Heroes, hoodlums and homes in Hebron - by Michael Freund

That legacy and the love for the land which he embodied, will now live on in the Hebron Jewish neighborhood that will bear his name.

Michael Freund..
Pundicity/JPost..
22 October '18..
Link: http://www.michaelfreund.org/21731/heroes-homes-hebron

Earlier this week, the cabinet passed a welcome decision that was long overdue. For the first time since 2002, the government approved the construction of 31 Jewish housing units in Hebron, thereby allowing the city's Jewish community to continue to grow.

That it took 16 years to grant permission to Hebron's Jews to build is remarkable, for it underlines how successive governments have failed to muster the requisite courage needed to fortify and expand the Jewish presence in the City of the Patriarchs. There is simply no reason it should be so difficult for Jews to build in the place where our founding father, Abraham, lived and was buried.

But perhaps more importantly, the cabinet decision underlines the perseverance and determination of Hebron's Jews, whom the international media and much of Israel's Left continuously vilify without end. For despite all the challenges they face in living in a city that is largely a hotbed of Palestinian hostility and terrorism, their heroic dedication to resettling one of the holiest cities in the Land of Israel is something that should inspire us all.

Recall that over two decades ago, under the terms of the Hebron Accord signed with the PLO, the city was divided. About 80% of it was turned over to Palestinian control and is known as H1, while the rest, referred to as H2 and home to nearly 1,000 Jews and tens of thousands of Arabs, is governed by the Israeli military.

To get a sense of the belligerence of the local Palestinian population, one need only look as far as the man they chose to elect as their mayor, Tayseer Abu Sneineh. A prominent member of Fatah, Abu Sneineh was one of four Palestinians who took part in a terrorist attack in Hebron on May 2, 1980, in which he and his comrades opened fire and tossed grenades at a group of yeshiva students who had just returned from festive Shabbat evening prayers at the Tomb of the Patriarchs. Six young Jews, including two American citizens and a Canadian, were murdered, and 20 others were wounded.

Though Abu Sneineh and his cohorts were captured, convicted and sentenced to life in prison, they were subsequently released in a prisoner exchange.

Last year, 37 years after he spilled innocent blood, Abu Sneineh was rewarded by Hebron's Palestinian electorate with a resounding victory in the mayoral contest. What does it say about a society that elevates convicted murderers to positions of power?

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)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

.

David Ben-Gurion - Hebron is Jerusalem's Sister

Hebron, City of the Patriarchs
The Jewish Community of Hebron
Year 46 of the Liberation of Hebron
29 Iyar 5773

Hebron is Jerusalem's Sister

Three cities hold a great and unique place in the ancient history of our people: Shechem, Hebron and Jerusalem. In the Book of Genesis (Bereshit) we are told that Terach took his son Abram, his nephew Lot and his daughter-in-law Sarai, Abram's wife and left Ur Kasdim bound for Canan. On route they reached Haran and dwelt there. Terach died in Haran.

Then the Almighty said to Abram: "Go forth from your land, from your birth place and from your father's house to the land that I shall show you...and Abram went forth as he had been told by the Eternal...and he took with him Sarai his wife, Lot his nephew, all their possessions and the souls that they had acquired in Haran...and they came to the Land of Canan. And Abram passed through the land until the place Shechem...and the Eternal appeared to Abram and said, "Unto your children shall I give this land." There Abram built there an altar unto the Eternal who had appeared to him-and Abram continued his journey shouthward ... and Abram made his camp and came and settled in the Plains of Mamre that are in Hebron and he built an alter to the Almighty." (Genesis 12-B).

Hebrew history begins in Hebron. In Hebron...there arose the first Hebrew armed force, which battled with four great kings:...because they had captured Abram's nephew Lot and his property. When Abram heard this in Hebron, he immediately mobilized 318 of his followers and pursued the four kings up to Dan in the north, where he attacked at night and destroyed them, and rescued all the property and his nephew Lot, the women and the rest of the captives. This was the first war in Jewish history, which ended not merely with victory, but also with a demonstration of Abram's breadth of spirit...

Abraham’s legacy still alive and well

Abraham’s legacy, still alive and well, is the crux of our existence, not only in Hebron, but as a people, in Israel and around the world.

David Wilder..
Op-Ed Contributor/JPost..
07 November '12..






A few years ago, following one of his last visits to Me’arat Hamachpela, the Cave of the Patriarchs, as Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu entered his car, the other door opened and two people literally pushed their way into the vehicle, one civilian, the other in uniform.

The civilian, a senior employee at the holy site, said, “Rabbi, I’m sorry to do this, but this man, a border police officer, works here very hard and greatly helps the Jewish people. He has a problem. He and his wife have been married many years and have yet to be blessed with children.”

Rabbi Eliyahu looked at the man and responded, “He should continue to help the Jewish people and next year he will be witness to salvation.”

A year later his daughter Miriam was born. The border police officer’s name is Shuchralla Morav.

Much has been written about Hebron’s relationship with security forces, be it police or IDF. As much as we say about our good, positive relationships with them, we are unfortunately generally not believed.

The roots of our national essence, in Hebron, begins with Abraham and Sarah. They were known as people of chesed, that is, overwhelming loving-kindness and generosity. Our sages have taught that we must express the attributes of our Creator: as He is kind, so too we must be kind. The primary examples of kindness are Abraham and Sarah.

Abraham’s compassion was not limited to “his own.” Numerous stories are told of his assistance to strangers, many of whom worshiped idols, the very antithesis of his life and ideology. Yet this did not prevent him from offering them food, drink and a place to sleep.

The present Jewish community of Hebron tries to continue walking in the footsteps of our illustrious Forefathers, learning from their deeds, and acting accordingly. Therefore, when Rabbi Shalom Alkobi, then director of the Machpela authority, realized he had an opportunity to seek a blessing from one of our generation’s most righteous people, he did so, without thinking twice.

And the rabbi’s blessing was received and came to pass.

Morav, as he is called, served at Me’arat Hamachpela for 17 years. Living in the north, several hours from Hebron, he wasn’t able to spend enough time with his wife and young daughter. Recently he was transferred to a position much closer to his home, allowing him to enjoy his blessings.

Kiryat Arba-Hevron - Jewish families can return to Beit HaShalom

Defense Minister Ehud Barak authorizes seven-year-old sale, allowing families forcibly evacuated in 2008 to return.

Tovah Lazaroff..
Diplomacy and Politics/JPost..
11 October '12..

Jewish families can return to a four-story Hebron apartment building — known as Beit HaShalom — that the IDF forcibly evacuated in December 2008.

On Thursday evening Defense Minister Ehud Barak authorized the settlers' purchase of the building from its Palestinian owners for NIS 700,000 over seven years ago.

In addition, he decreed that Jewish families could live in the structure located in an otherwise Palestinian neighborhood in a section of the West Bank city under Israeli control.

Barak's approval comes one month after the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court ruled that Tal Investments and the Association for Renewing the Jewish Community in Hebron had legally purchased the structure through transactions that occurred in 2004 and 2005.

The court ordered the state to return the property to the settlers, but in addition Hebron's Jewish families needed Barak’s approval to actually return to the building.

Jewish community spokesman David Wilder said, “We are very pleased that the Israeli government has finally recognized the legitimacy of Jews purchasing property in Hebron.

Ending an unjust occupation in Hebron

Tom Wilson..
Times of Israel..
14 September '12..

In March 2007 Settlers in the ever fraught city of Hebron took over a house on the road between the Jewish neighbourhood of Kiryat Arba and the Tomb of the Patriarch’s in the city’s historic centre. They renamed the building Beit HaShalom (Peace House) and moved a number of families into the building. The Palestinian owner of the building protested this seizure of his property and his appeal was taken to the Israeli courts who promptly instructed that the Jews who had taken the house should be evicted from it.

In December 2008, despite the evidence produced by the Settlers to demonstrate their purchase of the building the Israeli army removed the Jews from the building amidst some of the most violent scenes between civilians and the military witnessed in Israel’s history. However, as far as the liberal consensus was concerned justice had been done; Jews had been prevented from expanding their illegal takeover of Palestinian land and property, no further questions asked.

Yet, there were many questions that should have been asked and that still need asking. The evidence, which was well known at the time, including a video tape no less, very clearly demonstrated that the Palestinian owner of the building was simply lying, he had indeed sold the property to Jewish buyers; for the grand total of just under $1 million dollars. And the courts had every reason to believe he was lying; under the supposedly moderate Palestinian Authority selling property to Jews carries the death penalty. However, it is only now, after five years of contention and costly court battles that the Israeli justice system has finally conceded that the property does indeed belong to its Jewish buyers and that the Israeli military, who have been occupying the building in the interim, must return it to its Jewish owners, although they may still be prevented by the authorities from actually living in their house.

The question persists of why it was that the court had initially been so readily willing to believe the account of the Palestinian in question, in spite of all the evidence and the fact that there was every reason to think that given the circumstances, he would be unable to ever tell the truth about having sold property to Jews.

David Ben-Gurion: Hebron is Jerusalem's Sister

Hebron, City of the Patriarchs
The Jewish Community of Hebron
Year 45 of the Liberation of Hebron
29 Iyar 5772


Hebron is Jerusalem's Sister

Three cities hold a great and unique place in the ancient history of our people: Shechem, Hebron and Jerusalem. In the Book of Genesis (Bereshit) we are told that Terach took his son Abram, his nephew Lot and his daughter-in-law Sarai, Abram's wife and left Ur Kasdim bound for Canan. On route they reached Haran and dwelt there. Terach died in Haran.

Then the Almighty said to Abram: "Go forth from your land, from your birth place and from your father's house to the land that I shall show you...and Abram went forth as he had been told by the Eternal...and he took with him Sarai his wife, Lot his nephew, all their possessions and the souls that they had acquired in Haran...and they came to the Land of Canan. And Abram passed through the land until the place Shechem...and the Eternal appeared to Abram and said, "Unto your children shall I give this land." There Abram built there an altar unto the Eternal who had appeared to him-and Abram continued his journey shouthward ... and Abram made his camp and came and settled in the Plains of Mamre that are in Hebron and he built an alter to the Almighty." (Genesis 12-B).

Hebrew history begins in Hebron. In Hebron...there arose the first Hebrew armed force, which battled with four great kings:...because they had captured Abram's nephew Lot and his property. When Abram heard this in Hebron, he immediately mobilized 318 of his followers and pursued the four kings up to Dan in the north, where he attacked at night and destroyed them, and rescued all the property and his nephew Lot, the women and the rest of the captives. This was the first war in Jewish history, which ended not merely with victory, but also with a demonstration of Abram's breadth of spirit...

The Zionist Response

David Wilder
The Wilder Way
30 April '10

For the past week I've felt haunted. Being very busy with tours and other necessary tasks, I hadn't found time to put down some words on paper. Actually, I began working on a very important document which I didn't even find time to finish.

But something else was eating at me. Friday night. Tomorrow night. The 17th day of the Hebrew month of Iyar. Exactly thirty years ago, the 17th of Iyar was also on a Friday night. I lived then in Mevassert Tzion, just outside Jerusalem. The next night a friend of mine commented, 'I knew something was wrong, seeing helicopters flying into Hadassah hospital.'

And something was very wrong. Friday night, May 12, 1980. It was just a year earlier when a group of about 10 women and 40 children had reentered Beit Hadassah in Hebron. The building, originally built in 1893, and having served as a medical clinic for Jews and Arabs in Hebron prior to the 1929 riots, had been vacant since Israel's return to the city in 1967. A week and a half following the end of Passover in 1979, the group climbed in thru a back window of Beit Hadassah in the middle of the night, reestablishing a Jewish presence in the heart of the city for the first time in 50 years.

Living conditions were non-existent, and the going wasn't easy; to the contrary, it was very difficult. But women such as Rebbetzin Miriam Levinger, Sarah Nachshon, and others were made of platinum. Not necessarily material platinum, rather spiritual platinum. Their faith, and their grasp of the significance of the return to Hebron, overcame all other factors. Together with a large group of children they defied all odds, refused to surrender to pressures, physical and mental, and maintained the Jewish presence in the city of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs.


(This was shot yesterday, primarily within the Hebron Museum. That is why the

sound quality is a bit different, but a worthwhile watch. TY to David Wilder)

Every Friday night, following Shabbat worship at Ma'arat HaMachpela, a group of men would sing and dance their way down the street to Beit Hadassah, where they continued the festivity, joined by the women and children living in the building, adding to their Shabbat spirit.

(Read full story)

If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.
.

Israel’s Latest Sin—Honoring Its Heritage

P. David Hornik
Frontpagemag.com
01 March '10

When the Israeli cabinet announced the other day that the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem, would be included in a list of Israeli “heritage” sites, it touched off a wave of Palestinian violence and threats—along with diplomatic protests that were all too concordant with the Palestinian bullying.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has launched the “heritage” program as a way of strengthening Israelis’ connection with their Jewish and Zionist roots, initially left the two West Bank sites (though other West Bank sites were included) off the list, apparently fearing various kinds of fallout. Netanyahu was only persuaded to include them at the last minute by Shas, a religious party that is part of his coalition.

Sure enough, the West Bank heated up with an increase in rocks and Molotov cocktails thrown at Israeli vehicles, and, particularly, daily disturbances in Hebron, where crowds of Palestinians burned tires and threw rocks and bottles at Israeli soldiers. By Sunday the disturbances had spread to Jerusalem.

On the verbal plane a spokesman for the Gaza-based Islamic Jihad terror organization declared that “If the Israelis continue to damage our mosques and holy places, we will respond [i.e., mount terror attacks] within the Zionist territory”—alluding to the fact that the Cave of the Patriarchs is a compound with a mosque as well as a synagogue, while Rachel’s Tomb has recently been claimed to be a mosque as well.
Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas prime minister in Gaza, piped up with “Jerusalem is ours, the land is ours, and God is with us. We will not accept these decisions….” And Mahmoud Abbas, president of the official, West Bank-based Palestinian Authority and considered secular and a moderate, was hardly more moderate in his reaction, calling the decision to add the two sites to the heritage list “a serious provocation which may lead to a religious war.”

(Read full article)
.

Responses to: Frequently Asked Questions about Hebron and Shuhada Street

David Wilder
Hebron.com
23 February '10

Responses to: Frequently Asked Questions about Hebron and Shuhada Street

Introduction: International organizations declared Thursday, February 25, 2010 as 'Open Shuhada Street Day.' Shuhada, in Arabic, means martyr. This is, according to the Arabs, a road named in memory of 'martyrs' who have murdered Jews. The street's real name is King David Street, in honor of King David, who began his monarchy, the Kingdom of Judea, and later the Kingdom of Israel, in Hebron, over 3,000 years ago. Parts of this road have been closed to Arab traffic for security reasons. Gadi and Dina Levy were murdered on this road by a homicide bomber. Aharon Gross was stabbed to death on this road. Sixteen year old Eliya Meshulam was stabbed and critically wounded on the road. Six men were killed and twenty others wounded on the road in a major terror attack on this road. Two retired men were stabbed by an Arab terrorist on the road. Three young men had acid thrown at them on this road. Others were attacked, but escaped injury.

Question
1. The settlers say they only have 3% of Hebron. They say they’re not allowed to go to H1 or most of H2. Given that they are restricted from the vast majority of the city, why shouldn’t Palestinians be restricted from the tiny portion of H2 that the settlers claim?

Hebron is a city deep inside the Palestinian territories. Israeli settlements in any of these territories are illegal according to the Fourth Geneva Convention. The issue is not that the settlers have only 3% of the city, but rather that they are controlling part of an occupied city.

H1, an area which consists of about 80% of Hebron, is controlled by the Palestinian Authority. H2, the remaining 20%, is controlled by Israel. Israeli settlers, who make up less than 1% of the population of Hebron, control 20% of the city, which is not only incredibly disproportionate but also illegal.

In order to allow the settlers to live in a small part of H2, the Israeli army exerts control over a much larger proportion of the city in order to secure a buffer zone for the settlement. While the settlers themselves do not travel around most of H2, the Israeli military does patrol the entirety of H2, thereby placing restrictions on Palestinian movement throughout this part of Hebron. If Israeli settlers were allowed to walk in all of H2, the Israeli military would likely control an even larger percentage of the city in order to keep them safe.

Although H2 is a relatively small portion of the city, it is Hebron's true city centre where the industrial and commercial zones, as well as the most important landmarks, are located. H2 is an important passageway between the northern and southern parts of the city. Therefore, restricting movement in H2 significantly affects the freedom of movement of all residents of Hebron.


1. Response:
a) Concerning H1 and H2: Israelis presently have access to three percent of Hebron. Arabs have access to 98% of Hebron. Jews are forbidden from entering H1. Arabs may travel freely between H1 and H2.



Concerning the city center: As can be seen above, Hebron city center is certainly not in H2. Arab Hebron is a large, thriving city, with continued construction, factories, businesses, markets, and all elements of metropolitan life. This area, much larger than H2, is certainly more conducive to businesses and markets; therefore the claim that H2 is actually the city center is false.
Concerning access to all areas of Hebron, Hebron's Arab population has access to over 98% of the city. All areas can be accessed without any major issues.

(Continue to read full article)