Mideast: young Palestinians set Joseph's Tomb on fire

 Hundreds of young Palestinians last night set parts of the complex of Joseph's tomb on fire in Nablus, West bank, according to Israeli media.
Palestinian security forces reportedly intervened and dispersed the demonstration, taking control of the site. The fire was then extinguished.
Yesterday, Hamas in Gaza called for a day of rage in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
News of the arson attack on the building hosting Joseph's Tomb enraged the Israeli government. Minister Uri Ariel (of the nationalist Jewish Home party) commented: ''the same Palestinians, while shamelessly lying when they denounce an alleged change to the status quo on Temple Mount, desecrate and burn a Jewish holy site''. Ariel asked Premier Benyamin Netanyahu to order the army to gain control of the building.

The attack on the Tomb of Joseph reminds of ''actions carried out by the most extremist Islamic factions, from Afghanistan to Libya'', said the director general of the Israeli foreign ministry, Dore Gold, condemning an attack ''carried out only because it is a place where Jews pray''. According to Gold, the fact shows ''what would happen if holy sites in Jerusalem were in the hands of the Palestinian leadership''. ''Only Israel can protect'' everybody's holy places in Jerusalem.

According to Jewish tradition, the Tomb of Saint Joseph in Nablus belongs to the Biblical figure of the son of Jacob and Rachel who became an influential adviser of Egypt's Pharaoh.