Hevron. Hebron
During the Sukkot holiday, I visited Hebron for the first time in 15 years. I was truly shocked by what I saw.
Hebron, with its old and shuttered shops seen in countless photos.
Hebron, where Israeli soldiers stand on guard.
Hebron, where streets are deserted.
Sad. Sad Hebron.
Media, print and social, has shown us countless images of violence and poor, poor Arabs in Hebron.
But, Hebron is the burial-place of the Jewish Patriarchs and Matriarchs. Our tour visited
on one of ten days a year, the Muslims have to yield full access to Jews and non-Jewish visitors. Abraham is recorded in the Bible as buying the land to bury his wife Sarah.
These steps in Hebron are dated to the Early Bronze Age, 4,500 years ago.
Excavations of an Israelite house from 2,700 years ago revealed 5 seals in ancient Hebrew, each with two words, “To the King, Hebron.”
Then in 1929, Tarpat, Arabs massacred their Jewish neighbors.
The previous 7 photos you probably have seen. So what? Now. How about these?
Our tour bus had to stop and wait, as the road was blocked. An Israeli solider had given an old Arab man a ride, and helped the man slowly out to the street. Not a human rights organization camera in sight. Now that was not surprising.
On the street where Israelis, Jews, and Arab school girls passing quietly by a checkpoint. Again not another camera to be seen.
But much more shocking than seeing Jews and Arabs interacting peacefully was seeing Hebron itself, from a vantage point in the Jewish area.
Looking to the left, this was the view, a modern city too big for a panorama shot.
This was the scene to the right, and if you look to the right side of the picture in the middle, you can see the huge stone walls of the Cave of Patriarchs and Matriarchs.
Hebron, has taxis and shops and people on the streets.
I was shocked.
Not once had I seen photos of these modern buildings. Hebron covers a vast area and in all these years, I had not seen one photo. Certainly not from B’tselem or others of what was really happening in Hebron. Arabs built a big modern city, and we only see one small area.
Meanwhile, electronic gates and a shocking cement guardhouse cage are needed at the entrance to protect Israeli soldiers on duty.
It is not just how photos are cropped, but what photos are shown and shared.
Poor, sad Arab Hebron. Another narrative for UNESCO maybe, but not from what we saw.
