Righteous symbolizes coping with crises out of faith and the ability to turn every situation into a tool which enables us to progress."

Olmert has a different conception of progress than most.