Mosque of Omar from the outside
Hebron was perhaps one of the most interesting cities I have ever been to. The city holds great importance for both Jews and Muslims, and is the center of many conflicts between Israelis/Jews and the Palestinians. Currently "for security reasons", the city is divided into H1 under Palestinian control and H2 under Israeli control. "For security reasons". I can't tell you how many times I saw or heard those three words in my single day in Hebron. Everything seemed to be justified "for security reasons". Soldiers were stationed about every 100 meters and at various checkpoints in H2 for the "security" of the Jews living there, despite the Jewish settlers also being very antagonistic towards the Palestinian residents in H1.
Before I talk about my tour through Hebron, let me just give this little preface. Everything that I heard on the tour had a strong bias towards the plight of the Palestinians in the area as our tour guide was a Saudi student who had been living and studying in Hebron for the last several years. Walking around with us ended up giving him some problems with the Israeli soldiers at the checkpoints as we were four clearly Jewish/American girls walking around with a clearly Palestinian guy. I cannot tell you how many times we were asked if we were okay, if we felt safe with him, how we knew him, all that jazz. I would like to return to Hebron with an Israeli/Jewish guide to see their take on the situation and formulate a more balanced and perhaps semi-neutral sense of what really goes on in Hebron.
SO, now on to the tour. We met Abdullah (our guide) in the Palestinian area of Hebron (H1) and went straight to the Israeli area, H2. We were stopped at the checkpoint so the soldiers could ask us what we were doing in the Palestinian area and if we intended to go back and were told that we probably wouldn't be let back into H1 because, as Jews, we officially weren't allowed there ("for our own safety"). After assuring them that we were okay and that everything was fine, we moved on with our tour. After walking through the first 100 meters of the main street in H2, we had to go off to a side trail that went up and over the hill next to Hebron. Even though continuing down the street would have been quicker, we couldn't go that way because it was forbidden for Palestinians to use the street and since we were with Abdullah, we could only go where he could go. We started climbing the stairs occasionally looking back and round us into the Palestinian part of the city, considered the "Old City" of Hebron. Abdullah would point out different buildings that were seized and re appropriated by the Israeli government/army/settlers for various things including a Synagogue and a Yeshiva (university for Jewish Talmud/Torah study).
Deserted main street in H2
Palestinian Hospital converted to an Israeli Synagogue
Near the top of the hill was a huge wall covered in graffiti and street art done by visiting Jews from Europe. In several parts of the wall, the phrase "Free Israel" with a Star of David was painted, sometimes even painted over a graffitied "Palestine". The wall was split into two parts, and the break in the wall was a door/gateway to a little balcony/platform that, according to Abdullah, was used for random shootings during the Intifada of 2000. Israeli soldiers would stand on that platform with a perfect view of one of the main streets in the Old City (H1) and randomly shoot Palestinians that walked past. While I'm sure there's an Israeli side to this story, I don't exactly know it. Another reason to return to Hebron with an Israeli guide.
We made our way back down the hill and attempted to return to H1 in order to see parts of the Old City which included the Mosque and Ma'arat haMachpela (Tomb of the Matriarchs and Patriarchs). We had hoped that we had spent enough time on the hill to have a change of the guard at the checkpoint and while that was true, clearly they were talking to each other about us because they knew exactly who we were. I guess there weren't many groups of 4 American girls with a Palestinian guide that day so they were told to keep an eye out for us. The soldier at the checkpoint asked what we wanted to see in H1, why we wanted to go there, called his commander who had initially told him not to let us cross, and finally let us through, telling us to stay safe and basically not die/cause any problems.
Once back in H1, we entered the markets. Since it was nearing Friday afternoon, many of the shops and stands were starting to close, but there were still some open. Something fascinating that we noticed was that there were absolutely no women out. In the entire day we saw very few women and the women that we did see were Jewish women near the Machpela in an Israeli controlled area. Back to the markets. Something interesting about the markets in the Hebron were that they are separated based on what is sold. They have a chicken market (smells TERRIBLE), and a meat market, and a vegetable market, etc. After walking through some of the markets, we moved off through a side alley that had a section full of tons and tons of trash. This, according to Abdullah, used to be the Gold Market but the Jewish settlers have thrown so much trash over their walls/fences into the area, making it completely unusable. Right next to the gold market was a house with an awful story attached to it. Apparently the owner of the house had his wife killed by Israeli soldiers, has often been beaten by Jews in front of his children, his children have been attacked as well by Jewish settlers, and despite all this he has been offered tons of money to leave his house but he continues to refuse. While it seems ridiculous that he would refuse, Abdullah made the point that if he sells his home to the Jews, they will be able to appropriate the entire street that his home is on and subsequently push even more Palestinians out of their homes. The whole time I was listening to this story I was shocked, however it's important to remember that this story was told by a Palestinian about a Palestinian and so it'll be a little bit skewed towards that perspective but still an interesting and perhaps relevant story.
The former Gold market
After walking through the markets and passing through another checkpoint, we finally arrived at the spot that all/most visitors to Hebron go to see, the Mosque and Ma'arat haMachpela. Unfortunately, it was still Friday so we weren't allowed to go into the mosque either but instead we went through a different checkpoint to go to the Ma'arat haMachpela. This is where the (supposedly) the Patriarchs and Matriarchs are buried. At least it's where graves from the time that Abraham and Sarah supposedly lived/died have been found, and thus they have determined based on descriptions of the place within the Torah that this is where they are buried. The site is still relatively controversial as the area is divided between Muslim and Israeli control and at certain points of the year only one group or the other can enter the area. As it so happened, the day that we were in Hebron was the Friday before the Shabbat where the Torah portion was about Abraham purchasing the land in Hebron for Sarah's grave. Thus religious Jews flock to Hebron on this day every year, camp outside the grave sites (well the building that is above the graves) and spend Shabbat in Hebron. I felt weird taking pictures where people were seriously praying so I don't have any pictures of the Tombs but you can look it up, it was a pretty cool site.
Our tour was about to come to an end, and so we walked up the final hill next to the Mosque/Ma'arat and took one final look over the city as a whole. We were surrounded by ruins destroyed during the various wars that have not yet been restored as we talked about what we had seen that day in Hebron and took a moment to reflect. Hebron was an interesting city, I don't exactly know how else to describe it. There was so much conflict and tension in such a small place and it's impossible to determine who is "right" or who "rightfully belongs" in the land. I don't think it's a situation that we'll ever truly be able to rectify and change, no matter how many policy changes there are in the world. I'm so glad I went to Hebron, despite all the difficulties and conflict there.
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