Hebron is seen by the whole world as a purely Arab city. However, Hebron, since the time that Abraham was buried there, has been almost continually inhabited by Jews. In 1929, the Arabs wiped out Hebron’s Jewish settlers in a massacre, but for a few years now, Jews are once again living in Hebron, at least on a single street. For the Arabs that call themselves Palestinians, the international organizations consider the Jewish settlers as a “hindrance to peace” — for themselves, it is the land of the fathers that they will not allow to be taken away. On Wednesday, PI met with the mayor of the Jewish Hebron, Noam Arnon, in Hebron and spoke with a representative of an Arab “aid organization.”

Noam Arnon is a man who has learned to live with dangers every day. He has had poor experiences with the western media. “They see the truth, but they report lies,” he declares. We are meeting in the shade of the playing field that has secured from shooting.

50 Jews have already been shot by Arabs on this street. Among them was a Jewish baby that was targeted by sharpshooters while in the baby carriage. Noam Arnon recounts the history of Hebron, about the Hadassah hospital, which was the first one built in Israel, and the bloody massacre of 1929 that was supposed to drive the Jews out of Hebron for good.

A museum documents the history of the area with impressive images, what happened to its inhabitants in 1929, and the difficulties with which the community has to struggle.

Why Arnon wishes to remain in Hebron, he explains with an anecdote about the first Israeli president Chaim Weizmann, a chemist, who led a good life in Great Britain, but still had the desire to emigrate to Israel. When he was asked why he wished to go to Israel of all places, he said: “You also drive 50 kilometers each week to see your mother, because of this, many old women live here in the city.” The mother, the fatherland, is not to be replaced by anything.

Today, the Jewish population in Hebron totals around 400 members. They all live on a single street and the surroundings, even though the Israeli-controlled area of Hebron H2 is somewhat larger. They are in danger to loose their lives every single day.

The Jews are not allowed to build and sell any more houses; there is great fear in the government for Arab revenge and a new wave of violence. The policies of the new US president Obama, who wishes for the abolition of Jewish settlements without being more knowledgeable about the problems related to this subject, have also had a negative effect. The Arabs are not allowed to drive with a car on the one Jewish street. They are aloud to go along on foot, but they feel incredibly discriminated against. On the other hand, the Jews are prohibited from even entering the much greater Arab part of Hebron. If they do so, they put their life in jeopardy.

Six soldiers that keep watch on the Jewish street became famous this week when broke out in a little dance:

The media report about it:

PI met the six soldiers day before yesterday at exactly the same place. As punishment, they have to create another film that shows why one shouldn’t create such videos.

Through the concrete protection barriers on the edge of the street, a totally different Hebron is visible, Great Hebron H1, where Jews have no access and it is almost 100 percent inhabited by Muslim Arabs. Whoever would imagine a small town of ruins, would do so in total error. Hebron, contrary to all the Palestinian recitations of complaint, is full of new houses, is modern and in a better condition than the Jordanian capital Amman.

At Abraham’s grave, where the Jewish location can again lay claim to a fractional part of space, there is situated a giant mosque, again to which the Jews have no access.

Christians are allowed to enter the mosque. The female Christians must, of all things, cover themselves in long burka-blue hooded sacks in order not to “defile” the building — somewhat different from the Jewish quarter where short skirts and sleeveless arms are allowed — and especially when they have already bound themselves with head covering in hasty obedience.

Abraham’s Grave – Jewish:

Abraham’s Grave – Islamic:

In front of the mosque, PI encountered an Arab who is the overseer of a group of Palestinian wristwatch vendors and states that he belongs to a pro-Palestinian “aid initiative.” The man offers a guided tour through Arab Hebron and boasts that he has guided EU parliamentarians many times before (which might not necessarily be a lie). His dissertations about the conditions of people in Hebron belong, however, in the Kingdom of Fables:

Fable 1: The Arabs in Hebron are poor and have nothing to eat — the reality is visibly different.

Fable 2: The often inquiries regarding the estimated one million Arab residents (true numbers are at 200.000) in the city are being constantly pelted with trash and rocks by the estimated 400 Jews. Even if that would be true for an isolated case, the Arabs in return shoot at the Jews with cannonballs.

Fable 3: The Arab “Cordoba School” is already 3000 years old. Cordoba was, in fact, the center of the Spanish-Islamic El-Andalus colony that was reconquered by the Spaniards. “Remember Cordoba” in Islamic context means remember the area out of which we were driven — that belonged to us once and we want once again. It isn’t for no purpose that the mosque building project at New York’s Ground Zero is called “Cordoba House.” European do-gooders, on the other hand, see the name “Cordoba” as innocuous because it brings to mind the so-called “Golden Age” in Spain. But since the Cordoba School is already 3000 years old, and thus it happens to be older than Islam itself, this one is totally absurd.

Likewise, there were representatives of the “Temporary International Presence in the City of Hebron” on site (TIPH), a Palestinian security organization that feels called to watch over the few Jews in case of possible misdeeds. Two observers of the TIPH have been shot by Arab terrorists, by the way, who had confused them with Jews. TIPH claims until today, they wouldn’t know who shot their comrades. The international friends of Palestine were standing accordingly on Shahid Street. Upon questioning, the Arab “guide” explained that a one becomes a shahid when he is shot by a Jew. That doesn’t apply to Christians, however, only to Muslims.

Arab Hebron is like a giant aquarium full of sharks wanting to be considered as a minute goldfish pond by the world. This city, which is possibly the most Arabic city in the whole Israeli territory, is a symbol for the entire Western Middle East policy.

» Eussner: Nahostkonflikt. Die Rolle Norwegens im Westjordanland

Hebron is seen by the whole world as a purely Arab city. However, Hebron, since the time that Abraham was buried there, has been almost continually inhabited by Jews. In 1929, the Arabs wiped out Hebron\'s Jewish settlers in a massacre, but for a few years now, Jews are once again living in Hebron, ...

PI, 09. Jul 2010 |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | post a comment    
Kategorie: "Palestine", Islam is peace™, Israel, Middle East;

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