PA issued Ultimatum on Hebron Wheelchair Access

The Palestinian Authority municipality of Hebron has been issued an
ultimatum to either work together with Israel to create wheelchair access to the Tomb of
the Patriarchs and Matriarchs or Israel will built it on their own. 



A plan to create an elevator and ramp for handicapped access to the ancient holy site
has been held up for years because the PA, which controls 80% of the city, is reluctant
to let Israel make any changes. 



On Friday, the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, the Israeli
body that oversees civilian life in Judea and Samaria announced, “the Ministry of
Defense and the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories are working to
find a solution for accessibility to people with disabilities to the Tomb of the
Patriarchs, and they see this as very important. A number of alternatives are being
examined in order to provide an optimal response considering the complexity of the
site.”



Representatives of the Jewish community of Hebron praised the statement and added that a
specific date should be set. “The Cave of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs belongs to the
people of Israel, and the state must ensure that every person of every religion can pray
there,” they added. 



The 2,000-year-old structure was built by King Herod the Great as a memorial to the
Biblical Matriarchs and Patriarchs buried in the Cave of Machpela underneath. Most of
the structure is used as a mosque under the control of the Muslim Wafq. The other
sections are used for Jewish prayer services. Each religious group is allowed ten days
out of the years for exclusive access for holidays.



The PA has been forceful in its narrative that the site is called the Mosque of Ibrahim
and should be accessible for Muslims only. Last year they petitioned the United Nations
to declare the tomb a Palestinian Heritage Site in Danger.

 

The planned elevator would be available to Jews, Muslims and any of the over 700,000
visitors who come to the site every year. 



A wide variety of elected officials this year have joined the call to create access for
the disabled. Mossi Raz, a former Member of Knesset from the left-wing Meretz party
called for wheelchair access. Despite being an ardent opponent of the Jewish community,
Channel 20 reported he sent a personal letter to the Palestinian Authority Minister of
Religious Affairs and to the PA mayor of Hebron asking them to approve the permit.



The holy site is accessible by a steep set of stairs and wheelchairs bound people have
resorted to using assistants to carry them up. Last year the former chief rabbi of
Israel, Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron was lifted up together with his wheelchair by several
people up the 60 steps.



The Equal Rights for People with Disabilities Law requires every public structure to be
fully accessible to the disabled, however it does not apply specifically to the Tomb of
the Patriarchs. The plans for an elevator take the sensitive nature of the historic
archtecture into account.

 

 

The Jewish sections of the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Matriachs are under the
jurisdiction of the State of Israel and local Jewish religious authorities. The Jewish
population of the city who reside in 3% of the city are Israeli citizens while the Arab
residents are part of the Palestinian Authority which has a separate
municipality. 

 

 

* Confirm
Accessibility for Disabled to Tomb of Patriarchs – Channel
20

* An
ultimatum to the Hebron municipality – Israel National News

* Ministry of Defense to
make holy site accessible to the disabled? – 93FM

 

 

* Justice
Ministry Gives OK to Expropriate Mearas Hamachpelah From Waqf
Control

 

 

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