JOURNALfor the STUDYof ANTISEMITISM

The Mosque at Rachel’s Tomb
Shalva Weil*
And Rachel died, and was buried on the way to Ephrath, which is
Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar
of Rachel’s grave unto this day.
—Genesis 35:19-20
The Biblical matriarch’s tomb, purportedly containing the bones of
Rachel, has for many years now been a bone of contention. Last month,
Palestinian youth hurled Molotov cocktails at Israeli soldiers guarding the
tomb situated on the outskirts of Jerusalem on the road to Bethlehem. In
February 2010, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had drawn up
a list of Israeli holy sites to be included in the UN Educational Scientific
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) National Heritage list. The tomb,
which is one of the holiest sites to Jews over the generations, was naturally
included in the list, but instead, in October 2010, it was declared a mosque
by UNESCO. Out of 58 member states, only the United States voted against
the decision; 12 European and African countries abstained.
The Tomb of Rachel marks the very spot where the Biblical matriarch
Rachel died in childbirth on the road to Bethlehem. Muhammad al-Idrisi,
the 12th-century Muslim geographer, wrote: “On the road between
Bethlehem and Jerusalem is the Tomb of Rachel, the mother of Joseph and
Benjamin.” The tomb has been the site of pilgrimage and prayer for Jews in
the Diaspora for more than three thousand years. Throughout the centuries,
Jews from all over the world visited the tomb, and sent funds to help
renovate and maintain it. It was such a revered site that even Jews in farflung
countries, as far away as India, longed to pray there and felt
connected to the place.
The tomb is of special significance to women, who used to pray there
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