(IsraelNN.com) Relatives of Rabbi Hillel Lieberman, who was slain by an Arab mob eight years ago, held a memorial for the rabbi at Joseph’s Tomb in Shechem Monday night. Rabbi Lieberman was lynched by Arab rabble when he went to Joseph’s Tomb by foot, just after it had been ransacked by the mob, in the opening days of the Oslo Terror War, in 2000.

Memorial ceremony at Joseph's Tomb for Rabbi Hillel Lieberman

The ceremony was made possible after a meeting held on the Erev Rosh HaShanah between Samaria Region Mayor Gershon Mesika and the IDF’s Samaria Brigade Commander Col. Itzik Bar to straighten out differences that had arisen between the military and Jewish residents on the issue of Jewish access to Joseph’s Tomb. Over the past year, Jews have been praying at the Tomb about once a month, with IDF protection.

The colonel was upset
After the last visit by Jewish worshippers, which took place on Sept. 4 for selichot prayers, Col. Bar told the leadership that he was putting visits to Joseph’s Tomb on hold because he was upset with them for not condemning the Jewish community of Yitzhar for attacking a neighboring Arab village. The residents attacked Asira al-Kabaliya immediately after a terrorist from Asira stabbed a nine-year-old boy and burned down a house in Yitzhar.

The service for Rabbi Lieberman was held at 3:00 a.m. Monday morning because the military only allows Jews access to the Tomb in the wee hours of the night. The military commanders say that it is easier for them to secure the area in those hours.

In an effort to re-establish Jewish presence at Joseph’s tomb, Mesika has established a lobby composed of 25 Knesset members who called on the government to uphold the section in the Oslo agreement that cites the Jewish right to the Tomb.

Another visit planned
The Samaria Council is currently producing a film about the history of the Tomb, which it hopes will arouse public opinion in favor of retaking the holy site from Arab hands. Arabs regularly burn garbage and tires in the building that stands over the tomb. Its walls are covered with ash and the dome is smashed in. At a certain point after taking over the compound, the Arabs announced that they had turned it into a mosque. Later on, they tore it down and defiled it.

Besides the ceremony for Rabbi Lieberman, the military commander agreed to let residents hold a special event for the youth of the communities of the Samaria region in the near future. According to David Ha’ivri, who heads the Samaria Council’s International Liaison Office, the youth will be accompanied by a small group of American philanthropists who are participating in the effort to reclaim the Tomb.