Hebron

Abraham's Tomb-Jewish Side

We visited Hebron this week to see both the Tomb of the Patriarchs and the unique settlement movement happening there. The Tomb of the Patriarchs is divided, one side Jewish and the other Muslim. We began by visiting the Jewish side, where you can see the tombs for Abraham, Sarah, Jacob and Leah. The view of the tombs on the Jewish side isn't nearly as good as the view on the Muslim side. These four tombs are behind grates, each set in their own room with prayer books and candles surrounding them. Orthodox Jews can be seen reciting prayers in the corner of the rooms throughout the day.  

Israeli section of old city-a ghost town

We then wandered through old city Hebron, which was once a thriving souk. Today, though, only a few shops are still open, since the 2nd Intifada forced the Israelis to close much of the souk, according to Israelis, or since the Israeli settlement began, according to Palestinians. Few tourists journey into the once thriving souk nowadays, with the locals making up the regular clientele  Thus, when a group of Americans came parading through, every merchant was clamoring for our attention. We are used to being hounded by merchants in the Old City in Jerusalem, but there was a different level of desperation in the clamoring here. The souk is a sad, quiet place most afternoons, and I wonder how these people manage to make a living. Jews for centuries have viewed Hebron as a pilgrimage site, and as violence rose in Hebron in the 2nd Intifada, Israelis saw an opportunity to assert their claim in the area. The current settlement is built on top of the existing old city, with Israelis above and Palestinians below. Palestinians put chicken wire over the walkways of the souk to prevent the garbage that is being thrown from "above" from falling on their heads. However, when you enter the "Israeli" section of Hebron, it is almost deserted. The fact is, few settlers want to move to Hebron, due to the frequent and often heated interactions between the Jewish and Palestinian residents. Currently, there are about 800 Israeli settlers, protected by a force of 3,000 Israeli soldiers, in a population of over 10,000 Palestinians. 

Abraham's Tomb-Muslim Side

We then entered the Muslim side of the Tomb of the Patriarchs, which is a mosque. This was the first time the girls had to cover our heads, so we had fun arranging each others' scarfs before going in. The inside of the mosque was beautiful, and it offered much better views of the tombs. On this side, we could see Abraham and Sarah again, as well as Issac and Rebecca. One of the coolest parts of the Muslim side was the view down into the actual tombs. There was a hole discovered in the floor of the mosque in the 1980s, which leads down into the actual caves where the patriarchs are buried  Thus, you can look down a hole and see a lamp burning at the bottom, illuminating the floor of Abraham's tomb. An interesting day in a city that is easily the most divided we've seen thus far.