‘Hebron’ means ‘league’, ‘confederation’
or by extension ‘friendship.’ This is the place where Patriarch
Abraham bought a small patch of land to bury his wife Sara. Later it
turned out to be the place where all the patriarchs and matriarchs
except Rachel had their resting place. Today there stands the
Ibrahami Mosque (as the Muslims calls it) or the Cave of the
Patriarchs as the Jews would like to call it. Sibling rivalry begins
with names!
Abraham was a landless wanderer when his wife died
in this area. Though God had promised him the land to his offspring
he had none yet. Genesis 23 tells us the story of how patriarch
Abraham came to own the place called Hebron. The Hittites who owned
the land offered a burial space free but Abraham politely turned
their offer down. He wanted the burial cave owned by Ephron the son
of Zohar who also was so kind to offer the cave of Macpelah free of
cost. However, Abraham had to persuade him with the help of the
elders of the Hittites to sell it to him. Finally after turning down
the generosity of the Hittites, Abraham the sojourner bought the
burial caves along with the field and treess around for 400 shekels
of silver. Thus it legally the grave yard of the patriarchs and
matriachs. But which of their children have claim on this. The
siblings could not agree.
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| Ibrahami Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs |
The story of cordiality and friendship between two
distinct group of people is remarkable. It also is a story of
kindness shown to a stranger by the owners of the land. The story of
Hebron doesn’t stop there. It is from around this area that the
spies that Moses sent brought the produce of the land. It is the land
that was occupied by the giants called Anakim whom Caleb challenged.
Hebron which begins its history in the Bible with
friendship, cordiality and kindness had already turned in to a place
of violent confrontations and conflicts in the Bible times itself. In
modern times, it is symbolic of the tension between the two races who
trace their history back to Father Abraham—Arabs and Jews.
Sometimes in the fourth century AD, Helena, the mother of the first
Christian emperor identified the caves under the structure that King
Herod built as the caves where the patriarchs and matriarchs were
buried. It became a ‘Holy Place’ for the Christians. Then to cut
the long story shot during the days of the Islamic invaders a mosque
was built on the site. Thus it became the place of worship for
Muslims.
Among many violent incidents that might have hurt
the memory of Father Abraham is known in history as the 1929 Hebron
Massacre and the Ibrahami mosque massacre of 1994. On August 24,
1928, sixty seven Jews including 23 college students were massacred
in Hebron by Arabs acting on false rumours that Jews were killing
Arabs in Jerusalem. The land what is now called Israel and Palestine
was under British mandate then. On the fateful day of February 25,
1994, Baruch Goldstein, a Jewish medical doctor who was also member
of a Jewish extremist group called Kach movement opened fire on
unarmed Muslims in prayer in this mosque. It was the holiday of Purim
for the Jews and Ramdan for the Muslims. The attack killed 29
worshippers and 125 injured by the time Goldstein had emptied his
revolver. He was beaten to death by the survivors!
Following this
incident, the mosque was closed for years and when it was opened part
of it was turned into a synagogue separated with a bullet proof wall
from the mosque. In between these two major incidents were many
violent actions from both sides until the streets of Hebron witnessed
more violence in the second intifada or Oslo War.
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| The story of Gadi and Dina |
During the second
intifada the streets of Hebron saw violence on a major scale. The
Jewish settlers in Hebron had to use Suhada Street that passed by the
tombs of Patriarchs populated by Arabs who were in uprise. The Jews
blame that hundreds of Jews were slaughtered by the Arabs in this
street. Walking along the street I spotted a sign where they tell the
story of Gadi and Dina a couple who were expecting their first child
killed by an Arab suicide bomber when they were on their way to pray
at the tomb of the Patriarchs.
The Israeli
government’s response to the alleged violence was severe. They
closed Suhada street. Suhada Street was in fact a row of shops which
was the only means of living for the Arabs who lived behind or above
their own shops. Tourists who came to Macpelah (Tomb of Patriarchs)
shopped there. Israeli military not only closed the street for the
Arabs but also closed the shops. They welded the doors; many Arab
families have no ground level access to the street. They have to
climb over their roofs to visit their neighbours or to send their
children to school. The street has a deserted look. There are
military check posts at the entrance. Only Jews and foreign tourists
are allowed to walk along the streets. There are no children playing
on the streets. At the entrance of the street from the Tombs of the
Patriarchs Israeli soldier verified my passport however, he was so
light-hearted young man who even allowed me to take a picture with
him.
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| Deserted Suhada Street, Hebron |
The city of Hebron
comes under the Palestinian Authority. However, the Israeli Military
controls the area. There is propoganda everywhere. Flex banners
explaining the Jewish position and graffitti on Arab homes and closed
doors to counter the Jewish propaganda.
There is suspicion
everywhere. As we walked through Suhada Street with a guide who
explained to us the human right violations in Hebron and how closing
of Suhada Street a Jewish settler followed as recording us on his
iPhone. It was a way of intimidating our guide: don’t say anything
against us, you are on record.
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| Closed shops with sealed doors |
Hebron around the
Tombs of Patriarchs is now a ghost city. It seems it is only for the
dead and not for the living. The friendship and cordiality that the
patriarch Abraham received is gone and is given way to suspicion,
hatred and violence. Who is to be blamed?