Rachel's Tomb: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia
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Line 2: {{Infobox ancient site |name = Tomb of Rachel |native_name = |alternate_name = |image = Bethlehem rachel tomb 1880.jpg |imagealttext = Line 38: |notes = Venerated as the third holiest site in Judaism }} '''Rachel's Tomb''' ({{lang-he|קבר רחל}} translit. ''Kever Rakhel''), also known as the '''Dome of Rachel''', ({{lang-ar|قبة راحيل}} translit. ''Qubbat Rakhil''), The earliest extra-biblical records identifying the tomb as the site of Rachel's burial place, date back to the beginning of the 4th century AD. The present structure, consists of two chambers. The domed chamber of the tomb was built by the Ottoman authorities.<ref name=CUP>{{cite book|author=Richard G. Hovannisian, Georges Sabagh|title=Religion and culture in medieval Islam|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=1999}}</ref> A second room, an [[antechamber]] serving as a mosque, was built by Montefiore in 1841.<ref name=Selwyn/> In 1947, the [[United Nations]] planned that the site should lie within an [[Corpus separatum (Jerusalem)|international zone]], however, following the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]], the tomb was incorporated into the [[West Bank]] which was subsequently annexed by [[Jordan]]. Israelis were unable to visit the tomb for 19 years until [[Israel]] captured it during the 1967 [[Six Day War]]. After the war, Muslims were reportedly prevented from using the mosque, and since 1993, Muslims have been barred from using the cemetery. The 1995 [[Oslo accords]] stipulated that Israel would retain control at the tomb{{Citation needed|date=January 2012}} and by late 1996, Israel enclosed the tomb with a fortified installation. In 2005, despite protests from local Arab residents, Israel enclosed the complex within the Israeli side of the [[West Bank barrier]], effectively annexing it to Jerusalem and barring access to [[Palestinian Authority]] residents. This move, together with Israel officially listing it as an Israeli Heritage site was criticised by [[UNESCO]],<ref>[http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/8F8CBDCA74D7D20385257721007157CF UNESCO, The two Palestinian sites of Al-Ibrahimi/Tomb of the Patriarchs in Al-Khalil/Hebron and the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque/Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem]</ref> leading to debate and criticism from within Israel.<ref name="www.jpost.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=194529 |title=Until 1996, nobody called Rachel’s Tomb a mosque |publisher=www.jpost.com |accessdate=2010-11-09 }}</ref><ref name="israelnationalnews.com">http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/140377 UNESCO Erases Israeli Protests from Rachel's Tomb Protocol, INN</ref><ref name="ynetnews.com">[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3976770,00.html PM insists Rachel's Tomb is heritage site], Ynet, 10/29/2010</ref><ref name="jpost.com">[http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=193447 Rabbi of Western Wall denounces UNESCO decisions] Jpost 10/31/2010</ref> The tomb is venerated by the Abrahamic faiths and is considered the third holiest site in [[Judaism]].<ref>[http://books.google.co.uk/books?cd=3&id=araFAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22rachel%27s+tomb%22+%22third+holiest%22&q=+%22third+holiest%22 Israel yearbook on human rights, Volume 36], Faculty of Law, Tel Aviv University, 2006. pg. 324</ref> It is also viewed as the symbol of the return of the Jewish people to its ancient homeland.<ref>Susan Sered, "A Tale of Three Rachels: The Natural Herstory of a Cultural Symbol," in ''[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=yaSzAAAAIAAJ&q=%22+contrast,+Rachel's+Tomb+became+explicitly+identified+with+%22&dq=%22+contrast,+Rachel's+Tomb+became+explicitly+identified+with+%22&cd=1 ''Nashim: a journal of Jewish women's studies & gender issues, Issues 1-2'']'', Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, 1998. "In the 1940s, by contrast, Rachel's Tomb became explicitly identified with the return to Zion, Jewish statehood and Allied victory."</ref> The shrine has been increasingly associated with fertility and many women go to pray there for a successful childbirth.<ref name="Shilo2005">{{cite book|author=Margalit Shilo|title=Princess or prisoner?: Jewish women in Jerusalem, 1840-1914|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=8JEPsiBVMOkC&pg=PA32|accessdate=14 January 2011|year=2005|publisher=UPNE|isbn=9781584654841|page=32}}</ref> For ==Biblical accounts and location== Line 125: A serious escalation occurred at the end of 2000 when the [[second intifada]] broke out. For forty-one days the tomb was attacked with gunfire. [[Fatah]] operatives and members of the Palestinian security services who were responsible for keeping order, not only failed to prevent the violence, they actively participated in it. Other religious sites in the area were attacked as well, including Joseph's Tomb in Nablus which was set ablaze and desecrated. Later Palestinian daily newspaper ''Al-Hayat al-Jadida'' published an article which read in part, "Bethlehem - ‘the Tomb of Rachel,' or the Bilal ibn Rabah mosque, is one of the nails the Zionist movement hammered into many Palestinian cities....The tomb is false and was originally a Muslim mosque."<ref name=JCPA/> In May 2001, fifty Jews found themselves trapped inside by a firefight between the IDF and Palestinian Authority gunmen. In March 2002 the IDF returned to Bethlehem as part of [[Operation Defensive Shield]] and remained there for an extended period of time.<ref name=JCPA/> ====Inclusion within West Bank barrier (2002–onwards)==== [[File:TOMB-GATE.JPG|thumb|250px|Gate inside the compound]] The Israeli government decided in September 2002, that the tomb would be enclosed on the Israeli side of the [[Israeli West Bank barrier|West Bank barrier]]. The short road to it was closed off inside concrete walls and firing positions. In 2003 the Rachel's Tomb Institute was founded. It provides a number of bullet-proof buses which travel each day to the tomb. The Israeli public-transportation system also runs a service to the area and approximately 4,000 people visit the tomb each month.<ref>[http://www.keverrachel.com/content.asp?lang=en&pageid=17 Rachel's Tomb Institute: The Tomb]</ref><ref>David M. Gitlitz & Linda Kay Davidson ‘’Pilgrimage and the Jews’’ (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2006), 235–239.</ref> Line 131: In February 2005, the [[Israel Supreme Court]] rejected a Palestinian appeal to change the path of the security fence in the region of the tomb.<ref name=JCPA/> Israel proceed to build walls and armed watchtowers around it. This construction effectively destroyed the Palestinian neighbourhood of ''Qubbet Rahil'' (the neighbourhood had previously been thriving and constitute 11 percent of metropolitan Bethlehem). Israel also declared the area to be a part of Jerusalem.<ref name=Selwyn>{{cite book|author=Tom Selwyn|title=CONTESTED MEDITERRANEAN SPACES:The Case of Rachel's Tomb, Bethlehem, Palestine|publisher=[[Berghahn Books]]|pages=276-278}}</ref> [[File:rachels tomb rehabilitation.JPG|thumb|220px|Renovation work, July 2011]] In February 2010, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that tomb, as well as the [[Cave of the Patriarchs]], would become a part of the national Jewish heritage sites rehabilitation plan. The announcement sparked protests from the UN, Palestinian officials, Arab governments and the United States. A [[United States Department of State|US State Department]] spokesman criticized the move as provocative and unhelpful.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/u-s-slams-israel-over-designating-heritage-sites-1.263737 |title=US slams Israel over designating heritage sites |publisher=Associated Press|date=2010-02-24}}</ref> Turkish Prime Minister [[Recep Tayyip Erdogan]] said the tomb was "not and never will be a Jewish site, but an Islamic site."<ref>[http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=170394 'Rachel's Tomb was never Jewish'], ''Jerusalem Post'', March 7, 2010</ref> In what has been seen as a response to Israel's announcement, the executive board of [[UNESCO]] voted on October 21, 2010 to include the tomb as a [[World Heritage Site]] and called upon the Israeli government to desist from attempting to unilaterally incorporate the site into Israel. They "reaffirmed" that the site in Bethlehem forms "an integral part of the occupied Palestinian Territories and that any unilateral action by the Israeli authorities is to be considered a violation of international law, the UNESCO Conventions and the United Nations and Security Council resolutions."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/executive_board_adopts_five_decisions_concerning_unescos_work_in_the_occupied_palestinian_and_arab_territories/|title=Executive Board adopts five decisions concerning UNESCO’s work in the occupied Palestinian and Arab Territories|date=2010-10-21|publisher=unesco.org}}</ref> Remarks made by the Israeli Ambassador to UNESCO were expunged from the record by the chairman of the session. UNESCO's ==In Judaism== | |||