From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, March 17, 2021
Palestinian barbecue at ‘Joshua’s altar’ in West Bank angers right-wing group
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleA video aired by Channel 12 shows Palestinians having a barbecue at an archeological site in the West Bank that many believe to contain the biblical Joshua’s altar.
The site is sacred to Jews. It recently made headlines after Palestinian roadworks in early February caused damage to its outer wall. The mayor of nearby Asira al-Shamilya said the damage was inadvertent.
Told by the people filming that they are trespassing on a holy site, one of the men barbecuing says: “I don’t know anything about this being sacred. We want to eat. We’ll eat and clean afterward.”
מספר פלסטינים עשו היום על האש על המזבח העתיק בהר עיבל. הפעם לא גדר היקפית ולא טרסה – אלא ממש על המזבח. לטענתם לא ידעו שזה אתר מורשת, וגם כשהוסבר להם סרבו לכבות את האש והמשיכו בשלהם.
כל הפרטים מיד ב @N12News pic.twitter.com/M632VjjwMZ— ליה ספילקין | Lia Spilkin (@LiaSpilkin) March 17, 2021
Right-wing organization Regavim is outraged. “This is one of the altars most important to the Jewish people and they’re partying on it… there is an ongoing case here of contempt and disrespect for a site that symbolizes the ties of the people of Israel and the State of Israel to [local] history and heritage, and Israel is doing nothing about it.”
The Times of Israel Community.