Hebron’s heartaches

Shifting of the American Embassy to Jerusalem emboldened Israel to extend their muscle to the city of Hebron

“Today, our city has been invaded by several dozen Israeli settlers who have illegally occupied abandoned homes and are refusing to leave,” writes Abdullah, who accompanied me to the Ibrahami Mosque in Hebron three years ago. Here, Prophet Ibrahim, his wife Sarah, son Prophet Ishaaq and daughter-in-law Rafiqa lie buried.

The city is named after Prophet Ibrahim. In Hebrew ‘Hebron’ means ‘friend.’ In Arabic ‘al Khalil,’ the name of Prophet Ibrahim, also means ‘the friend.’ Both Jews and the Muslims consider him the ‘Friend of God.’

Abdullah lives close to the Ibrahami Mosque and earns a living by taking Muslim pilgrims to the holy graves. His recent email says: “I’m sorry to say that while Muslims around the world offer Durood-e-Ibrahimi five times a day after the completion of their prayers, most are ignorant where Prophet Ibrahim is buried and how the Israelis are keeping us hostages in his city of Hebron.”

President Trump’s shifting of the American Embassy to Jerusalem has further emboldened the Israeli law enforcement agencies to extend their muscle to the city of Hebron, a mere 18 miles throw from Jerusalem.

Hebron is in West Bank. It’s the second largest city of the Palestinian territories after Gaza that recently saw 62 of its citizens massacred and around 3000 injured by the Israeli forces when they protested against the US embassy move to Jerusalem. Hebron is divided into two sectors: 80% is controlled by the Palestinian Authority and 20% by Israel. When I visited Hebron, I saw big contingents of Israeli military patrol the city on the pretext of protecting some 600 Jewish residents living in the old Jewish quarter. Three years later, the number of Israeli squatters has multiplied.

“We have to walk this side of the road reserved for Muslims,” I’m warned when ascending the steep timeworn yet robust stairs to Ibrahami Mosque.

A couple of thousand Israeli troops are posted here to manage the security. We enter the 1,000-year old Ibrahimi Mosque. The prosaic entryway opens into a huge hall. Tall glass chandeliers light up the space laden with wall-to-wall prayer rugs woven in bright red. The colour and design is identical to the spread that I see in AlAqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock at Jerusalem. Enshrined are three enormous tombs in green coverings with Quranic verses embroidered in gold.

I move to the first grave. It has Prophet Ibrahim’s name written in Arabic atop the latticed window encircling his vault. Next to him is his son Prophet Ishaq’s, and daughter-in-law Rafiqa’s tombs. Sarah, the wife of Prophet Ibrahim, lies buried in another room facing her husband’s tomb. For Muslims this is a mosque; for Jews it’s a synagogue; for Christians it’s a church. While all three religions seek their spiritual roots; they pray separately.

The Holy Quran mentions Prophet Ibrahim 69 times. He’s looked upon as the patriarch of the three great monotheistic faiths—Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

God declares in Surah Aal e Imran (3:65): O People of the Scripture, why do you argue about Abraham while the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed until after him? Then will you not reason? And in (3:67), God says: Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was one inclining toward truth, a Muslim [submitting to Allah]. And he was not of the polytheists.

The Hebron or Palestine issues may never be resolved because Washington is no longer a mediator in the Israel-Palestine conflict. It’s firmly on the side of Netanyahu, a much-reviled figure internationally.

“Bottom line, like Kashmir, Taiwan and many other places, we may not get to homeostasis in our lifetime,” says a foreign policy analyst, “If the UN Security Council 242 and 338 resolution been implemented, the Palestine-Israeli issue would have been resolved more than forty years ago!”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 27^th, 2018.

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