For the past week, representatives of the Popular Palestinian Committees (PPC) have been urging West Bank residents to bury their dead in Israeli-controlled parts of the West Bank, identified as Area C.This is far from a new tactic. Arabs placed a cemetery around Rachel's Tomb - an area at the time otherwise deserted - in what seems to have been a similar strategy of replacing any Jewish connection to the Land of Israel with a fake Islamic tradition.
The plan has been endorsed by several ministers in the Palestinian Authority, who back the initiative as a way to influence conditions on the ground pre-final status negotiations, which at this point seem elusive.
The Intifada of Graves, the label given to the plan by proponents, has been called a land grab by some Israeli politicians, including the head of the Yesha Council, Danny Dayan.
The plan was revealed on Army Radio on Sunday morning, when it reported that the PPC was urging all Palestinian residents of Judea and Samaria to send their dead for burial in Area C.
Proponents of the Intifada of Graves believe it will be more difficult for Israelis to take control over parts of the West Bank in a final agreement if there are Arab cemeteries throughout the disputed territories.
It should be pointed out that Israel moved the graves from Gaza when they abandoned the area, and there is nothing stopping Arab graves from being moved if necessary in an agreement.
Any new Arab graves dug in Israeli-controlled territory outside of existing graveyards should immediately be exhumed just as they would be if they were dug in the middle of a public park or a schoolyard.