Over 600 at Kever Yehoshua as Arabs Desecrate Site

Over 600 people jammed into the Arab village of Kifl Haris Sunday night, to visit the kever of Yehoshua Bin-Nun. Dozens of IDF troops were on patrol to prevent security incidents. B’chasdei Shamayim, the evening went smoothly, with no unusual events reported.

But before visitors arrived, IDF soldiers who were preparing the site found a swastika and anti-Semitic comments scrawled on the building surrounding the kever. There are other Jewish kevarim adjacent to Kever Yehoshua, and these were desecrated as well. The damage was cleaned up by soldiers, evoking the gratitude of Shomron Regional Council head Yossi Dagan.

“To live in the Shomron is a privilege,” Dagan said. “It is also a responsibility, to ensure the safety of our holy places. It is wonderful to see how many people come here, it is a place that touches at the deepest of Jewish roots among us. I call on the government to put resources into Kever Yehoshua, and enable even more people to come.”

The kever is located in an Arab village adjacent to the city of Ariel, but permission from security forces is required for Jews to visit it. Before the visitors arrived, security officials who were preparing the site for the visitors discovered anti-Semitic graffiti scrawled on the walls of the building, along with a swastika. Volunteers cleaned up the site before the visitors arrived.

Overnight Sunday, security officials said they arrested 6 wanted security suspects in other areas in Yehudah and Shomron. The suspects were wanted for participating in rioting and throwing stones and firebombs that endangered Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers. Several of the suspects were also charged with belonging to Hamas. All were being questioned on their activities by security forces.