Not the Israeli government, though. That would be Islamophobic!
No, the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Endowments in Hebron announced that the four mosques would be closed to encourage Muslims to all pray at the "Ibrahimi Mosque," the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron.
It announced the closure "in support of and strengthening the presence and endurance in the Holy Ibrahimi shrine and to counter repeated attacks."
When they say "attacks," they mean "Jews praying." Which means the official reason of closing these mosques is to promote antisemitism.
However, commenters on Facebook understood that the official reason was not the real reason. If it was, the PA would have made this announcement when Israel's President Herzog lit the first Chanukah candle there. Or for any of a dozen other reasons before now. Why this week?
The real reason is because those mosques are Hamas strongholds! Hamas planned a demonstration today after prayers at one of those mosques to celebrate the 34th anniversary of its launch.
The PA wanted to stop the Hamas rally, but admitting that is the goal would be divisive and look bad. So instead the PA chose to use as an excuse the only point of unity between virtually all Palestinians: hating Jews.
This one incident - the PA arbitrarily closing mosques, the official reason being antisemitism, and the real reason being a passive aggressive attack on its political rival - is a microcosm of the reality of Palestinian politics. It isn't an anomaly; this sort of stuff happens every day. But Western journalists don't bother telling their audiences how dysfunctional, broken and hateful the PA is.
Because the incompetent, petty and Jew-hating PLO represents the "best chance of peace."
