Yesterday we were able to spend some time in Hebron, as part of a visit arranged by the Church of Scotland and the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI).
We visited parts of both the Palestinian and Israeli sections of the city, and the Cave of the Patriarchs – known to Jews as the Cave of Machpelah and to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque – the traditional burial place of the patriarchs and matriarchs of the Jewish faith: Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah.
The cave itself is located below a suitably monumental rectangular structure built by Herod the Great, converted to a mosque during the era of the Crusades by Saladin. We had time only to pass through the complex’s Synagogue, from which a series of enormous sepulchres representing the patriarchs and matriarchs can be glimpsed.
I will write more about the Cave when I understand more of its history and am better able to put my impressions into context. Suffice to say for now that the weight of history and atmosphere of devotion here is intense, an intensity that charges the bitter conflict over the division of the city. After visiting the tombs we went through a checkpoint into some of Hebron’s Israeli-controlled streets, home to perhaps the most ideologically motivated settlers in the West Bank.
Here are some images of the visit, presented for now without comment. One city, two narratives.
Please click the thumbnails for the full sized images. The pictures are also available on Flickr.
