Written contribution / Contribution écrite
by / par

Mustafa Abdel Naby Natshe
The Mayor of Hebron

The ideas and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of UNESCO/Les idées et les opinions exprimées dans cet ouvrage sont celles de l'auteur et ne reflètent pas nécessairement les vues de l'UNESCO

HEBRON, THE CITY OF HISTORY AND CONFLICT
CHALLENGES PACING THE CITY
AT THE DAWN OF THE NEW
MILLENNIUM

Hebron is an ancient historical holy city, its history goes back 4,000 years BC. The Arab Cananaites were the first to settle in the city and then established the first kingdom that was also called "Arba", which means four. I around 1900 BC, Prophet Abraham passed through the City of Hebron on his way to Egypt. During his stay in Hebron his wife Sara died, he buried her at the Macphela Cave. Later, he took the site as a burial place for himself and his family, Prophet Isaac, Jacob, and their wives. The place, which was built on the Macphela Cave, is known as the Ibrahimi Moscque.

Since that date, the city was ruled by many civilisations like the ancient Egyptians, Hebrews, Persians, Greeks, and Romans till the Islamic conquest in 660 AC, the time when most residents of the city embraced Islam, and live in peace with each other without any discrimination, according the verse in the holy Koran, and here I quote from Surat Al-Hujurat, verse 13, "Mankind! We created you from a single of a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other. Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah, he who is the most rightous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and i s well acquainted with all things".

During The Islamic era the city developed, and the residents of the city lived in peace and harmony regardless of their nationality or religion until the Balfour Promise in 1917, the time the Jewish immigration to Palestine started. In 1929, during the British Mandate some disturbances occurred in the city, and lead to the killing of few Jewish residents. The people of Hebron protected and saved most of the Jewish families who lived in the city, and this courageous action is still recognised by the descendants of Hebronite Jewish families. Recently, the Municipality helped an Israeli journalist of Hebronite origin to shoot a film about the life of Jews in the city before 1929, and how they were living in harmony and coexistence with their Moslem neighbours, who protected the Jewish community in the city.

The descendants of the old Jewish community are still in good contact with the Municipality and the Palestinian community in Hebron. Members of the Jewish community still visit the city occasionally, to express their solidarity with the Palestinian people in Hebron. In December 6, 1996, the published an article in the Israeli newspaper Ha'arets asking the Israeli Prime Minister to dismiss the group of strange settlers, who settled in the city after 1967, immediately before they explode the peace process and damage the chances of peace in the future. They even addressed the Israeli Government by the following:

"The settlers who live in the heart of Hebron are not authorized to speak in the name of the ancient Jewish community. Their claim that they are pursuing our father's way is a lie and a deceit. They are strangers to the culture and methodology of the Hebronite Jews who crystallized, through generations, a culture of peace between nations, and understanding between religions".

The city of Hebron is of religious significance to Jews, Moslems, and Christians alike. It was targeted after the Israeli Occupation in 1967, and the first Israeli settlement built in the West Bank was Kiryat Arba' in 1969 after dismissing Palestinian farmers from their land. Since that time, the Israeli policy aimed at evacuating the city centre including the old city from Arab Hebronite citizens, and brought fanatic Israelis from the United States to live in the heart of Hebron. This policy has lead to decreasing the number of Palestinian residents in the Old City from 10,000 in 1967 to less than 1,000 now a day.

The time the whole world rejects ethnic and religious extremism, the Jewish fanatics in Hebron believe that our land is part of the whole land of Israel and call for the transfer of the Palestinian citizens form the city of Hebron. The clearest example of heir fanatic beliefs is the Ibrahimi Mosque Massacre that was committed by their leader Dr.Baroach Goldstein who killed 29 worshipers while kneeling to God at the dawn of the 25th of February, 1994 and injured 200 others. The whole world condemned this crime including the Israeli peace lovers. Contrary to the settlers who considered Goldstein as saint, and built a monument for him in Kiryat Arba', that has become a shrine for the Israeli extremists, who also teach their children to adopt his steps.

During the years of Israeli occupation there had been slow economic development in Palestine compared to other neighbouring countries due to many political, logistic, and regulatory issues. This situation had lasted for almost thirty years and laid its shadows over the new era of the Palestinian National Authority.

Hebron was not different from other Palestinian cities and has taken its share of the prolonged economic negligence. Hebron even suffered much more than other cities for the harsh fact that the group of fanatic Israelis who have chosen the old city of Hebron to live in, and have been promoting the motto that Hebron is theirs. This reason among others, has made life difficult for many Hebronites, and has discouraged them from creating new investments, expanding, or maintaining their already established business. On the other hand, the Israeli policy has aimed at destroying the Palestinian infrastructure in the city and has banned all attempts of development or expansion. The Israeli Authorities supported the building of Jewish settlements with all needed infrastructures on the expense of Palestinians' lands and resources.

After the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority, Hebron Municipality with the help of donor countries launched major steps towards the rehabilitation and development of all infrastructure needs, such as water networks, electricity, sewerage, roads, etc. Special attention was given to the old city of Hebron to preserve this cultural heritage. The Municipality has encouraged the Palestinian people to return to their houses, by starting a big renovation project for the buildings in the city, and also by providing all municipal services including water and electricity free of charge in order to support the existence of the Palestinian citizens in the old city.

In the frame of the continuing peace negotiations and the existence of the Jewish settlers in Hebron. The Israeli Government and the Palestinian Authority agreed on a partial Israeli redeployment in Hebron ("Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron" of 15 January 1997) which, requires the division of Hebron into two parts H1 and H2. H1 is under the Palestinian authority, while H2 is under the Israeli military authority. The two sides agreed that the whole city is one unity concerning all municipal services under the responsibility of Hebron Municipality. Furthermore, both parties state their commitment (Paragraph 9) to the unity of the city and "the mutual goal that movement of people, goods, and vehicles within and in and out of the city will be smooth and normal, without obstacles and barriers"/ The Protocol explicitly mentions the reopening of the Wholesale market and of Al-Shuhada Streeet, which were closed as a reaction to the massacre on 25 February 1994. But more than two years later, the restrictions are still the same and have also lead to many socio-economical problems to the Palestinian citizens in the city.

The first Temporary International Presence in the city of Hebron (TIPH) mission was set up in May 1994, after representatives from Israel and the PLO asked for an international observer group in Hebron. A respective Agreement was signed as a reaction to the massacre. This first TIPH mandate ended in August 1994. The Agreement on TIPH, signed by the two parties on 21 January 1997, requires TIPH to "assist in monitoring and reporting the efforts to maintain normal life in the city of Hebron, thus creating a feeling of security among Palestinians in the City of Hebron". Furthermore, the "Memorandum of Understanding on the Establishment of TIPH (signed on 30 January 1997 by the six participating countries, Norway, Italy, Turkey, Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland), specifies that TIPH will elaborate reports based on internationally recognized human rights standards. The second TIPH Agreement entered into force on 1 February 1997.

Peace can not be achieved without economical prosperity and as the former Israeli Prime Minister Peres once admitted, "you can not sleep in peace while your neighbour is hungry" but unfortunately, the Israeli policy in Palestine has caused so many economical problems and frustrations. In addition to preventing the Palestinians to export their goods. This obviously contradicts with the basis of the whole peace process that is economical prosperity.

This situation has resulted in severe difficulties for the citizens of Hebron in terms of maintaining normal life in the City of Hebron and internationally recognized human rights standards, and over the past two years, there has been immense deterioration in both issues. Hebron has become a military barracks for Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) consisting of 1500 soldiers, who are located in H2 area in order to protect 200 Jewish militant settlers.

IDF soldiers have denied access to many streets in H2 area to Palestinians whom according to the IDF regulations are not authorized to pass. This happened also to pupils, ambulances, and municipal fire brigades. While the Jewish settlers are left to use their vehicles freely in the closed streets.

The street closures and the closure of the Wholesale Market have obviously a negative impact of the local economy. Many shops and small enterprises in Al-Shuhada Street are permanently closed. These closures of streets and the serious consequences they have on the daily life of the inhabitants, are a major source of frustration for the Palestinians living in Hebron in general and in H2 in particular.

Apart from the hardship and the frustration which the street closures causes for the Palestinian citizens of Hebron, the 24 hours curfews imposed on H2 and closures imposed on the city of Hebron (H1 and H2), lead to the reductions in the flow of labour and commodities, the decline in production output and income, the loss of perishable products, etc. In this context it must be underlined that the Industrial Zone is located in H2 area where more than 900 enterprises are established. The quantity of the cost of these restrictions is far beyond imagination. Within the last six months, the IDF imposed in all 31 days of curfew in Hebron and the Jewish fanatics' movement was excluded from any restriction.

Various factors are still obstructing the normalization of life in Hebron, mainly the aggressive behaviour by settlers towards the Palestinians which accelerates day after day, and the unequal treatment of the Jewish settlers and the Palestinian citizens by the Israeli Security Forces. Where they do not undertake any action to stop the daily harassment of those extremists towards the Palestinians dwelling in
Hebron, their main strategy, based on the UN resolutions and International Legitimacy, which state the right of Palestinians in self determination and establishing an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, along side with Israel and to live in harmony and coexistence together. The Holy Koran explicitly call for peace, in Surat Al-Anfal, Verse, it is stated and I quote,

"But if the enemy incline towards peace, do thou also incline towards peace, and trust in Allah: for he is the one that hears and knows all things".

Our position regarding the Jewish existence in the city of Hebron is clear. We do not accept any Jewish fanatics to live in the city because their presence is against International Laws. Furthermore, we welcome any person regardless of his or her religion or belief to live under the Palestinian National Authority in peace.

The nature of conflict at the sunset of this century has turned to be ethnic one. We should be very careful in dealing with such conflict, and it should be resolved by disseminating the principles of humanity and tolerance among people, which the three religions call for. We should enforce dialogue among civilizations to resolve conflicts and disputes, and to respect human rights, democracy, and dignity for all human beings.

Hebron City is bearing a heavy burden with the presence of those extremists in the city, and this must not continue on like this. All brotherly and friendly countries around the world should put much pressure on Israel, to evacuate them from the heart of the Hebron City, to be able to achieve a real and lasting peace in the city in particular and in the region in general. We do support peace and peace lovers and we are in very good contact with all peace movements in Israel. Recently, I have participated in a demonstration with Israeli peace activists and a number of Israeli Keneset members. The demonstration was curried out in front of the Ibrahimi Mosque to protest the presence of the Israeli Occupation in which I delivered a speech calling for peace among the two nations, and protesting against all kinds of extremism.

We all live on the same earth, and we breath the same air, accordingly, we should work together to protect our Planet from destructive wars, to encourage peaceful dialogues, as well as to spread the culture of peace, humanity, and respect among each other on equal basis.