Hebron, Hebron, Hebron

By Theo Haddad

Senior Editor

ot much has been heard recently about what is actually going on between the Israelis and Palestinians. Indeed most American consciousness regarding the Arab / Israeli conflict is limited to the most vague ideas and presumptions; those that limit the conflict to things like religion, land, war, and terrorism. As such, any semblance of understanding of the issue is eliminated, and with that, the opportunity to resolve what is just.

It is important not to resign oneself to the idea that this is a conflict that is too old and complicated for understanding. On the contrary, any willing person can understand what is going on if they only have the desire to learn. Unfortunately, this desire is severely lacking in America concerning all issues. The Arab / Israeli conflict is not an exception.

So what has been going on on the Eastern shores of the Mediterranean? The current situation has the Palestinians and the Israelis deadlocked over the issue of Hebron. Hebron is a town on the West Bank, of about 100,000 Palestinians and 450 Israeli settlers. Settlers are people who believe it to be their God given right to reside anywhere in greater Israel. They are largely regarded by both side as religious fanatics, but they serve an Israeli cause by maintaining a Jewish presence in what would otherwise be Arab land. Their occupation of Arab land is internationally recognized as illegal, but the Israeli government permits and in fact encourages the settlement. Bibi Netenyahu has already proposed expanding old settlements and building new ones.

The case of the Hebron settlers is a particularly sad story. You may be wondering how 450 radical settlers ended up in the middle of so many Palestinians. Well, one day in the early 70's, Rabbi Moshe Levinger and 70 other radical Jews checked into a hotel in downtown Hebron and decided not to move out after their "stay" was up. The Israeli government accommodated this illegal "repossession" and decided to protect them with the Israeli military and arm the settlers to the teeth with the latest submachine guns. Since then, Hebron has been the source of high, tensions, bloodshed, and many of the other unfortunate outcomes that have characterized the Arab Israeli conflict.

Hebron is the source of very raw religious sentiment particularly because it is the only place in the world where both Jews and Muslims share the same place of worship: the Tomb of the Patriarchs, where Abraham, Jacob and Rebecca are reportedly buried. In February 1994, an American Israeli named Baruch Goldstein walked into the mosque while Muslims were praying during the holy month of Ramadan and opened fire with his submachine gun. At least 40 worshippers were killed before Goldstein himself was killed by the crowd of over 400 Muslims. This incident would not have occurred if Israel had not permitted the settlements to exist in the first place, and could have further been prevented if they were not so easily armed. Of course Arabs are not allowed to carry any weapons in Hebron, and after the massacre the whole Arab population of Hebron was put under a 30 day curfew, not the 450 settlers whose idealogy propitiated such an unfortunate outcome.

Similar incidents have also occurred between Israeli settlers and the native Palestinians. Several years ago, Rabbi Moshe Levinger himself, shot and killed a Palestinian boy. For his punishment Levinger was given a few months of community service. In a more recent incident, (2 weeks ago), another settler beat to death an 11 year old Palestinian boy with his rifle butt, and it remains unclear as to what will happen in this instance. The tragedy in this is not just the incredible loss of life, and suffering, but in the knowledge that it does not have to be this way. According to the Oslo Accords of 1993, the Israeli military was supposed to have left Hebron last March. The delay in re-deployment, combined with the current gridlock, has come about as the result of Israeli desire to renegotiate the agreement that had already been agreed upon. All these concerns center around the issue of Israeli security. But when has anyone ever talked about Palestinian security? The settler movement is fundamentally against Palestinian attachment to the land. As such, conflict is an inevitable result as long as the settlement movement continues. It is racist in its inception, and racist (not to mention illegal) in its action. Aside from a dedicated minority, the Israeli settler movement has evaded public condemnation as paeans to Eretz Israel are sung.

Unfortunately, the future of Hebron and other West Bank cities is painfully clear, unless large measures are taken to prevent it. More bloodshed, and possibly another intifada is the unfortunate fate of these people that have already experienced so much suffering. Readers of this article may dismiss my thoughts as the product of an obvious Arab bias. Surely there are other sides to these issues, but that does not, nor cannot ever negate several facts: that the Israeli settler movement is internationally recognized as illegal, that Israel is reneging on the Oslo accord signed with the Palestinians ( promising re-deployment of Israeli troops from Hebron), and that Palestinians in Hebron and other Palestinian towns are suffering daily as the result of military occupation, racist settlers and harsh economic constraints. Is there a just person anywhere who can dispute these facts? Must the possibility of peace be sacrificed at the alter of rascist and illegal practises? I welcome any dialogue, for without it, the volatile status quo is sure to over-spill as it has recently been shown to do.

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