HEBRON חֶבְרוֹן الخليل

I've wanted to write something on the Israel-Palestine / Jewish-Christian-Muslim conflict for quite some time, but even after writing this I don't think I have got my point across. But maybe that's my point.

חֶבְרוֹן
الخليل
HEBRON

We are fed a lot of opinions about the conflict in the Middle East. Essentially what I'm talking about is the land of Israel, or Palestine, a small little strip of land as narrow as 15 km in some points (modern day Israel excluding Occupied Palestinian Territory). Geographically it links Africa, Asia, and Europe. Blood has been shed on this land for many centuries and it continues today. Because it is so small, some would argue: what's the fuss?

Probably the more one tries to understand the conflict in the Middle East, the more complex it gets. The conflict is not just geographical but it is also cultural, religious, and combining all things: political. The heart of the problem is as deep as its roots and there in lies the problem. Identity.

I titled this blog HEBRON. It is an Arab city in the annexed Palestinian Territory not far south of Jerusalem. It contains arguably the most Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the West Bank. I went there late last year to check it out.

Hebron sits in the Judean mountains and is home to 165,000 Palestinian Arabs and just over 500 Jewish Settlers. Some call the Jewish settlement crazy because they certainly don't choose to live there for the quality of life. So why are they there? Well, probably the same reason I was going there (minus a morbid curiosity for disaster). It has something to do with the tomb of the Patriarchs.

The tomb of the Patriarchs refers to the burial cave of Abraham, Sarah, Issac, Rebecca, Jacob and Leah. It is sacred to Jews and Christians because they are the ancestors of their respective religions (Jesus was also a descendant of Abraham, Issac and Jacob).

But when you go to the cave of the Patriarchs today you do not see a cave but a giant mosque. This is because Abraham is also recognized as the ancestor of Islam, the mosque of Ibrahim (Abraham) being erected/transformed from a church during one of the Muslim invasions.

The humble cave has come a long way since three generations of Jews were buried there.

• Over 2000 years ago King Herod of Israel builds a 12 meter wall around the site. It lies enclosed, open to the sky until a basilica is erected in the Byzantine (Roman) era. 

• In 614 the Persians conquer Hebron and the church is destroyed. Muslims take control and build a mosque in its place.

• In 1100 the Crusaders capture Hebron and transform it back into a church.

• In 1184 Saladin invades and the building becomes a mosque once again although they allow Christian worship.

• In the late 14th Century the reigning Mamluks prevent Jews from coming as close as the 5th step (later extended to the 7th step; The wear on the rock at this site is seen today).

• In 1967 Jews gain access to the tombs once again following Israel's victory in the Six Day War over Jordan. The land comes back into their control for the first time in 2000 years. Immediately Jews begin to resettle.

Since then there have been various acts of violence from both Palestinian and Israeli sides; bombings, shootings, massacres, murders, destruction of historical artifacts. When you walk around modern day Hebron you can sense the conflict, there are military checkpoints everywhere and Israeli soldiers patrol the streets to keep the peace. The mosque of Ibrahim itself is now heavily guarded. It has been divided into two sections following a massacre in 1994 where Goldstein, an American Jewish extremist shot 29 Islamic worshipers. Today half is annexed for Muslims and half for Jews. A wall divides.

I had the opportunity of checking out both sides of the mosque. On the Muslim side the Muslims were doing their thing, on the Jewish side the Jews were doing their thing, half of the ancestral skeletons lying under each side of the partition. Afterwards, my friend and I decided to take a walk around the streets and alleyways. We didn't just want to go to the main site and snap a few photos. We wanted to get a real sense for the place, to wander aimlessly, get lost a little, find ourselves amongst it, breathe everything in.

We are stopped periodically by armed checkpoints before gaining clearance to venture further. Some Palestinians greet us genuinely although most do it with mocking manner. Some ask us "Do you know where you are?" as if to say: "What are you doing here? You should leave." Some spit at us, throw firecrackers at our feet so they explode to startle. I am shot at by some kids with a BB gun and feel the sting against my calf.

Eventually we reach a quiet area of abandoned buildings. There is an empty school, a rusted bicycle, graffiti covers dilapidating walls. I kick a flat soccer ball that lies on the ground and watch it struggle to bounce and roll. Apart from the occasional patrolling soldier there is no other life. 

It is eerie.

Just past the school we come across a sign written in Hebrew which is translated in English. It commemorates the murdered Jews who once lived in the area on which we stood. I look at my friend and notice that she is now in tears - at first a few, but soon a steady flow. I sit with her on a patch of dusty ground amongst weeds in a silent street. I place a gentle hand on her knee and rub it while I stare at a star of David spray painted on an adjacent building.

My friend is Jewish but non religious. I can't help but consider how much her tears speak for the otherwise silence on this street.

After some time a young patrolling soldier approaches with his gun slung over his shoulder. He looks as though he doesn't want to be in his body. I acknowledge him and he says hello. I don't think he has noticed my friend crying because he proceeds to ask me where I am from. I tell him that I am from New Zealand to which he responds suddenly upbeat.

"I have a friend that has been there and he says it is really beautiful" he says.

I smile awkwardly and tilt my head in the direction of my crying friend. I try to highlight that she is in a state of sorrow and that conversation is slightly inappropriate.

He nods and continues his lonely patrol.

Abraham in Brief

The Torah is the foundation of Jewish legal and ethical religious texts. It is the same as the first five books of the Biblical Old Testament (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy). The Qu'ran has similarities to both Jewish and Christian Books but splits at the point of Abraham. An abridged account is thus;

God told Abraham to leave his native land and promised that He would bless him and make him a great nation. Abraham's wife Sarah is barren and cannot have any children. They pray to God who answers their prayer by promising them a child despite her being beyond in years. 

As time passes, Sarah and Abraham begin to doubt God's promise so Sarah convinces Abraham to marry their Egyptian maid Hagar in hopes of having a child to her. Because of this, Sarah begins to become jealous and treats Hagar harshly. 

One day Hagar decides to flee but an angel of God appears to her and tells her to return to Sarah as she will bear Abraham a son who will be "a wild ass of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he shall dwell in the face of all his kinsmen.” This child is to be named Ishmael. 

When Ishmael is 14 years old, God tells Abraham and Sarah that the time has come for their bloodline to continue. Sarah becomes pregnant and bears a son, Isaac, to Abraham. 

When Isaac is born, Sarah can no longer stand the sight of both Hagar and Ishmael. She tells Abraham that they will not share of the inheritance and that they are both to be sent away. Abraham is distressed by his wife's words and seeks God's advice on the matter. God replies saying that Isaac will continue the Abrahamic line but Ishmael's line too will be made into a great nation.

Ishmael and Hagar move to Arabia (present day Saudi Arabia) whilst Isaac, Abraham, and Sarah stay in the land of Canaan (later to be Israel).

Abraham Sacrifices his Son

Later in both the Bible and Torah, God tests Abraham's love for Him by telling him to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Moriah (the mountain on which Jerusalem sits and where Jesus would be crucified). But God provides a ram* as a sacrifice thus sparing Isaacs' life.

*In the Biblical New Testament, Jesus is called both the 'Lamb of God' and 'Son of God'. Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac is believed to be a foretelling of God's sacrificial love for His people through the death of His beloved son Jesus. In the same way sins had been atoned by animal sacrifice, sins would be atoned once and for all by the sacrifice of Christ, who was God subjected to human experience.

In the Qa'ran, Abraham is believed to have acted to sacrifice Ishmael although the name of the son is not stated in Qa'ranic text. This takes place in Arabia. 

Abraham is then believed to have visited Ishmael and Hagar in Arabia. On one such visit he is purported to have constructed a place of worship to God called the Kaaba. This is the cube shaped building in Mecca, the most sacred site in Islam. 

To read more about the story of Abraham click on the link below;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham

You might find these sites to be an interesting read in regards to questions surrounding the Israel/Palestine settlement and conflict;
http://www.beyondimages.info/b247.html
http://www.zionism-israel.com/Hebron_Massacre1929.htm

We're all part of a pretty messy family. May God forgive us all.