To Michael Chabon, from Biblical Hebron - by Yishai Fleisher

The Jewish community of Hebron does not "gaze out in scorn" at our Arab neighbors. We have many friends and colleagues among the Arab community -- those who reject Jihad. We often meet with Sheikhs and Mukhtars in Hebron and in nearby villages. It is people like Michael Chabon, who don't know much about the reality on the ground, that prefer to paint Hebron as endlessly violent and in conflict.

Yishai Fleisher..
JNS.org..
30 May '18..

At a recent graduation of Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles, novelist Michael Chabon berated the Jewish community of Hebron:

“I abhor an enclave, too, a gated community, a restricted country club, or a clutch of 800 zealots lodged in illusory safety behind a wall made from the bodies of teenage soldiers, gazing out in scorn and lordly alarm at the surrounding 200,000 residents of the city of Hebron,” he said.

So here are a few points to consider in answering Chabon:

1. While today Hebron Jews number only 800, consider that together with our adjacent sister city Kiryat Arba we are a block of 10,000 Jews. Furthermore, we are a tourist destination for 700,000 visitors and pilgrims yearly, including thirty-five thousand just on Shabbat Chayei Sarah. The Israeli government coalition has backed Jewish rights in Hebron and recently normalized purchase of Arab properties, given authorization to build 31 new apartments, and given the Jewish community of Hebron status as an independent community. Moreover, Nikki Haley has consistently stated that the U.S. Government’s decision to leave UNESCO was a direct result of that organization’s effort to rebrand the Tomb of the Fathers and Mothers in Hebron as a Palestinian World Heritage Site. Michael, while you may try to marginalize us, the people of Israel and the U.S. Government stand with Hebron!

2. The IDF defends Hebron for two reasons: Jews have every historical right to be in Hebron, and at the same time we are under constant attack from the Jihad. It is not our zealousness which provokes violence, but rather a hateful ideology that has taken hold of our region. Michael, why do give the attackers a pass while blaming the victim?

3. The Jewish community of Hebron does not “gaze out in scorn” at our Arab neighbors. We have many friends and colleagues among the Arab community — those who reject Jihad. We often meet with Sheikhs and Mukhtars in Hebron and in nearby villages. It is people like Michael Chabon, who don’t know much about the reality on the ground, that prefer to paint Hebron as endlessly violent and in conflict. Michael, look past your bias and see that there is also much hope in Hebron!

(Continue to Full Column)

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