PA cracks down on Nabi Mousa to protect image of defending holy sites

• Author: KHALED ABU TOAMEH
• Date: 07 January 2021
• Published date: 07 January 2021

The officers, from various branches of the Palestinian security forces, were dispatched to the site on the direct instructions of PA President Mahmoud Abbas in the aftermath of the controversy surrounding a music event held there by Palestinian DJ Sama Abdulhadi and a small group of young men and women.

The renovation work was part of the PA leadership's measures to offset damage to its reputation and credibility in light of the public outcry on social media surrounding the circumstances of the controversial rave.

By all accounts, the PA's handling of the issue, from beginning to the end, was utterly disastrous.

On the one hand, the PA government's actions confirmed long-standing allegations that it is an undemocratic regime, one that does not hesitate, for example, to imprison a young woman for holding a music party.

On the other hand, the Nabi Musa incident illustrated the PA's fear of popular opprobrium, especially when it is related to Islam and Muslim holy sites.

The "scandal" exploded two weeks ago when a number of east Jerusalem men who were on their way back from Jericho decided to visit Nabi Musa, which includes, among other things, a guesthouse and a mosque.

Upon entering the site, the men were surprised to see Abdulhadi and her friends dancing to the sounds of techno music. After threatening the partygoers and expelling them from the place, some of the men posted videos on Facebook accusing Abdulhadi and her friends of "desecrating" the Muslim religious site. The men claimed that they saw "naked women" and "alcohol" at the party, prompting widespread criticism from thousands of Palestinians. This claim, of course, was completely baseless.

Most of the criticism was directed toward the PA, whose Ministry of Tourism had given a written permit for holding the event. Alarmed by the furor, the PA immediately instructed its security forced to arrest Abdulhadi.

The last thing the PA wanted was to be seen as having been complicit in the "desecration" of a mosque. This is the kind of stuff that plays into the hands of the PA's critics and political foes, particularly Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

The arrest of Abdulhadi and the PA government's decision to form a commission of inquiry into the incident, however, did not put an end to the wave of condemnations and protests, which moved from social media platforms to the site itself. For several days after the party, hundreds of men from east Jerusalem and the West Bank converged on Nabi Musa to "save" the mosque...