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(This article is about the place in the Middle East. For other uses of the name, see Hebron (disambiguation).)
Hebron (Arabic الخليل al-Ḫalīl; Hebrew חברון, Standard Hebrew Ḥevron, Tiberian Hebrew Ḥeḇrôn: the name in each language is derived from that language's word for "Friend") is a town in the West Bank.
Geographic coordinates : 31°32N 35°06E
Hebron is located 30km south of Jerusalem. Its elevation from sea level is about 1000m. In 1990, the estimated population was 80,000. Hebron is famous for its grapes, limestones, pottery workshops and glassblowing factories. It is the home of Hebron University (http://www.hebron.edu/english) and Palestine Polytechnic University (http://www.ppu.edu).
Since early 1997 the city has been divided into two sectors H1 and H2. H1 part of the town has been controlled by the Palestinian Authority, in accordance with Hebron Protocol (http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/c7d7b824004ff5c585256ae700543ebc?OpenDocument). After the massacre of 1994, an international unarmed observer force - the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) was established in order to maintain a buffer between the Palestinian population and Israelis residing in the ancient Jewish quarter. In March of 2002, two TIPH observers were killed and one wounded by Palestinian gunmen. TIPH patrols in the Jewish areas of the city were temporarily suspended after repeated confrontations with Israeli youths. A recent view of the old city of Hebron History
Hebron is one of most ancient cities in the Middle East, and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The land was originally purchased by Abraham so that he would have somwhere to bury his wife, Sarah. When the Israelites returned from their exile in Egypt they found that an Amorite City had been build upon it. The Gibeonites of Gibeon, a city that had belonged in the Amorite League made a treaty with the Israelites, therefore the Amorites decided to destroy Gibeon as a lesson to other cities. The rulers of Gibeon went to the Israeli general Joshua and asked for him to destroy the Amorite armies which he did. Then he captured all the Amorite cities including Hebron.
Hebron was probably founded in the 18th century BC. It is mentioned numerous times in the Bible. In particular, a cave near it, called the Cave of the Patriarchs (Hebrew: "ma'arat ha-machpela"), is traditionally considered the place where Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob and Leah are buried. This cave is considered holy by both Jews and Muslims, and is site of both a Jewish shrine and a mosque.
Hebron was an ancient Canaanite royal city.
David was anointed King of Israel in Hebron and reigned in the city until the capture of Jerusalem, when the capital was moved to that city.
Scholars debate the interpretation of the word HBRN on LMLK seals. It may be a reference to an economic center established at Hebron during the reign of King Hezekiah (circa 700 BC), or it may be a literal votive inscription meaning "alliance", "association", or "community" (Grena, 2004, p. 49).
Except possibly for a few periods for which the facts are unclear, and the periods 1929-1931 and 1936-1968, there has been a significant Jewish presence in Hebron since Biblical times. In Jewish tradition, Hebron is one of the four "sacred communities" - ancient cities which were sites of Jewish religious activity.
Population at different times
this needs expansion to both earlier and later times
year Jews Christians source
1538 20h 7h 749h Cohen & Lewis (h = households)
1922 430 73 16,074 census
1931 135 112 17,275 census
1944 0 150 24,400 estimate
1967 0 106 38,203 census
1997 530 3 130,000 Jewish Virtual Library
1929 Massacre
See Riots in Palestine of 1929
Jewish resettlement after 1967
Following the Six-Day War of 1967, a group of Jews disguised as tourists, led by Rabbi Moshe Levinger, took over the main hotel in Hebron and refused to leave. They later moved to a nearby abandoned army camp and established the community of Kiryat Arba. In 1979, Levinger's wife led 30 Jewish women to take over the Daboya Hospital (Beit Hadassah) in central Hebron. Before long this received Israeli government approval and further Jewish enclaves in the city were established with army assistance. This process of expansion of the Jewish presence is continuing and there are now more than 20 Jewish settlements in and around the city.
In 1997, an association of pre-1929 Jewish residents of Hebron published a statement dissociating themselves from the present settlers in Hebron, calling them dishonest and an obstacle to peace. [1] (http://www.angelfire.com/il/FourMothers/Yona.html)
1994 Massacre
See Baruch Goldstein
Al-Aqsa Intifada
Since the beginning of recent hostilities, during the Al-Aqsa Intifada, Hebron and its surrounding villages (such as Dura) were a stronghold of the fundamentalist Islamic militias Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. They both used Hebron as base of operation to commit terror attacks against Israeli civilians in Judea and Jerusalem
On March 26, 2004, Shalhevet Pass, a 10 month old girl was shot dead by a Palestinian terrorist sniper while being held in her mother's arms. Her father, Yitzhak, 25, was also injured by the gunfire in Hebron. This murder shocked the Israeli public.
On the eve of November 15, 2002, members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Hebron shot and killed 12 Israeli civilians and soldiers who were protecting Israeli settlers returning from prayer. The attack was quickly termed the "Hebron Massacre" or "Sabbath Night Massacre".
In August 19, a suicide bomber from Hebron, exploded himself on a bus full of children in the center of Jerusalem, killing 23 people.
In response the IDF began a series of raids in order to capture or kill Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders in Hebron. Within two months the leaders of the Islamic Jihad and Hamas in Hebron (Muhammed Seeder and Ahmed Majid Abu-Dosh of the Jihad; Abbedallah Qawasameh, Ahmed Bader, Izzedin Misk and Bassal Qawasameh of the Hamas) were all killed by the IDF elite units, along with some innocent bystanders. The Qawasameh tribe in the town consists of about 10,000 people.
- See also : Israel -- Palestine
References
- Grena, G.M. (2004). LMLK--A Mystery Belonging to the King vol. 1. Redondo Beach, California: 4000 Years of Writing History. ISBN 0-9748786-0-X.
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