I went to Hebron with the American students today. There are around 420 Jewish settlers in the old city in a city of 220,000 muslims. The area around the settlers is under Israeli control. Extreme measures have been deemed necessary to ensure the safety of the settlers, including the enforced closure of 512 shops, 101 road closures and the banning of Palestinian vehicles on the settler road out of Hebron. Palestinian vehicles are banned from this area and Muslims are required to approach the Mosque on foot and to pass through a turnstile. The settlers need a dedicated road to enable them to drive out of Hebron to outlying settlements  such as Qiryat Arba, for services such as shops, health and school. The site of the graves of the Patriarchs Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob and Leah are contained in a building which has been divided into a Mosque and a Synagogue. This is the second most holy place in Israel after the site of the Temple in Jerusalem. It was interesting to visit the sites of the home of Abraham and the graves of Ruth and Jesse, and to realise their importance in the long story of this holy place.

We heard two very different perspectives, one from a Palestinian shopkeeper whose shop has been closed, and another from one of the Jewish settlers. Both groups have experienced violence and both still feel threatened by the situation.  Much to think about.

I enjoyed being with Rafat (shown in the picture) from the Holy Land Trust, and particularly enjoyed he to collect (and eat) lunch of pitta bread stuffed with falafel, potato and sale. We also had freshly squeezed pomegranate juice.