Hebron

For the last few days we have had a whirlwind tour of Hebron where I will be stationed for the next few months. The current Accompaniers have been doing an outstanding job introducing us to our responsibilities as well as to many families in the area.

The town itself is fascinating. It is one of the oldest cities in the world, and houses the tomb of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Leah. It is laden with history, which sadly makes it today laden with conflict. Its recent history (last 100 years) has been quite tragic, with two defining massacres which still weigh heavily in the consciousness of local people.

The first of these massacres occurred in 1929 during the British Mandate Period of Palestine. Rising tensions in the city over Zionist attempts to create a Jewish State in Palestine led to rioting. Sixty-seven members of the Jewish community living there were killed by Palestinian rioters, and the majority of the surviving Jewish residents fled the area for fear of further violence.

Shortly following the 6 Days War in 1967, Israeli settlers returned to Hebron to claim parts of the central district of the Old City. Over the next few years, several hundred settler families moved into this area.

In 1994, at the Morning Prayer during Ramadan, one of the settlers, Dr. Baruch Goldstein, entered the Ibrahimi Mosque (the alleged burial place of the Abraham, Sarah, and the other Biblical couples) and opened fire. He killed 29 Palestinian men and boys, and injured 150 others.

Following this shooting, riots broke out which resulted in the deaths of 25 more Palestinians and 5 Israelis that week. Curfews were imposed and some level of order returned, but tensions remain high and conflict regularly re-emerges between settlers, the Israeli military, and local Palestinians.

Currently, the areas surrounding the Israeli settlements have been blocked off and declared a security area. This has resulted in many roads which are now no longer accessible to Palestinians by car, or in some cases, even by foot. Since the settlement is in the heart of the Old City, the main street has been essentially abandoned, with the majority of its shops closed by the military.

The street now feels something like a ghost town; deserted and vandalized by the Israeli settlers. In areas where the shops exist directly under Israeli settlement homes, metal screening has been installed above the street to prevent settlers from throwing refuse and rocks directly onto the heads of passing Palestinians. To the left you can see the variety of articles it has collected since its last cleaning.

Walking these streets is a haunting and disconcerting experience. There is deep sadness in the way that violence and retribution diminish people to the point that they no longer recognize other human beings as human, or as worthy of even the most minimal respect.

The scars in this city are deep, but the city nor the people are dead. In the face of every form of injustice and humiliation, the majority of residents in this town resist violence daily and strive for a decent and dignified life. Many whom I have met have persisted on with great dignity and remarkable restraint.

I plan to share some of their stories in the coming days, but I thought a little background on Hebron might be helpful at this point. Hopefully more soon.