Army repairs graves smashed in Muslim cemetery

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"The Israel Defense Forces has repaired gravestones in the West Bank village of Kifel Haras that were smashed and defaced Thursday night by vandals, who left behind graffiti in Hebrew.

The vandalism took place when a small group of Jewish worshipers gathered in the Muslim cemetery to pray at the traditional graves of the biblical figures Joshua and Caleb, after coordinating the event with the IDF. The visit was planned to coincide with the reading of the Torah portion Shlach Lekha, which describes how Joshua and Caleb were the only two Israelite spies who did not speak ill when they returned from reconaissance in the Land of Israel.

This is the third year in which the army has allowed Jews to pray at the cemetery, near the West Bank settlement of Ariel, after suspending the practice for several years due to the second intifada.

The event organizers condemned the vandalism but said those responsible were part of a small group that deviated from accepted norms, and that they wre spurred by past vandalism to the graves of Joshua and Caleb.

Minister of Science, Culture and Sports Ghaleb Majadele (Labor) called on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz yesterday to investigate the incident."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/869231.html