Blog Post » Mustafa Barghouti on declaration of Hebron site as “Israeli national heritage site” (Originally published on The Palestine Note)
On February 22, 2010, I interviewed Dr. Mustafa Barghouti as he left the Ibrahimi Mosque in the West Bank city of Hebron. He came to pray at the mosque the day after Netanyahu declared the Ibrahimi Mosque/Cave of the Patriachs holy site as an “Israeli national heritage site”, and I asked Barghouti about the significance of this decision. Netanyahu included both the Hebron site and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem as “Israeli national heritage sites”. On the morning of the 22cd, clashes broke out between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers and continued for several days. The Israeli government’s claim of national ownership over two sites in the Occupied Palestinian Territories faced widespread condemnation from the international community, including the Obama administration, UN Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry, and the European Union. President Mahmoud Abbas warned that the Israeli nationalization of these West Bank heritage sites could spark a regional war.
Dr. Barghouti is a PLC member from the Palestinian National Initiative, or Mubadara, party. He is president of the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees and a nominee for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. His remarks on the significance of Netanyahu’s declaration are transcribed below.
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KR: I’m writing this article for the Palestine Note, based in Washington, D.C. and in the U.S. media how this event is often being reported is that Netanyahu is just making a declaration, that this place is important to the Jewish people and Jewish culture but of course you’re relaying something very different, that it’s actually an attempt to annex this area, so can you talk a little bit more about how it’s not just a declaration?
MB: Well you see, the whole idea of peace is based on a two-state solution. It means Israel should end its occupation of the occupied territories – including Hebron. When Netanyahu comes in and declares day after day that he’s annexing this part and that part – first he’s annexing east Jerusalem and then he’s annexing the Golan Heights and then he’s annexing now parts of Hebron and parts of Bethlehem – that means he’s killing the option and possibilities of a two-state solution.
And American people should know either they will allow us to have an independent state on this little tiny place and have freedom like everybody else, or we should say okay ‘let’s have one state with democratic rights for everybody’, with equal rights for everybody, and let it be one democratic state.
KR: And you’re saying that this declaration by itself is a precursor to annexation?
MB: (Nods) Its meant to be a provocation. First of all to provoke Palestinians here, especially four days before the anniversary of the big massacre that happened here by a crazy settler Baruch Goldstein against 29 Palestinians. But also it is meant to undermine, in my opinion, any possibility of peaceful negotiations. He knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s doing this to provoke a reaction to prevent any possibility for peaceful negotiations.
