Hebron
It's really dumb to write about something two days later, but here I go. I went on a student center-sponsored trip on Tuesday to the Hebron, which is in the southern half of the West Bank, and arguably the second-holiest city in Judaism. It's home to the tombs of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs: Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob and Leah. Supposedly the cave Abraham bought is under the big half-mosque/half-synagogue there, and it's basically the Biblical land of Abraham. The tombs are housed in a large Herodian building which serves as a synagogue/mosque today. There's obviously no small amount of resentment between the Muslims and the Jews who pray there: the place is divided, with the Muslims getting the tombs of Rebekah, Adam and Eve (I think), and the Jews the tombs of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah and Leah. Since 1994, when an American Jew killed more than 30 Muslims in the mosque area during Ramadan services, Jews have not been allowed in the mosque. For ten days a year, Jews get access to all tombs, and Muslims for another ten days a year.
The city itself was visually not very different from East Jerusalem, Beit Jala or a lot of the towns we saw on the way there. Houses packed together, armed guards stationed at intervals, and the like. The thing is that there are maybe 900 Jews in the city proper, and over 100,000 Arabs. To say there's a siege mentality among the Jews living there is not an exaggeration.
Our guide was a perfect example. We met him after we visited the tombs. He told us some of the Biblical stories about the place, the belief that Hebron is the entrance to paradise, for example. His story about Abraham's insistence on purchasing the cave to bury Sarah in, rather than allowing it to be given him by the owner, contained some commentary to the effect that Abraham had some foreknowledge that his (and by extension the Jews') ownership of the land would someday be challenged. He bought it for full market value so that no one could challenge his or his children's right to it.
Once we had left the synagogue, we visited part of the Jewish settlement and saw the cemetery of the Jews killed in the 1929 massacre. The story goes that before '29, the Jews in Hebron refused British military protection, citing their good relationship with the Arabs in the city. But starting on August 23, 1929, Arabs killed 67 Jews in three days before the survivors got out and into Jerusalem. Even after they were buried, their graves were repeatedly desecrated. There is also another man buried there whose name I can't remember, but I know he was killed relatively recently, somewhere in the late 80s early 90s. He was shot by Palestinians for a reason I also can't remember. The guide asked us to join him in praying that God will no longer allow them to be attacked without response.
Basically, he wasn't very shy about his political leanings. Part of the story was of course missing. No motives on the part of the Arabs, either known or speculative, were given for the massacre, or for any killings that happened from then on. If relations were good between the Jews and Arabs in Hebron prior to 1929, what happened?
The drive back was very beautiful. I think Middle Eastern landscape looks best just prior to sunset. We also stopped at Rachel's tomb in Beit Lehem. As revered as the place is, it was rather small and understated.
The city itself was visually not very different from East Jerusalem, Beit Jala or a lot of the towns we saw on the way there. Houses packed together, armed guards stationed at intervals, and the like. The thing is that there are maybe 900 Jews in the city proper, and over 100,000 Arabs. To say there's a siege mentality among the Jews living there is not an exaggeration.
Our guide was a perfect example. We met him after we visited the tombs. He told us some of the Biblical stories about the place, the belief that Hebron is the entrance to paradise, for example. His story about Abraham's insistence on purchasing the cave to bury Sarah in, rather than allowing it to be given him by the owner, contained some commentary to the effect that Abraham had some foreknowledge that his (and by extension the Jews') ownership of the land would someday be challenged. He bought it for full market value so that no one could challenge his or his children's right to it.
Once we had left the synagogue, we visited part of the Jewish settlement and saw the cemetery of the Jews killed in the 1929 massacre. The story goes that before '29, the Jews in Hebron refused British military protection, citing their good relationship with the Arabs in the city. But starting on August 23, 1929, Arabs killed 67 Jews in three days before the survivors got out and into Jerusalem. Even after they were buried, their graves were repeatedly desecrated. There is also another man buried there whose name I can't remember, but I know he was killed relatively recently, somewhere in the late 80s early 90s. He was shot by Palestinians for a reason I also can't remember. The guide asked us to join him in praying that God will no longer allow them to be attacked without response.
Basically, he wasn't very shy about his political leanings. Part of the story was of course missing. No motives on the part of the Arabs, either known or speculative, were given for the massacre, or for any killings that happened from then on. If relations were good between the Jews and Arabs in Hebron prior to 1929, what happened?
The drive back was very beautiful. I think Middle Eastern landscape looks best just prior to sunset. We also stopped at Rachel's tomb in Beit Lehem. As revered as the place is, it was rather small and understated.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home