Just bite me, OK?!

A few days ago the Israeli government published its list of 'Heritage Sites' that were slated for cleaning, refurbishment and improved access to the public. 

Among the sites on the list are the Ma'arat Hamachpelah (the Cave of the Patriarchs; the burial place of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebbecca and Leah) in Hevron, and the Tomb of Rachel in Bethlehem.

These sites are among the holiest in Judaism, but are also important to Christianity and Islam because prominent figures in all of the three religions are buried there.

Needless to say, the Palestinians couldn't resist the opportunity to hold a riot, so they took Israel's announcement as a cause to burn tires, throw rocks and flaming bottles and attack soldiers and civilians.

Mahmoud Abbas, the so-called moderate leader of the Palestinian Authority announced that the Israeli move could embroil the entire region in holy war.  This corrupt puppet is supposed to be our best hope for an eventual settlement with the Palestinians.

Then the President of France declared that Israel's announcement could spark a third Intifada, a statement which once again paints the Palestinians as emotional infants; incapable of expressing discontent in any but the most violent terms.

Now the U.S. State Department has weighed in with the following statement:

"The [US] administration views the move as provocative and unhelpful to the goal of getting the two sides back to the table."

This, to me, was even more galling than the French statement.  At least the French seem to see the Palis for who they really are, a bunch of dangerous, violent children who are completely incapable of statecraft at any level.

But the U.S. seems to be completely ignoring the fact that Israel lacks a credible peace partner, and continues to insist that Israel unilaterally abandon any claims - territorial, political or religious - that might be at odds with the ever-changing Arab narrative.

Provocation?!  What about the fact that Rachel's Tomb is now housed inside a concrete bunker and can be reached only by armored bus?  What about the fact that nearly every week some Palestinian either attacks Jews near the Ma'arat Hamachpela, or is arrested with a weapon or explosive before he/she can do so?  What about the fact that Joseph's tomb has been burned and vandalized several times in recent years, resulting in the death of 8 IDFsoldiers? 

Why is it that we have to respect their holy places, but they don't have to respect anyone else's?

Natanyahu correctly (IMHO) called the latest sturm und drang over the heritage site list "hypocritical', and went on to point out that Hebron’s Cave of the Patriarch and Rachel’s Tomb near Bethlehem, were both “gravesites of the ancestors of the Jewish people” and as such were “certainly deserving of restoration and preservation.” 

Where was France when lethal attacks near Jewish Holy sites became so common that a decision had to be made to place soldiers near them around the clock and allow access only by bullet proof vehicle?  Where was the U.S. When Joseph's tomb was destroyed?

The entire world came down on Israel when our antiquities department performed a salvage excavation in the Western Wall plaza while making repairs on the ramp leading to the Temple Mount.  They said that Israel was not showing enough sensitivity to Muslim concerns about its holy places and historical legacy.

But nobody seems to be disturbed by the fact that the Waqf (the Muslim trust that manages the Temple Mount) has been using back-hoes and bulldozers to rip up and discard priceless Jewish artifacts in the holiest spot in Judaism! 

I rode the bus yesterday with three IDF officers who are Muslim Arabs.  Show me an Arab/Muslim country with Jewish officers and soldiers in its army.  We have Arab Members of Knesset. Show me an Arab/Muslim country which allows Jews in its governmental bodies.   Arabs can live in Israeli towns and Cities but Jews can be arrested (or killed) for daring to enter Arab only towns and cities.  Heck, our 'partners in peace' even have legislation that makes selling land or property to a Jew an offense punishable by death!

The Palestinians are constantly raving about what is owed to the refugees who were forced to flee their homes during the 1948 war of Independence.  What about the approximately one million Jews who were forced to flee Muslim/Arab countries, leaving behind all of their land and property?  Strange how that questions is always pushed aside.

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  The Palestinians (and their supporters) don't want a Palestinian State alongside Israel, they want to destroy Israel by any means possible.  There will never be an agreement with the Arabs for the simple reason that they can't agree among themselves what they really want, and are incapable of agreeing to anything less than our complete surrender and destruction.

Islam isn't a religion; it is an ideological weapon... a time bomb spitefully planted by the L. Ron Hubbard of the Seventh Century.  Those who continue to make concessions to Islam's 'sensitivities' are only encouraging kleptocracies and thugocracies to become more brazen and dangerous.