Foundation Stone

by David Willner
for Foundation Stone

It's percolating there, just below the surface. Hebron. The Masters of Political Correctness have succeeded in conveying the sense that Hebron is an Arab town deep in the West Bank. Hard to tell the truth - to separate out the facts from the "spin." Until the Arab riots and massacre of 1929, Hebron was perhaps the longest settled city of Jews in the world. They worked in business, trade, prayed, shopped, celebrated, and mourned much as Jewish communities everywhere did. They by and large got along with their Arab neighbours - with the intermittent attacks being the exception rather than the rule. Yes, even in the 1920's and '30s - long before the establishment of the modern State of Israel, Arabs attacked - and killed Jews.

For the British it was easier to banish the Jews from the city - there were fewer Jews than Arabs after all. So instead of trying to civilise the Arab masses, they forced transfer on the victims. Jewish homes and businesses, Jewish banks and hospitals - hospitals that then - and today - treat both Arabs and Jews were shuttered and closed. Soon Arab squatters would take over these empty testaments to a once thriving community. And with nary a smidgen of embarrassment would claim them as their own.

If one has their ear close to the ground, if one can break through the cacophony of noise that surrounds anything related to the State of Israel, if one choses to look, it is still possible to see through haze and to gaze at reality. The Jewish people live today in Hebron. They work, they pray, they serve in the Israeli army. Their numbers are not large - about 300 brave souls. But they have returned to their patrimony. They live in buildings and apartments that were once bustling with life. Beit Romano, Beit Hadassah - every building and apartment that can be demonstrated once belonged to a Jewish owner is being reclaimed - one at a time, with patience and perseverance. The challenges are inevitable - often by left wing Jewish organisations more eager to side with the squatters than with the legal owners or their descendants.

If one continues down the road from the Cave of the Patriarchs (and Matriarchs) - Ma'arat HaMachpela - one comes to a short turn in the road and a steep incline. This is Tel Rumeida - Tel Hebron - the most ancient part of the city of Hebron. Near the top, an excavation is currently under way, to try and understand the archaeology of this ancient city. In the last few weeks I've visited twice. When I visited yesterday (Sunday February 9, 2014), the archaeologist in charge showed us a find he had dug up that day. I don't have his permission yet to publicise the find, but it is a First Temple period artefact from the time of the Kings of Judah. I get chills just typing those words.

Maybe I'm naive but I believe that it is still possible to right a terrible wrong. The roots of the Jewish people are long and deep. Longer and deeper than any others. We need to reclaim our own narrative - for not all narratives are equal and we must work to discover and to reveal the truth. To find just solutions and to respectfully disagree with those that would deny our connection to the Land of Israel is our responsibility. It's definitely easier to look the other way - to chose a path of no resistance. We've tried that - and it doesn't work. Every inch of this land that we chose to ignore or pretend is not our responsibility becomes a club wielded against us with terrifying ferocity. A club that would either evict us from everything or would destroy us.

So start your journey here... Follow the links and meet the spokesman - David Wilder - of Hebron. And then start sharing what you've learned with others. And slowly, we can let a little truth, a little dose of reality, inform our understanding.

David Wider is the official spokesperson for the Jewish community in Hebron. You'll find him a knowledgable and articulate representative of one of Israel's oldest and most important cities. Click the player above and you can blow some dust off of the history of the city of Abraham, David, and so many others. For more pictures and articles about Hebron, please follow the links below:
http://www.hebron.com
http://www.davidwilder.org