Arafat Orders Restoration of Joseph's Tomb

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat late Saturday ordered the restoration of a sensitive Jewish religious site in the West Bank city of Nablus that was destroyed by Palestinians earlier in the day.

Arafat has told Nablus Mayor Bassam Chak to fix the Joseph's Tomb on Sunday morning, Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Tayeb Abduel Rahim told the WAFA news agency.

Arafat said the PNA respects holy religious sites and the freedom of faith.

Rahim said Arafat's decision to restore the Jewish holy site in the Palestinian-ruled town demonstrated to the world people that the Palestinians are people of civilization.

Joseph's Tomb was a flashpoint of clashes between protesting Palestinians and Israeli forces in the past week. Earlier Saturday, Israeli army withdrew from the site and handed it over to Palestinian police. Shortly, Palestinians broke into the compound, setting fire to parts of the site and beginning to demolish the tomb.

Despite lack of historical proof, the site was believed by many Jews as the burial place of the biblical patriarch Joseph.

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