Some religious zealots, including the rightwing member of the Knesset, Danny Danon who addressed the crowd in Hebron yesterday, believe passages from Hayei Sarah establish Israel's historical title to Hebron. At a time when radical religious extremism seems to threaten all hope of finding peace and resolution in Palestine and Israel, I find it difficult to express how moved I am to hear deeply religious voices who work tirelessly for peace. It is probably because I am a secular person that it took me a long time to really listen to religious voices in the activist community. That changed when I attended a Sabeel conference last year. Yesterday I visited +972 and clicked on a link that made me weep. Called WATCH: Alternative Jewish interpretations seek to counter settler takeover of Hebron, this is about Project Hayei Sarah.
Ben Murane:
"It's supposed to be a holy city... a city given as a reward for truthfulness. And it's because Hebron is supposed to be such a holy place that I am so disappointed... How does one behave in a holy place? In holy places we speak quietly, respectfully...
"[But] today there are few pilgrims in Hebron... Some 20 percent of it is under full curfew and military patrol... It's a ghost town. The only layers of history there seem dry and ugly, just dust swirling in empty marketplaces."
In a truly holy place, "witnesses are inspired to holiness themselves.... In Hebron I felt that God had abandoned earth."
All people of faith who work tirelessly to heal the Holy Land have my thanks today. And thank you Mairav Zonszein for bringing these videos to my attention, and Breaking the Silence for offering tours of Hebron that open people's hearts and minds.
Also, here is Rabbi Jill Jacobs' impassioned plea for justice:
A group of Jews stands in a small park. Across from us two Palestinian children are playing soccer in the street. The ball rolls into the park. A member of our group kicks it back. ‘That’s lucky fur the children, the park is off limit to Palestinians…’ A row of closed storefronts stands where the lively Palestinian market used to be. The graffiti on the metal doors proclaims ‘death to Arabs’, and warns Palestinians that ‘the death chamber awaits’. Bizarrely, one mural shows a smiling Haredi man saying ‘keep smiling’…what a contrast to the Hebron of the torah. There, the city is a place of compassion, a place where people of different families, tribes and backgrounds come together…it is a place where Abraham introduces himself as a stranger, a resident alien, and who is welcomed by the residents of the city…a place where Abraham’s estranged sons, Isaac and Ishmael, come together to bury and to mourn for their father….Today, Hebron is just one extreme symptom of the broad systemic violations of human rights that are required to maintain Israel’s occupation of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. It is also a city that to both Jewish and Muslim traditions was once a shining example of human coexistence. This week, as we read Parsha Havei Sarah, the story of Sarah’s burial in the city of Hebron, I hope and pray that we can all do our part to make Hebron once again a city of compassion, friendship, and coexistence.
Today, the sons of Isaac and the sons of Ishmael, recognized by all monotheisms as the Jews and the Muslims, respectively, still come together to mourn their father in Hebron. Housed within a half-mosque, half-synagogue compound, Abraham’s Tomb sits in a circular vault, surrounded by a synagogue window on one side and a mosque window on the other. Gazing through each of their windows at the tomb of their father, the two faiths awkwardly look at each other out of the corner of their eye, through a narrow, slanted, indirect, sidelong, askew line of sight. “How sweet and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1)
Zionism destroys everything it touches.
i don’t know chaos, ben could be a zionist for all i know. if he is, it didn’t destroy him. for some people zionism is about ethnic nationalism. it’s not my thing but it isn’t inherently fanatical and greed driven. had it not been in palestine it would have been a different ball of wax. they should have bought some uninhabited land in south america or africa. then i would have no problem with it.
I don’t see how people can remain Zionist after seeing this. Re-brand it your Jewish identity if you have to, that what Germans had to do to retake their national identity after what the Nazis did with it, but being a Zionist will forever entail the ideology of taking from the Palestinians what was rightfully theirs.
it takes a lot to change a national psyche chaos. it’s not that simple to to will yourself to change. people generally get ah ha moments in their consciousness and then transform or slowly change over time. but some people..well i think it is a level of brainwashing to get people to accept atrocities so anathema to morality. i do believe this is a calculated decision, to create a level of fear and paranoia to sustain a rationale for the crimes of zionism. so, some would have to be deprogrammed just like coming out of a cult. instead the opposite is occurring where the idea of jews as victims is perpetuated and empowered thru media.
but my take away from Project Hayei Sarah is there are very beautiful people in this culture with deep social consciousness. if some of them are zionists i do not assume they support the crimes of zionism any more than i support the ethnic cleansing of the indigenous people here.
have you listened to the rest of the videos @ 972? the one by alana alpert..open windows..brought tears to my eyes. and drew cohen..
so i don’t know if these people are zionists or not. but there are some good people who are zionists. i know it’s hard to imagine but it’s true.
“but there are some good people who are zionists. i know it’s hard to imagine but it’s true.”
I don’t doubt that there are some good zionist..as in basically ‘decent” people.
I am sure there were many who envisioned zionism as some benign commune like society and homeland for Jews…not as hostile and racist philosophy.
Zionism has not turned out to be what they thought it was.
They are now between a rock and hard place in their support of Israel…I can sympathize with their emotional turmoil.
I think they think they can change it with religious appeals and calls for morality so I admire their efforts.
But zionism has no respect for religion, not even for Judaism, they just use it.
The only way Ben could be a zionist, is if we allow there to be a zionism in the abstract. I think what Chaos’ point of view reflects is this: we should only judges ideologies on their practical application, not the associated theory. I think this is both rational and necessary.
As for the “culture with [it's] deep social consciousness,” I think what is becoming more and clear over time, at least for me, is much of this is rooted in the Enlightenment. A reaction to it from institutional judaism is not surprising, the christians did the same thing, and still continue to do so….
I agree.
“Something happens…then you make a choice and take a side”.
Graham Green, ‘The Quiet American’
But zionism has no respect for religion, not even for Judaism, they just use it.
Yeah, but it’s in the process of itself being used by some religious radicals.
The view when Israel was founded was that religion was a nothing and would eventually die out. History has proved otherwise, and the country is now coming more and more under the influence of militant rabbis.
Make no mistake: What appears to be a growing religious crisis in Israel is as much a threat to Israel’s survival as are the external threats, perhaps more so.
Israel has shown that she can protect herself from armies and terrorists. Protecting herself from religious extremism may be Israel’s biggest challenge—a challenge that cannot and must not be ignored by those who care about Israel’s soul.
link to arza.org
Here are some further links regarding the growing danger of religious extremism in Israel.
link to haaretz.com
link to wrmea.com
link to globalresearch.ca
link to jweekly.com
link to israelhayom.com
link to jpost.com
“In Hebron I felt that God had abandoned earth.”
More like they have abandoned God. I’ve taken to calling the zios and christian zios traitors to God as well traitors to country.
I’m waiting to run into a Christian zio so I can tell him he is a traitor to God.
I can imagine the reaction.
God is about love, peace, charity, forgiveness, justice , understanding.
If all above values are not present, there is NO God.
One of the most beautiful hymns about Love/God ,ever.
“1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but DO NOT have love, I am only a resounding gong or a CLANGING CYMBAL.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I AM NOTHING.
3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,but do not have love, I GAIN NOTHING.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does NOT DELIGHT IN EVIL, but rejoices with the truth.
7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.
11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.
12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the GREATEST OF these is LOVE.”
that’s beautiful dumvitaestspesest
I’m waiting to run into a Christian zio so I can tell him he is a traitor to God.
That’s so true, American, go for it.
It’s one of the themes of my own posts. Just yesterday I said:
it is nothing less than a malignant cancer within the Christian church.
Their sickness is seen in their hypocrisy and blindness, caused by the self-deception and delusion virus, which they cement by passing it on to others and to each other. It produces a form of idolatry, the worship of and sacrifice to the Zionist state of Israel.
If I had super powers and could move mountains, or entire cities, I would slice out historical Palestine, pick it up high in the air, then position it just over Jordan and then ask all the Palestinians to step onto Jordanian soil. Then I would lift up historical Palestine again, position it over North America and shake it. All Israeli Jews would then land wherever they land. Then I would take historical Palestine and put it like one would put a puzzle piece back in its place and then ask all the Palestinians to come back. And if any of the Jewish Israelis whom I’ve ‘dropped off’ in North America complained, I’d tell them that they’re in good company as they can whine with their American Jewish friends like the children that they are. I would then walk away with the feeling that I have finally heard the last of all that whining, immaturity, and spoiled behavior by a group that thinks the world owes it something.
i like that idea avi. such a creative imagination.
Annie when Ben is talking about the still, small voice this is what he is referring to (1 Kings 19):
So, when Ben talks about God abandoning Earth he’s not blaming God but rather noticing like Elijah did that the children of Israel abandoned the covenant. The Torah is also clear that if the children of Israel abandon the covenant the promise of the land is made null and void.
The Torah is also clear that if the children of Israel abandon the covenant the promise of the land is made null and void.
Exactly.
That is one important reason why Zionism is such a brazen lie. It is a traitor to Judaism and its author. Its founders were atheists who rejected Judaism and its teachings and replaced them with Zionism, which is an ideology based on nationalism.
This desire to “be like all the nations” is described as “forsaking me and serving other gods” in 1 Samuel 8:4-8.
Today that idolatry is expressed in the worship of the Land and State of Israel, which Zionists effectively sacrifice to.
thanks rich. i’ll go listen to it again with that in mind. i’ve already watched it many times. i discovered these on friday and listened to some of them over and over.
While Ben seemed reasonable and mild mannered. I felt his only focus was to emphasize Hebron according to the Torah belongs to the Jews.
Israeli’s and most Jews want all of Jerusalem along with Hebron. 1500 Israeli soldiers there to protect 300 illegal settlers.
The real issue in Hebron
Jewish access to the Cave of the Patriarchs is dependent on the presence of the settlers in the Hebron area. This will probably be true in future years as well, regardless of any agreements that might be reached with the Palestinians or the Jordanians.
By Moshe Arens
link to haaretz.com
Art Gish’s book about living with Palestinians in Hebron is worth while reading.
link to store.mpn.net
he went back year after year after this book was published
well, he specifically calls for the settlers to leave hebron and has chosen to title his video reconsecrating hebron, (to make it holy again). so i think his intent is pure. he says ‘relinquish this city to revitalize it’ at 4:40, to ‘pull back remove the settlements ..and give the city hope to live again. it is our turn to really lend sacredness to a wounded deeply divided place. we can infuse this and invite god back. make it once again a city of refuge.’
I felt his only focus was to emphasize Hebron according to the Torah belongs to the Jews.
well, he is a jew and this was in regard to a special day in the jewish calander. so it was part of his interpretation of this lesson in the torah. that is how i understood all the videos which is why Mairav @ the link calls these “Alternative Jewish interpretations seek to counter settler takeover of Hebron”. so when he said to leave to make it holy who do you think he thought would be living there for it to become holy again? for it to then become a place where people visit when they need refuge? he said if the settlers leave it will invite god back again. that is the way it sounded to me.
Jewish access to the Cave of the Patriarchs is dependent on the presence of the settlers in the Hebron area.
i do not believe that. i believe palestinians would respect people visiting holy sites on the land once this nightmare is over. there need not be settlers terrorizing the city for jews to visit the city.
With you on this. But repeating access is dependent upon illegal settlers over and over again starts to stick
always keep in mind that Hebron is the largest city in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli settlers are there illegally. There are 165,ooo Palestinians living there. They are ILLEGAL. Yet 300 illegal settlers are being protected by 1500 Israeli police.
Rabbi Jacobs “the settlers (illegal) engage almost daily violence” Describes a dozen Jewish girls smashing Palestinian shops.
link to en.wikipedia.org
“Hebron was originally a Canaanite royal city.[19] Earlier, in Abraham’s day, the city is said to be under Hittite control. In the narrative of the later Hebrew conquest, it is under Canaanite control and ruled by the three sons of Anak, descendants of the Nephilim (Joshua 10:5,6). The Book of Genesis mentions that it was formerly called Kirjath-arba, or “city of four”, possibly referring to the four pairs or couples who were buried there, four tribes, four quarters[20] four hills,[21] or a confederated settlement of four families.[22]
Those Arabs every one lauds as a model of co-existence massacred their Jewish neighbors a lifetime ago. Hebron is one of the oldest Jewish cities in the world. It was the first capital of Israel under King David. And as the Bible rightly notes, Abraham insisted on buying the Cave Of Machepelah because he wanted to leave no doubt who owned it. It still belongs to the Jewish people and the Arabs have no right to it. They conquered it and then for several hundred years forbade Jews from going beyond the seventh step of the entrance to their ancestors’ tombs. This is a situation that must never be allowed to happen again – and the only way to return the Cave Abraham bought for his wife to the Jewish people is to make Hebron a Jewish city – in fact as well as in name.
How much did he buy it for? Was it in Shekels, Liras, Shillings, Dollars or Euros? I bet it was in Dinars.
No wait, I take that back; Abraham must have charged it on God’s company card. And much like Uncle Sam, God is still hoping to get his money back.
“And as the Bible rightly notes, Abraham insisted on buying the Cave Of Machepelah because he wanted to leave no doubt who owned it.”
You really believe this old fairy tale? Well, if it is true, then surely it does not belong to “the Jewish People” but the lineal descendants of Abraham.
Fairy tale book in every hotel room in the US. One of the greatest and most successful pr scams of all times
NormanF
“Those Arabs every one lauds as a model of co-existence…”
Yes, dozens of whom saved hundreds of Hebron Jews they sheltered in their homes during that massacre of 29. From which direction does the greatest hate come?
You’re a bald faced liar, there was no “second Holocaust” by Arabs and certainly nothing that compares to the atrocities that Zionists have inflicted for generations.
“Never again to our people!” was a refrain of Nazi Germany too.
Rabbi Jacobs “the settlers (illegal) engage almost in daily violence”
She can say that over and over again
Israeli Settlers attacking a Palestinian in Hebron
link to youtube.com
Palestinians harassed by an evil Jewish settler in Hebron cage (p1) (listen to this illegal settler calling a Palestinian “cunt” over and over again
link to youtube.com
Jewish settlers act like terrorists in Hebron . Israeli officers and illegal settlers do not want people to film their actions
link to youtube.com
link to youtube.com
Hebron settlers assault internationals and Israeli
link to youtube.com
Settler attacks a Palestinian family in Hebron
link to youtube.com
Christian Peace Maker Teams and Palestinian human rights organizations have been shedding the light on the human rights violations there for several decades
Art staring down an Israeli tank in Hebron
link to dispatch.com
illegal Israeli tank
Occupy Wall Street hit the road
Marching from New York to DC. Occupy the highway
link to dagblog.com
Egypt Rising Against Military Rule. Security Forces Descend on Tahrir Square
link to occupywallst.org
The few hundred settlers in Hebron aren’t doing Israel any favors. Israel might desire a permanent status quo, but they don’t need Hebron. These particular settlers are absolutely batshit insane and they aren’t probably don’t consider even themselves Zionist. If there was a hypothetical 2SS with no mention of Hebron’s fate, they would declare independence and be violent toward Israelis. Israel wastes money on their security. It just doesn’t make any sense.
There are few ways that can reach into peoples’ minds and hearts as deeply & profoundly as through cinema….the above youtubes describe Hebron as it is now, after decades of militarization & zealot occupiers in its heart…as a ghost-town where its (majority) population of Palestinians, cannot walk, shop or play with any sense of safety or security; even on the UN road (Shuhada Street) which US taxpayers funded, which – sad to say- is the least of the trouble for those who live in that negatively charged environment.
Ali Abunimah posted mention about a movie, which wrapped up filming in Hebron in June ; This film tells the story of 3 boys, Christian Jewish and Muslim, 3 friends who grew up in Hebron prior to the 1st Intifada. It is a story that must be told so I hope that you will visit the trailer and that you will share it and do whatever you can to get this film completed– here’s the link:
link to electronicintifada.net
The movie does sound good.
“story that grapples with the reality of proximity and how children negotiate it.
Yet they grow up in a structure, WHICH guarantees and reproduces violence-enforced privilege for SOME, and oppression for the REST.”
““We’ve tried to raise funds for Sleeping on Stones for ten years. As there is scant finance for Palestinian films in the global film industry and the studios have no interest in producing such a film, it’s up to our audience now.”