The appropriation of Simon’s shrine as an exclusively Jewish site of worship marks a progression of national-religious claims over several sites that used to be shared (as well as celebrated) by multiple religious communities. These include Rachel’s Tomb (at the northern entrance to Bethlehem), Nabi Samwil (northwest of Jerusalem), and Nabi Rubin (south of Jaffa), a particularly important shrine, whose festival brought revelers from the central and southern townships of Palestine every August. The promotion of Jewish claims over joint communal shrines did not take place until two decades after the Israeli occupation of 1967. It coincided with the ascendance of nationalist ideological hegemony over religious parties (Degel haTorah, Shas, and other Mizrahi movements).
