Correcting the AP Wire Story Concerning Joseph’s Tomb

The AP wire story of October 8, 2000 about Joseph’s tomb contains a major factual error when it raises the question as to whether there is an absolute Jewish tradition as to whether Joseph is buried in Nablus(Shechem). The book of Exodus and all of Rabbinic literature through the centuries relate that Joseph’s coffin was personally taken by Moses out of Egypt at the time of the Exodus, and buried by Joshua when the people of Israel in Nablus when they arrived at the land of Canaan (Israel).

The AP graph to be corrected is:

“The tomb’s holiness is disputed, as tradition holds that the biblical patriarch Joseph was actually buried in Egypt; the connection of the site to Joseph is a relatively recent local Arab tradition also observed by some Jews”

The AP phraseoology, if it is not corrected, would downplay the newsworthiness of a Jewish holy site that has been burned to a crisp by the forces loyal to Yassir Arafat. This brings to mind the actions of Arab forces in Jerusalem who burned every Jewish holy site in East Jerusalem in 1948 – that included 57 synagogues, after which they went on to desecrate the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives. All this with the blessing of Arafat’s cousin, the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin El Husseini.

the writer is a media research analyst and the bureau chief of the Israel Resource News Agency