Question. Is It Only in Israel Where Human Rights Activists Fight Against Human Rights? - by Sheri Oz

...Close to two million people of all religions, from Israel and around the world, visit the Cave of the Patriarchs each year. There is no other site like it in the world that is not accessible! This situation is a disgrace. And it is a serious infraction of human rights.

Sheri Oz..
Israel Diaries..
21 August '20..

I wonder if it is only in Israel or concerning Israel that we find human rights activists fighting human rights. And our government does not seem to know how to deal with it. In this case, we have a supposed human rights organization fighting the human rights of the disabled, the elderly and young children to pray in the Cave of the Patriarchs; currently the prayer halls are totally inaccessible to them. In fact, Moti Ohayon and others have been seriously injured from falls while being carried up the steps in his wheelchair when all they wanted to do was pray at the site of the graves of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah, and even, it is believed, at the burial places of Adam and Eve.

The committee responsible for overseeing the project to build an accessibility elevator is dillydallying and not convening to deal with the delay. And this is after all the documents were signed by the Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Finance Minister.

What a disappointment to all who saw their ability to safely pray at the holy site just over the horizon!

Background to the Elevator Project

In an article published in November 2019, I wrote:

The request to make the site accessible to all was first submitted in 2003 by the Hebron Jewish Community Committee to the military authority. This was followed by repeated attempts by a number of organizations to raise awareness of the dire need for an elevator. When no action was taken, supposedly because of security issues and concerns of changing the status quo between the Jewish and Palestinian populations in the city, Btzalmo took up the mantle and, for the last few years, [campaigned] tirelessly by writing letters to those with the power to carry out the project and by ensuring that the media keep the topic alive.

The Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee is responsible for the project. At their meeting in July 2019, committee members agreed that this was a humanitarian project of utmost importance. It was also clear that the elevator was required in order to be in compliance with international law stating that all public buildings must be accessible. Repeated requests for coordination with the Hebron municipality, which was given authority over building permits as per the 1997 Hebron Agreement signed by Netanyahu and Arafat, were ignored. (Israel had offered to make the Muslim entrance accessible at the same time as they were working on the Jewish entrance.) At the committee meeting, members wondered aloud how long they would wait for the Hebron mayor to respond before deciding to proceed without his involvement. It was hoped that the prayer halls would be accessible by Passover 2020.

Finally, in February 2020, all the documents approving the project were signed by the requisite ministers — the Prime Minister, the Defence Minister and the Finance Minister. After years of attempting to coordinate the accessibility project together with the Hebron municipality and being ignored, the only way to move forward was for Israel to expropriate the land required to build the elevator (about 4-10 square meters) and a path from the parking area up to the base of the site (about 150 meters long).

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Own Goal!: — Calling Hebron Occupied and then Showing the 97% that is not. - by Sheri Oz

It is amazing how many errors, um, lies, you can fit into two minutes.

Sheri Oz..
Israel Diaries..
26 April '20..

News of the impending appropriation of a few meters of land, the few meters required to build an accessiblity elevator to the Cave of the Patriarchs, has resulted in the production of the amusing propaganda video in the Tweet below. Let me show you how many errors there are in this very short piece if you were unable to pick them out yourself but watch it first and see if you can find all of them:

Palestinians has warned against the Israeli efforts to impose full control over the Ibrahimi Mosque under the pretext of the #coronavirus pandemic. pic.twitter.com/quEghkU4Z2

— FilesFrom1948 (@PFiles1948) April 18, 2020

First: Of course we are exploiting the Coronavirus! We have nothing else to worry about regarding the virus than to use it as cover for harming our neighbours. (These two sentences are supposed to be read with a sarcastic tone of voice.) Regarding the closing of the mosque to visitors, all places of worship are closed in Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) in order to prevent spread of the disease. And I can assure you that as soon as the danger is passed, worshipers will again be allowed in. But the producers of this film know that as well.

Second: we are taking over the entire Ibrahimi Mosque, er… the Cave of the Patriarchs? Hmm. Appropriating a few meters of land does not constitute “imposing full control” over the site. And that does not constitute turning the mosque into a synagogue.

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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.  

BBC Middle East correspondent: Jewish history in Hebron is a ‘view’ - by Hadar Sela

...Like the rest of the BBC’s coverage of this story, Bateman’s equivocal ‘he said-she said’ account and his refusal to even provide historical facts without introducing false equivalence and ‘narratives’ obviously does not meet the corporation’s mission of providing “accurate and impartial news, current affairs and factual programming of the highest editorial standards so that all audiences can engage fully with issues across the UK and the world”.

Hadar Sela..
BBC Watch..
13 July '17..

BBC reporting on last week’s UNESCO resolution concerning the old city of Hebron – including the Tomb of the Patriarchs – has consistently failed to adequately clarify to audiences both the real reasons for Israel’s objections to the motion as well as the fact that the professional body assessing the proposal submitted by the Palestinian delegation did not recommend its adoption and criticised it for ignoring Jewish and Christian heritage in the city, “even though extensive remains testify to these links”.

(Continue to Full Link)

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. 

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Our history, our heritage, is the answer - by Michael Lobovikov

...The depth of our history, and the understanding of our national rights that stem from it, are a weapon no less powerful than an armored division or Iron Dome battery.

Michael Lobovikov..
Israel Hayom..
10 July '17..
Link: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=19397

UNESCO's outrageous decision last week to designate the Old City of Hebron, including the Cave of the Patriarchs, as a Palestinian world heritage site reminded me of something an Israeli archaeologist once told me on a tour of Samaria. Describing how he discovered the historical site we were visiting that day, he said: "I saw several chiseled stones in a field and rubbed one of them, to clean off the dust. All of a sudden I saw two words engraved in ancient Hebrew: 'High Cohen' ['priest']. Turns out I was standing in the middle of a Hebrew village abandoned after the destruction of the First Temple, during the Babylonian exile, and had been sitting there untouched for 2,600 years!"

The words he discovered were engraved in a stone situated above the entrance to the home of the high priest who had lived there. In an area of 5 square kilometers (1.9 square miles), the remnants of new fewer than six Jewish communities from that period were found. This incredible heritage site stands abandoned to this day. Aside from minimal excavations and documentation, it has not been comprehensively researched yet. The general public has no access to it because it is in a military zone and is opened up to visitors only on rare occasions.

The same is true of most historical sites in Israel. While we are all familiar with popular sites such as Masada, the City of David, the Cave of the Patriarchs, Herodium and Beit Shearim, the vast majority of Jewish heritage sites are still insufficiently accessible to the public. We all know about Caesarea, Beit Shean, Atlit and Crusader-era fortresses such as Montfort Castle and Belvoir Fortress -- but these are not Jewish heritage sites. Gamla, Beitar, Hippos-Sussita, Alexandrium (or Sartaba in Hebrew) and hundreds of other sites are still waiting for the Israeli public to visit them, and even just hear about them for the first time. The overwhelming majority of these sites have not been excavated and studied by archaeologists, and the few people who do "visit" them are antique robbers who plunder the depths of our national history with their destructive pirate excavations.

If a site has not been excavated, it has not been studied. And when it is not studied, it remains unknown to the general public, which consequently cannot connect with its heritage and roots. This creates a cycle of ignorance and contempt for our national history and for our link to the past and the land. We do not invest enough in preserving our heritage sites, and we open the door to the type of political opportunism exemplified by UNESCO's recent decision on Hebron.

Sky News Report - Poorly Worded and Misleads on Hebron Holy Site - by Simon Plosker

This Sky News report is poorly worded and deserves to be corrected.

Simon Plosker..
Honest Reporting..
09 July '17..






Sky News reports on the appalling and ridiculous UNESCO vote that declared the Old City of Hebron a “Palestinian World Heritage Site in Danger.” It reports:

Israel is particularly offended because there is an ancient shrine in the centre of the town: known to Jews as Tomb of the Patriarchs, and the second-holiest site in Judaism, and known to Muslims as Ibrahimi mosque.

The important religious site, which was built by Muslims in the 14th century, is believed to be the resting place of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

To the uninformed, which would be the majority of the audience, the second line implies that the holy site was built by Muslims in the 14th century, when, in fact, the site dates back thousands of years prior to the building of a mosque. The way this story is worded erases this Jewish history and connection and makes casual readers believe that Jews and/or Israelis are claiming a Muslim site as their own.

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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. 

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Will UNESCO someday conclude that Jews' very existence "desecrates" the Muslim-ness of Palestine

...Maybe, thanks to UNESCO, school field trips to the Cave of the Patriarchs will be reinstated. Maybe because of this resolution, the government will finally agree to expand the most frozen Jewish community in Judea and Samaria and improve the very unwelcoming conditions that greet visitors to the Cave of the Patriarchs. Maybe now some of us will stop calling the story of Abraham's purchase of the cave and the field around it from Ephron the Hittite "religification."

Nadav Shragai..
Israel Hayom..
09 July '17..
Link: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=19389

With each new deluded resolution, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization makes itself look more and more ridiculous, and less and less relevant. Where will the ignorance, lies, and absurdity lead? Will UNESCO decide at some point that the Jews are descended from Islam? Perhaps they will adopt the Islamist definition of Jews as nothing but "monkeys and pigs"? Who knows? It may ultimately conclude what Muslim incitement says is the heart of the matter: that Jews' very existence "desecrates" the Muslim-ness of Palestine.

But every cloud has a silver lining. There is one advantage to the blatant ridiculousness of UNESCO's series of resolutions about Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, the Western Wall, Rachel's Tomb, and now the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron: they hold a mirror up to our faces. They force us to return to our roots, to study them, to delve into them, and understand that we are not temporary guests in this country. We aren't here just because we were born here or made aliyah. The resolutions compel us to the vital acknowledgement that the Land of Israel is not just a haven, it's a destiny, whose holy sites and historical spots are the cradle of our people's birth, which still tie in to our present and our future here.

To date, Israel has ceded 97% of Hebron to the Palestinians. If it weren't for the Jewish community there that has been holding on to the city's historic core by the skin of its teeth despite what happened in the riots of 1929, when the city's Jewish residents were slaughtered, today, the Cave of the Patriarchs, Abraham Avinu Synagogue, Beit Hadassah, Shavei Hevron Yeshiva and other Jewish sites -- the 3% that remains in our hands -- would already belong to the Palestinians, too.

Unfortunately BBC’s erases the real story in report on UNESCO’s Hebron resolution - by Hadar Sela

...The real story behind this latest UNESCO resolution is of course the continuing politicisation of that body and the hijacking of its mission for the purpose of delegitimisation of Israel through erasure of Jewish history. BBC audiences, however, are serially deprived of that crucial background information under an editorial policy that fails to comply with the corporation’s public purposes.

Hadar Sela..
BBC Watch..
09 July '17..

As was expected, on July 7th UNESCO passed a resolution declaring the Cave of Machpelah (Tomb of the Patriarchs) an endangered ‘Palestinian’ world heritage site.

That story was the topic of a report titled “Unesco declares Hebron’s Old City Palestinian World Heritage site” that was published on the BBC News website’s Middle East page on the same day and is remarkable for what it does not tell BBC audiences.

The article fails to inform readers that the professional body – ICOMOS – that evaluated the Palestinian application did not support it and stated that “ICOMOS considers that the comparative analysis has not so far justified consideration of this property for the World Heritage List”.

“The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) — a professional body that investigates claims that historic sites are endangered on behalf of UNESCO — earlier rejected the Palestinian claim that the Tomb of the Patriarchs was an endangered site. Its assessment on Hebron, published on Sunday, criticized the Palestinian proposal for ignoring Jewish and Christian heritage in the city, “even though extensive remains testify to these links.””

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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. 

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While not #trending yet, A brand-new Palestinian Arab lie

"The Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, which is the fourth holiest mosque for the world's Muslims." That would be news to most Muslims.

Elder of Ziyon..
26 August '13..

What is the fourth holiest spot in Sunni Islam?

We all know that the top three are the mosques Mecca, Medina and the one that was built on top of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. But what is number 4?

According to Wikipedia, many Muslims consider the Ummayad Mosque in Damascus to be the fourth holiest site.

Others consider Kairouan, in Tunisia, to have the honor.

Still others consider it to be the Eyup Sultan Mosque in Turkey, a site that attracts many pilgrims.

Harar in Ethiopia is yet another city that has made this claim, and UNESCO agrees.

However, our "peace partners" in Fatah have made up a new 4th holiest mosque in Islam, one that no one else on the planet ever designated as such, as far as I can tell. Not surprisingly, it is at the second holiest place of Judaism.

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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. Check-it out!
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Hevron, Batzi and Praying at the Cave of Machpelah

LOTL..
20 August '13..

As many know, we host a varied and diverse collection of visitors each Shabbat here in Kiryat Arba-Hevron, each guest usually a world unto themselves. This week, our Batzi, as we affectionately call her, finally arrived after a few earlier attempted dates that hadn't worked out, bringing a great deal of light to share about our community as can be sensed I hope from the piece she wrote below.

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Praying at the Cave of Machpelah

The divine aura surrounding Hevron illuminates its first rays at twilight time when the universe sways between the mundane and the sacred, the harsh everyday reality and the realm of dreams and hopes for harmony, peace and love and the belief in the victory of good over evil.

Dressed in our Shabbat clothes, ready to welcome the fairest of them all, Shabbat Hamalkah, the Queen, we make our way to the cave of Machpelah.

The radiating faces of the passers by as they push the strollers of their beautiful young ones, the future of Eretz Yisrael, bring a smile to my heart.

Their white spotless garments wash away my worries and pain preparing me for the most exhilarating experiences of them all, praying at the cave of Machpelah.

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...

Another AFP fail as Lieberman visits Hebron

Elder of Ziyon..
15 January '13..

From AFP:

The Palestinian Authority on Monday slammed a pre-election visit by hardline Israeli nationalist leader Avigdor Lieberman to a West Bank mosque as a "provocation" and "completely unacceptable."

"This visit is a provocation to Palestinian feeling," government spokeswoman Nour Odeh told AFP. "Especially by Lieberman, who has declared his aggression against the Palestinian people and who supports settlement."

Lieberman visited a mosque? Really?

Only in next to last paragraph do we learn:

During his visit to the city Lieberman called at the flashpoint religious site known as the Cave of the Patriarchs to Jews and the Ibrahimi Mosque to Muslims.

Oh, so he visited the second holiest Jewish shrine that predates Islam by 2000 years - and AFP calls it a "mosque."

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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.

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(Video) To Hijack Grandpa Abraham? Never!

hebronvideo
01 December '12..









Hebron is where the forebears of the Jewish People lived are buried. Lately, the Palestinian Authority is working to destroy the unique Jewish bond to the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs in Hebron demanding that it be declared a National Palestinian Heritage Site.


Published on Dec 1, 2012 by hebronvideo

Make your opinion known. Learn more at www.Hebron.com

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.
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Hebron - Finally coming home after many years

Dr. Haim Shine..
Israel Hayom..
04 October '12..

Immediately following the liberation of Hebron in the Six Days War, a historical meeting took place in the Cave of the Patriarchs. Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, Rabbi Shlomo Goren, the head rabbi of the IDF, and Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu met with the Qadi, the Muslim cleric in charge of the Cave, to officially receive the key to the Cave, and thus symbolically transfer control of Hebron and the holy sites in the city back to the Jewish people.

The entourage was accompanied by a platoon of dusty infantry soldiers, exhausted after days of fighting. Soldiers were armed and dressed in livery, strolling the Cave of the Patriarchs noisily, scattering the remains of their rations. The Qadi complained that the soldiers' conduct violated the sanctity of the place which proves that Jews do not know how to fully appreciate the significance of the site, which in effect denies them any right to it. He added that when Muslims come to pray there, they wash their hands and feet and insist on clean clothing - everyone senses the sanctity of the place with intimidation and fear.

Dayan and Goren fell silent, as they had no answer to these serious allegations. But Eliyahu, despite feeling a bit uneasy himself at the soldiers' behavior, looked at the Qadi and explained to him that this is actually the best proof of the Jews' connection to the Cave of the Patriarchs. He said that when a person comes to stay with a friend or neighbor, he bathes, wears nice clothes and behaves politely. But when children come home to visit, their parents don't care how their children behave - the important thing is that they come to visit. The IDF soldiers, the rabbi said, are not guests at the Cave of the Patriarchs. They feel like they are returning home after many years away. The parents, our forefathers who are buried in Hebron, are delighted about the return of their descendants and they do not care how they behave. By this point, the Qadi of Hebron was speechless; he handed over the keys to the cave forever.

Roth - A stabbing in the Tomb of the Patriarchs

Frimet/Arnold Roth..
This Ongoing War..
05 June '12..

On Monday afternoon, a Palestinian Arab clutching what Haaretz calls "a large nail" approached a small group of Israeli security personnel posted to keep the peace at the ancient Machpelah Cave in Hebron. It's a site that has been revered by Jews for thousands of years (long before Islam was created) as the traditional burial place of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as well as the matriarchs of the Jewish people Sarah, Rivka and Leah. Many know it as the Tomb of the Patriarchs.

The Palestinian Arab executed a stabbing attempt, managing to wound one of the Border Guard (Mishmar Hag'vul) servicemen in the head. His name, according to the Bethlehem-based Palestinian news agency Maan, is Laith Mashaal. It reports that he had come to the tomb to pray on Monday afternoon. Evidently feeling especially religious, he then stabbed the Israeli officer outside what Maan terms "the mosque". Another Border Guard police prevented a worse outcome by managing to use his weapon to fire a bullet at the Palestinian Arab, hitting him in the chest.

Times of Israel says the wounded Arab assailant received immediate care from a Magen David Adom rescue service unit called to the scene. They resuscitated him and rushed him to Hadassah Medical Center in the nearby Jerusalem neighbourhood of Ein Karem where he is in serious condition, but (in the customary irony that accompanies terrorist attacks in this unusual country) receiving the very best of Zionist medical care. The Border Guard man with the stabbing injury to the head was taken to the same hospital where he is in moderate condition and recovering.

Link: http://thisongoingwar.blogspot.co.il/2012/06/5-jun-12-stabbing-in-tomb-of-patriarchs.html

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
.

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...

IMRA - Arab reaction to scheduled sharing of Machpela

aka Ibrahimi Mosque demonstrates Arab control unworkable..

Dr. Aaron Lerner..
IMRA..
09 April '12..


Under Arab rule, Jews were barred access to pray in the Second Temple period structure that houses the ancient Machpela Cave where Abraham and other patriarchs are buried.

Under Jewish rule the facility is shared by Jews and Moslems with a special arrangement that the entire compound be open exclusively to Jews and Moslems for the respective major Jewish and Moslem holidays.

This arrangement can sometimes get complicated since the Moslem calendar is a lunar calendar without a solar adjustment so that Moslem holidays can sometimes conflict with Jewish ones.

Nonetheless, the working principle is that Moslems and Jews get an equal number of "exclusive days" each year.

When the Moslems have exclusivity they hold prayers also in areas where Jews normally pray. When the Jews have exclusivity they hold prayers also in areas where Moslems normally pray.

If anything, the sharing of the facility under Israeli rule is an encouraging model of what can be achieved when a holy place is under the control of an authority that respects all parties.

Those who propose that Israel hand over control of the remainder of Hebron to the Palestinians argue that some kind of arrangement can be worked out to insure that Jews can continue to pray at the Machpela.

But they ignore reality.

The reality is best illustrated by the assertion by Zeid Al-Jabari,the director of Al-Khalil Waqf, that the "Ibrahimi Mosque is only for Muslims and it will be forever."

Which brings us to the question of the civilian Jewish presence in Hebron.

Wilder - Bamba’s Baby’s Bequest

David Wilder..
The Wilder Way..
18 March '12..

The Olympics are in sight. This summer the international sports events will catch headlines internationally.

Individual nations prepare for the illustrious sporting phenomena in various stages. The people involved are not the only factor taken into consideration. After all, they represent their country, their homeland. Their heritage.

So it was that Israel chose the ‘Bamba baby’ to symbolize this nation at the 2012 London Olympics.

For those unaware, Bamba is a national pastime. Ask any child who can mutter the word Ema (Mommy). Bamba is the 2nd or 3rd word in any baby’s vocabulary. A tasty, munchy, peanut-flavored snack, this nibble is a favorite amongst all ages, religions, and nationalities. (It is rumored that “Bamba packets” were discovered during archeological excavation at several ancient tels in Israel (together with empty soda bottles.)

However, it seems that Bamba, with all its importance, is not taken kindly to by everyone. After all, anyone on a diet, or those who eat only ‘healthy’ food, do not partake in this crunchy treat, and undoubtedly raised a ruckus when they discovered that this nosh, the ‘bamba baby,’ was to represent them at the most important of international events.

And so it was that the inevitable decision to leave the ‘bamba baby’ at home in Israel this summer was made. The kids cried, and the company wept, but the parents cheered. After all, should the tidbit’s picture appear all over the place, surely the tot’s would demand more and more. This could cause a social revolution amongst the younger generation.

Wilder - Abraham and Sarah are Quivering

David Wilder..
The Wilder Way..
04 March '12..

When Ma’arat HaMachpela, the tomb of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, was reopened, after having been closed for almost a year, in 1994, the huge, 2,000 year old structure was divided. About 75% of the building was opened to anyone not Jewish; the other 25% was opened to anyone not Moslem. Excepting 20 days a year; for ten days the entire building was closed to Jews and open only to Moslems and for 10 days a year it was open only to Jews.

The main area for Jewish worship is the central courtyard inside the building, with the two small memorial rooms for Abraham and Sarah to the east and for Jacob and Leah to the west. (The largest room, memorializing Isaac and Rebecca is open only to Moslems.) The courtyard is open, with no roof covering it. Upon division of the building, the IDF constructed a big tent inside the courtyard, in an attempt to provide some semblance of a closed-in structure. That endeavor failed, miserably.

Despite the canvas ‘walls’ and ‘roof,’ it is just that: canvas. Such material does not offer protection from heat or cold, rain, snow, sleet or a hot summer sun. During the rainy season water puddles form on the roof and remain there for months, attracting assorted insects, including mosquitoes and other small creatures. And not only small animals. During the spring and summer months, birds, sensing the holiness of the site, flock to the building. A net had to be stretched above the courtyard to prevent winged creatures from flying around, inside the building. But the net does not prevent them from discharging unpleasant droppings from above, onto holy books, chairs, tables, and worshipper’s heads.

Rooting for a roof!

David Wilder
www.hebron.com
Shevat 25, 5771
January 30, 2011


I know it may seem difficult to fathom, but there are certain elements of life in Hebron that have nothing to do with politics. At least, they shouldn’t.

For example, Tel Hebron. This site was called, by a preeminent archeologist, the second most important archeological site in Israel, after Jerusalem. Excavations in the middle 1960s, during the Jordanian occupation, revealed on the southern tip of the tel, ancient walls over 4,000 years old. Dr. Avi Ofer, during middle 1980s, discovered a shard dating to the pre-Abraham era, with a list of animals written on it. During the latest dig, in the late 1990s, archeologist Emmanuel Eisenberg uncovered 2,700 year old ‘lemelech’ (‘to the King’) seals, with the word Hebron, in ancient Hebrew, inscribed on them. This, in addition to a house constructed during the days of King Hezekiah, and two walls, one of which was built during the days of Abraham and Sarah.

Such a site, anywhere else in the world, would be classified as a national treasure, and related to appropriately. In other words, the government would invest funds to beautify the area and insure its well-being, while encouraging tens and hundreds of thousands of people to visit each year.

Imagine bringing a third-grader to ‘the house where Abraham lived,’ or to the burial place of Ruth the Moabite. (This place, at the height of the tel, is traditionally also the tomb of Jesse, King David’s father.) What could be more impressive than standing on 4,000 year old stairs, leading to the gates of the city of Hebron, with a foreign diplomat, explaining to him that ‘this is not only the roots of Judaism, it is also the roots of all of monotheism.’

I have declared this to thousands of people touring this wondrous area, and never cease to be amazed at my own words. And also at the expression of the faces of those I’m speaking to. Jaws literally drop.

But it’s the truth, and the truth has to be told. The real question is, does anyone listen? I’ve taken countless journalists to this site, yet almost none of them have seen fit to include such a precious parcel of history in their articles. History is not political, but such an expose just might be taken the wrong way, proving the fact that Hebron really does have Jewish roots.

So, ignored it is. Even by our own. Our own journalists, politicians, and anyone else of any importance.

And what about Ma’arat HaMachpela, the tombs of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs? It took a bit of ‘pushing and shoving’ until the Prime Minister was convinced that this site is really of national importance and should be included on the list of national heritage sites.

However, Netanyahu isn’t the only one who was persuaded to relate seriously to Machpela. According to recently received statistics, last year over 700,000 people visited the so-called ‘Jewish side’ of this holy monument. That is quite a lot of company. The number continues to climb and it won’t be long before we pass the one million mark.

But what do people see when they arrive at Machpela. Climbing the stairs and entering this massive 2,000 year old structure, visitors find themselves standing under a canvas awning in the building’s mains courtyard. Not a roof, rather a tarpaulin. This covering, a poor attempt to protect visitors and worshipers from the elements, hasn’t been cleaned in years. A filthy, water-creased tent-like structure adorns the second holiest place to the Jewish people in all the world.

In one word, this can be described as disgusting. An additional word is disgraceful. Is this the wys to commemorate our nation’s founders: Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah?

For about a decade Hebron community leaders have been trying to convince the ‘powers that be’ to remove the awning and replace it with a high-quality roof, as would be befitting of such a national monument. To no avail. Despite hundreds of thousands of annual visitors, of all races and religions, a roof is too political. A potato much too hot to touch.

A few weeks ago, when finally on Shabbat, thank G-d, rain began to fall, water dripped down from the canvas covering onto a Torah scroll. The Torah reading was stopped and the scroll immediately moved. Last night, as a result of heavy winds and rain, the roof finally caved in, falling to the ground, leaving a gaping hole, and a great view of the sky above. And rain falling on worshiper’s heads.

Isn’t it time to stop playing politics with our national treasures and bring an end to such humiliation?! This solution is not to replace the old canvas with a new one. The time has finally come to take the giant step and authorize a real roof atop Ma’arat HaMachpela.

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Ibrahim and Ibn-Rabah

Sarah Honig
Another Tack
04 November '10

Quite incredibly, representatives of Western democracies on UNESCO’s executive delivered a self-destructive blow to their own heritage when demanding that Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem and the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron be removed from the inventory of Jewish heritage sites. UNESCO’s resolution redefined them as mosques – as if Muslim from time immemorial. It sought to detach seminal biblical place-names from any Jewish connections.

It’s one thing to willfully subscribe to mind-blowing colossal deception; it’s quite another to shake the foundations beneath one’s own civilization.

Politically incorrect as it may be in our postmodern, multicultural existence, Europe’s and America’s democracies are constructed on Christian foundations. By accepting Muslim deconstructionist diktats, the West not only injures the Jews, it injures its own legacy.

To be fair, the world’s current most inveterate revisers of the past, the Muslims, are relative newcomers to the fanciful world of fabricated historiography. Long before Islam existed, Christians were obsessed with their own retrospective rewriting and they were preceded by pagans. Perhaps it was all already foretold by the biblical Balaam, who prophesied (Numbers 23:9) that Israel shall be “a people who dwells alone and shall not be counted among the nations.”

(Read full story)


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