Thursday, May 3 ~ George Vasil
Today we visited Hebron. It is the largest city on the West Bank and the third largest in Israel-Palestine. In many ways Hebron is emblematic of the current Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.
Hebron, from the Old City, rooftop at Christian Peacemaker Teams building
Hebron is home to 120,000 Palestinians, most of whom are Muslim. There are 800 Israelis that live in a settlement in the middle of the town. They’re fairly recent arrivals and their presence has been an irritant to the Palestinian community. Hebron is in area A, as defined by the Oslo Accords. However, Hebron has two subdivisions: H1 and H2. H2 is under Israeli military control, and the Jewish settlement dominates, and H1 is Palestinian. Note: There are 1700 Israeli Defense Force troops present in Hebron to protect the settlers.
With Usama in the Ibrahimi Mosque, Hebron
Hebron is the home of the Caves of the Patriarchs, where Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob and Leah were buried. The site is sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims and for many years it was open to all faiths. In February 1994, the Jewish Purim coincided with Muslim Ramadan. An enraged American-Israeli shot and killed 29 Muslims and wounded 125 who were at prayer at the Ibrahimi Mosque that is present on the site. He was beaten to death by the survivors. Although his action was widely condemned by Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin and many Israelis and Jews around the world, some in Israel viewed the killer as a folk hero.
In response to the attack, the West Bank erupted in protest and violence. More Palestinians and Jews died as a result. The Israeli authorities reacted by closing the Caves for three months and banned Palestinians from several main streets, including Shuhada Street where many Palestinians lived and had thriving businesses.
Palestinian shops sealed shut. This street was formerly the gold and silver jewelry market.
Palestinian shops had their doors welded shut by IDF soldiers. Check points were set up in the city and IDF soldier patrols became routine. The Cave of the Patriarchs, which had been shared by the three faiths was divided. The Muslims were given 40% and the Jews 60%. Muslims may not enter the Jewish side and Jews may not enter the Muslim side. Palestinian Christians may enter the Muslim side but not the Jewish side. We were allowed access to the Jewish side but our guide Usama was not allowed.
Hebron, H2, settlement above the souk, seen through the grate protecting shops from settlers’ thrown trash
As we walked through Hebron today, we saw the closed streets and shop doors welded shut. We walked through the market and saw the lack of traffic. Above us we saw a wire screen running over our heads for the length of the market. In this area, the homes above the market are owned by Israelis who frequently throw trash out of their windows and into the market below. The wire screen was installed to protect shoppers in the market. But a wire screen doesn’t protect the shoppers from urine or other liquids that may be carelessly jettisoned from above. In one area, we saw where a large stone, launched from above, had torn a hole in the screen. What does this tell us about the attitude of the people living above the market toward those that are in the market?
It is no surprise that Yitzak Rabin felt that his failure to remove the Israeli settlement for the heart of Hebron was one of his greatest political mistakes.