How would Arabs treat Jewish rights to visit their holy sites under their control? Look at Joseph's Tomb

If you ask J-Street or One Voice or John Kerry or any EU diplomat what a peace treaty would look like, the would all agree with the basic outline of Israel giving up almost all of the territory across the Green Line in exchange for a promise of peace.

"Everyone knows" that under any peace agreement the Arabs will end up controlling all of Bethlehem and all of Hebron and parts of Jerusalem. And "everyone knows" that under any peace treaty, the Arabs will agree to allow Jews to freely worship in their holy sites.

Just like Transjordan promised in 1949 in Article VIII of the armistice agreement with Israel:

2. The Special Committee shall be organised immediately following the coming into effect of this Agreement and shall direct its attention to the formulation of agreed plans and arrangements for such matters as either Party may submit to it, which, in any case, shall include the following, on which agreement in principle already exists: free movement of traffic on vital roads, including the Bethlehem and Latrun-Jerusalem roads; resumption of the normal functioning of the cultural and humanitarian institutions on Mount Scopus and free access thereto; free access to the Holy Places and cultural institutions and use of the cemetery on the Mount of Olives; resumption of operation of the Latrun pumping station; provision of electricity for the Old City; and resumption of operation of the railroad to Jerusalem.

OK, so they broke that agreement for 19 years without any international concern. But surely today would be different! Surely today's Palestinians are more trustworthy than their Jordanian forebears!

Last night, a drama played out in Shechem (Nablus), virtually identical to a drama played out every month for the past few years:

Palestinian security sources told Ma'an that several buses loaded with ultra-orthodox Jews and settlers arrived to Joseph's Tomb escorted by more than 15 military vehicles at around 2:30 a.m.

They then performed religious rites at the holy site.

The sources added that clashes then broke out in the nearby Balata and Askar refugee camps between young Palestinian men and Israeli soldiers.

They said dozens of young men hurled stones at the Israeli soldiers who fired tear-gas canisters, stun grenades, rubber-coated bullets as well as live ammunition at the protesters.

Jews who want to worship at Joseph's Tomb - Jews who are not particularly Zionist - are forced to arrive in the middle of the night, in heavily armored buses, where they are pelted with rocks. The only reason they are not lynched outright is because the IDF is there to protect them.

This is what "free access to holy sites" looks like, today.

And since under any "peace agreement" Israeli forces would not be allowed to enter "Palestine" to protect the worshipers, Jews would have to rely on the "Palestinian" police to protect them against the mobs of Arabs who have been brought up on a diet of antisemitism and hate. That would last exactly as long as Transjordan's promises in 1949.

The diplomats and pundits don't really care about Jewish rights to their holy places. Hey,some of them are Jewish themselves, and they certainly don't care about them; Illusory "peace" is far more of a religion to them than actual Judaism is. To them the only Jews who care about their history and heritage are simply fanatics whose rights can be ignored.

They don't want to admit the truth about Joseph's Tomb, which is that it is the ultimate barometer of whether real peace is possible:

There can be no real peace between Israel and the Palestinians until Palestinians admit that Jews have rights in their land. There can be no real peace unless the Palestinian Arabs themselves guarantee, through their actions, that Jews are welcome visit these spots safely without any fear whatsoever.

Joseph's Tomb proves every month that such a peace is impossible. And the desire to sign a "peace agreement"  in a place where pure Jew-hatred is not only tolerated but encouraged is an exercise in self-deception.