I came back to Jerusalem for the sole purpose of joining a tour to Hebron, Palestine. While I am usually not a fan of organized tours, Abraham Hostels offers an interesting dual-narrative tour of Hebron which I considered the best way to see and experience this divided city. We were going to spend half of the day on each side – the Israeli one and the Palestine one – meeting locals in each part and hearing the different sides of the story.
Some background for my readers: Hebron is the largest city in Palestine, but has been divided into two zones: H1 (Palestine) and H2 (Israel, smaller part). Basically the Palestinians claim the city as their own, and the Israelis do the same. There are frequent clashes between the two groups and both sides are accusing each other of lying about things like throwing down things on the street (to hit people below), planting weapons on someone so they would get accused, taking away houses from each other etc. It’s a mess and both sides believe they are 100% right. The epicenter of the dispute is the Cave of Patriarchs – a holy site to both religions where different graves, for example of Abraham, are supposed to be located. This is also the reason why no side is willing to give up on Hebron…
We started the day on the Palestinian side of Hebron, walking around small streets and market stalls. I quite liked that part and the city, never mind politics! While walking around, we were pointed out some metal nets that had been installed above the market streets. There was lots of waste, rocks and other stuff laying on there – supposedly thrown down by the Israeli settlers, often inhabiting the top floors of the houses, while the Palestinians still live on the ground floor. Crazy, right!?
In the afternoon, we switched to the Israeli side, where the settlers live. Here, the streets were much emptier. Ghost town feeling. Not sure why they don’t make it nice for themselves with some cafes and shops, but there’s simply nothing. We also got the chance to talk to a settler living there which was eye-opening, fascinating and shocking at the same time. I was shocked how a seemingly smart, well-educated young man could have such beliefs. I can’t really recount all he explained to us, but if we all lived according to his beliefs, I guess I would be fine going back to Poland, finding the place where my family name originates from and kick the people living there now out of my old family house. Sounds crazy and it sure is. When asked about why many settlers have so many kids (8 on average), his answer was „what’s wrong with us trying to out-breed them!?“. Quote. And apparently he is one of the less radical settlers. Go figure. While I truly hated that arrogant a…hole, it was probably the best part of the day – best as in, providing me with insights about the whole Palestine situation and why there can be no easy solution.
My mind was a bit messed up after this day, trying to process all I had heard and seen. I truly hope there will be a solution for Israel and Palestine at one point – but having experienced Hebron, I very much doubt it. There is too much hate and anger on both sides, not enough willingness to forgive. Both sides have made mistakes in the past, but noone is willing to move on. It will also not get easier, if mainly radical people on both sides are trying to have more and more kids and educate them in a certain way. For anyone who wants a deeper understanding of the problem, I do recommend the tour by Abraham’s Hostels. It’s not THE most amazing tour I have ever joined, but especially meeting that settler was eye-opening.
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