Hours before US President Donald Trump lands in Israel, his close associate Mike Huckabee visited Joseph's Tomb late Sunday night.This is one of the most under-reported stories in the region. And it is not only relevant to Joseph's Tomb but to every Jewish holy site that would come under Muslim control in any "peace plan."
The former Arkansas governor, who ran against Trump in the Republican presidential race but was quick to throw his support behind the president, was accompanied by Samaria Regional Council leader Yossi Dagan.
Some 5,000 people visited the Joseph's Tomb complex, which is under Palestinian Authority control. Huckabee and Dagan were joined by Dagan's deputy Davidi Ben-Zion, Bayit Yehudi MK Bezalel Smotrich, GOC Central Command Maj. Gen. Roni Numa, Samaria Division Commander Col. Gilad Amit, and the Israel Police's Judea and Samaria District Commander Moshe Bareket.
"It's an amazing experience to have to come to this type of difficulty just to be able to come to a holy site for Jews and frankly even for Christians, who pay tribute to Joseph," Huckabee said.
"To have to do it in the dead of night, under armed guard, with the smell of tear gas in the air, burning tires along the route, it's a stark reminder (to how different) it is in the heart of Israel, where the Israeli government protects every Muslim that accesses their holy site," he added.
"In Judea and Samaria Jewish people do not have unhindered access to holy sites without having to go to extraordinary lengths in order to be able to access these places for prayer," Huckabee bemoaned.
Remember, Jordan ignored its signed agreement to allow free access to holy sites in 1949. Jews can only visit Joseph's Tomb when being protected by the Israeli army, something that would be impossible in a "Palestinian state." And anyone foolhardy enough to try to visit the site without armed escort in the middle of the night risks getting murdered.
The world pretends that any peace plan would take care of this. As we have see nit only in Jordan but in other Arab countries like Egypt and Algeria, Jews are barred from visiting holy sites even though the governments officially say they allow Jews to visit, Even in Jordan today, the ability for religious Jews to visit holy sites is severely limited to day trips.
Joseph's Tomb isn't a small story. It shows exactly what the most optimistic peace plan would mean for the Tomb of the Patriarchs, for Rachel's Tomb, and for the Temple Mount. All of those Jewish holy sites, usurped by Muslims over the centuries, would become forbidden to Jews.
Human rights groups and the UN who pay lip service to freedom of worship don't give a damn about the religions rights of Jews. Their silence over Joseph's Tomb shows how they would treat every other holy Jewish site.