Hebron

From Wikitravel

Hebron is an ancient city in the southern West Bank. It is mentioned in the Bible as the home of Abraham, and the burial place of him and several generations of his family. In King David's time, Hebron was briefly the capital of the Israelite state, before the capital moved to Jerusalem. Today, Hebron is holy to both Muslims and Jews due to its association with Abraham.

After 1967, a few Jewish settlers went to visit Hebron for Passover, then decided not to leave. Despite the move being against Israeli law, the settlers were never forced out, and Israeli policy eventually endorsed the occupation. Today, about 500 settlers live in part of the old city of Hebron under continual IDF protection, and soldiers outnumber settlers in Hebron four to one. The remaining 166,000 residents of the surrounding city are Palestinians. The Cave of Machpelah or the Ibrahimi Mosque, Abraham's burial place and the main holy site in the city, is on the border between the Palestinian and Jewish sectors.

[edit] Get in

You can take the 160 bus from the Jerusalem Central Bus station to the Jewish section of Hebron. Check that it goes into Hebron and not just to the nearby Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba. It is impossible to access the Jewish section of Hebron on foot. Arab taxi drivers are not allowed into the Jewish section, so you will need to travel there from an Israeli town or a Jewish settlement.

If you want to access major metropolitan Hebron, you can take a servees taxi from the bus stations in Ramallah or Bethlehem. If you are coming from Jerusalem, you can also take the bus to Abu Dis and tell the bus driver you are going to Khalil (Hebron's original Arabic name).

[edit] Get around

[edit][add listing] See

• The Cave of Machpelah or Ibrahimi Mosque is the main religious site in the city. The cave itself is deep underground, and now people pray in a building on top of it, which was built by King Herod about 2000 years ago.

Most of the time, half of the building is used for Muslim and half for Jewish prayer. On a few predetermined days each year, each religion gets to use the entire building. For the Jews, in addition to the normal holidays, one of these days is "Shabbat Chayei Sarah" each fall, on which thousands of people from all of Israel visit Hebron to commemorate Abraham's purchase of the Cave from its previous Hittite owners.

[edit][add listing] Do

• A group of former Israeli soldiers who've served in Hebron called Breaking the Silence offers tours of Hebron that explain the harsh political situation of the city. Tours leave from Binyanei Hauma near the Jerusalem Central Bus Station. Visit their website to find out when the next tour is and how to schedule one. [1]

[edit][add listing] Buy

• The Hebron Glass Factory in the northern part of the city sells blown glass which Hebron is famous for, at very reasonable prices.

[edit][add listing] Eat

[edit][add listing] Drink

[edit][add listing] Sleep

[edit] Get out