After our first "unsettling settlement" stop we went on to Hebron--also in the West Bank. Hebron is the ancient Biblical city where Abraham bought land so that he could bury Sarah. In the Tomb of the Patriarchs, Abraham is buried with Sarah, Jacob, Isaac, Rebecca, and Leah. The is also a sacred space for Muslims as it was a Herodian sanctuary and Edomite temple. Today there is a single room sacred to both peoples and into which Christians and Muslims come. Jews have a separate entrance and space.
In the city itself, there are byzantine zoning rules and regulations in this city split so dramatically. Palestinians are forced to walk in a small designated lane on one part of the street; on the rest of the street they can neither walk nor drive. Their shop and home doorways that open on to the street have been sealed shut and the only way many can entere their homes is through the roof.
Armed IDF forces are everywhere to visible, guns apparently at the ready. They are just kids. We saw here and at the demonstration against demolishing Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, peacemaking teams from the World Council of Churches. Here, particularly poignant, engaging with the little children coming out of school and making their way down the restricted street to their own part of Hebron--zoned meticulously to control movement. The restrictions on movement are to me the most disturbing. Our own guide is a prime example. Security prompted by the deepest and most comprehensive living with fear are such powerful motivators and a more potent barrier than the highest part of the WALL (aka "fence") here.
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