Hebron

Infobox Palestinian Authority muni
name=Hebron


imgsize=250
caption=Downtown Hebron
hebname=חֶבְרוֹן
arname=الخليل
meaning=
founded=
type=muna
typefrom=1997
altOffSp=Al-Khalīl
altUnoSp=Al-Ḫalīl
governorate=hb
latd=31|latm=32|lats=00|latNS=N
longd=35 |longm=05|longs=42|longEW=E
population=167,000
popyear=2006
area=
areakm=
mayor=Khaled Osaily

Hebron ( _ar. Audio|ArHebron.ogg|الخليل unicode|al-Ḫalīl or unicode|al-Khalīl; _he. Audio|He-Hebron.ogg|חֶבְרוֹן, Standard Hebrew: unicode|Ḥevron, Tiberian Hebrew: unicode|Ḥeḇrôn) is the largest city in the West Bank, located in the south, 30 kilometers south of Jerusalen. It is home to some 166,000 Palestinians, [The standard figure calculates 500, cf. ] [ [http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/populati/pop11.aspx Projected Mid -Year Population for Hebron Governorate by Locality 2004- 2006] Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.] and over 500 Jewish settlers. [Deborah Campbell, "This Heated Place: Encounters in the Promised Land," Douglas & McIntyre, 2004 p.63; James L. Gelvin"The Israel-Palestine Conflict: One Hundred Years of War,"Cambridge University Press, 2005 p.190; Jerry Levin "West Bank Diary: Middle East Violence as Reported by a Former American Hostage," Hope Publishing House, 2005 p.26;Antony Loewenstein,"My Israel Question: Reframing the Israel/Palestine Conflict," Melbourne University Publishing, 2006, p.47; Robin Wright,"Dreams and Shadows: The Future of the Middle East,"Penguin Group, 2008 p.38] [For the figure of 700 settlers see Jennifer Medina, [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/world/middleeast/22settlers.html?_r=1&&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin "'Settlers’ Defiance Reflects Postwar Israeli Changes"] , "The New York Times", April 22, 2007.] [ For the figure of 800 settlers, see Yaakov Katz, Tovah Lazaroff, [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1176152784857&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull "Hebron settlers try to buy more homes"] , "The Jerusalem Post", April 14, 2007.] Hebron lies 930 meters (3,050 ft) above sea level. Located in the Biblical region of Judea, it is the second holiest city in Judaism, after Jerusalem.cite web |url= http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vie/Hebron.html |title=Hebron |work=Virtual Israel Experience |publisher=Jewish Virtual Library]

The name "Hebron" traces back to the same root as "Haver", or "friend" [cite web |url=http://www.abarim-publications.com/Arie/Names/Hebron.html |title=The name Hebron: meaning, origin, and etymology |work=Abarim Publications' Biblical Name Vault] in both Hebrew and Arabic. In Arabic, "Ibrahim al-Khalil" ( _ar. إبراهيم الخليل) means "Abraham the friend", signifying that, according to Islamic teaching, God chose Abraham as his friend. [ [http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/004.qmt.html#004.125 Surah 4 Ayara (verse) 125] , "Qur'an" ( [http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/lot/6093/4nisa.html source text] )]

It is locally well-known for its grapes, figs, limestone, pottery workshops and glassblowing factories. It is also the location of the major dairy product manufacturer, al-Junaidi. The old city of Hebron is characterized by narrow, winding streets, flat-roofed stone houses, and old bazaars. It is home to Hebron University and the Palestine Polytechnic University.

The most famous historic site in Hebron sits on the Cave of the Patriarchs. Although the site is holy to Judaism, Christianity and Islam also accept it as a sacred site, due to scriptural references to Abraham. According to "Genesis", he purchased the cave and the field surrounding it to bury his wife Sarah, and subsequently Abraham Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob and Leah were also buried in the cave (the remaining Matriarch, Rachel, is buried outside Bethlehem). For this reason, Hebron is also referred to as "the City of the Patriarchs" in Judaism, and it is the second of the four holiest cities in Judaism. [Albert Montefiore Hyamson, "Palestine, the Rebirth of an Ancient People: The Rebirth of an Ancient People", A. A. Knopf, New York, 1917 p. 60] [Ben Halpern, Jehuda Reinharz, "Zionism and the Creation of a New Society",Oxford University Press, 1998 p.232] Over and around the cave itself churches, synagogues and mosques have been built throughout history (see "History" below). The Isaac Hall is now the Ibrahimi Mosque, while the Abraham Hall and Jacob Hall serve as a Jewish synagogue. In medieval Christian tradition, Hebron was one of the three cities, the other two being Juttah and Ain Karim, that boasted of being the home of Mary's cousin, Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist and the wife of Zacharias. [Marcello Craveri, "The Life of Jesus: An assessment through modern historical evidence," 1967, p.25.] [A minor tradition suggests that Zachiarah himself, as a priest, perhaps hailed from Hebron, which was a Levitical city. See Henry Hart Milman, "The History of Christianity from the Birth of Christ to the Abolition of Paganism in the Roman Empire",Baudry's European Library, 1840, Vol.1, p.49 and note 2.]

History

Ancient period

Hebron was originally a Canaanite royal city before it became one of the principle centers of the Tribe of Judah and one of the six traditional cities of refuge. [Joshua, ch.20, 1-7] Archaeological excavations reveal traces of strong fortifications dated to the Early Bronze Age. The city was destroyed in a conflagration, and resettled in the late Middle Bronze Age. [Avraham Negev, Shimon Gibson, "Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land", Continuum International Publishing Group (2001) p.224-5] It is mentioned in the Bible as being the site of Abraham's purchase of the Cave of the Patriarchs from the Hittites, in a narrative that some recent historians regard as constituting a late 'pious prehistory' of Israel's settlement. [Israel Finkelstein, Neil Asher Silberman, " The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts," Free Press, New York, 2001, p.45.] The Abrahamic traditions associated with Hebron are nomadic, and may reflect a Kenite element, since the nomadic Kenites are said to have long occupied the city, [ W. Robertson Smith, "Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia," ed.Stanley A.Cook (1903) Beacon Press, reprint, Boston (n.d.) p.200] and "Heber" is the name for a Kenite clan. [E:G:H.Kraeling, "The Early Cult of Hebron and Judg. 16:1–3", in "The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures," vol.41, No.3 (April,) 1025 pp.174–178 p.178.] Hebron is also mentioned there as being formerly called Kirjath-arba, or "city of four", possibly referring to a federation of four hamlets, or four hills, [Robert Alter, tr."Genesis: Translation and Commentary", 1996 p.108] before being conquered by Caleb and the Israelites [Joshua sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Joshua|chapter=14|verse=15|nobook=.] Later, the town itself, with some contiguous pasture land, was granted to the Levites of the clan of Kohath, while the fields of the city, as well as its surrounding villages were assigned to Caleb. [Joshua 21:3-12: I Chronicles 6.54-56] [ Robert G. Bratcher, Barclay Moon Newman, "A Translator's Handbook on the Book of Joshua", United Bible Societies, 1996 p.262] King David reigned in Hebron for seven years as King of Judah until he captured Jerusalem, where he was subsequently anointed king of the Kingdom of Israel.

After the destruction of the First Temple, most of the Jewish inhabitants of Hebron were exiled, and according to the conventional view, [Charles E.Carter, "The Emergence of Yehud in the Persian Period: A Social and Demographic Study', Continuum International, 1999 pp.98-9. Carter challenges this view, since it has no archeological support.] their place was taken by Edomites in about 587 BCE. Some Jews appear to have lived there after the return from the Babylonian exile, however. [Nehemiah,11:25] This Idumean town was in turn destroyed by Judah Maccabee in 167 BCE. [Josephus Flavius "Antiquities of the Jews" Book 12 chapter 8 paragraph 6. "Judas and his brethren did not leave off fighting with the Idumeans, but pressed upon them on all sides, and took from them the city of Hebron, and demolished all its fortifications, and set all its towers on fire, and burnt the country of the foreigners, and the city Marissa."] Herod the Great built the wall which still surrounds the Cave of the Patriarchs. During the first war against the Romans, Hebron was conquered by Simon Bar Giora, the leader of the Sicarii, and burnt down by Vespasian's officer Cerealis. [Josephus, "Jewish War', iv.9,7,9] After the defeat of Simon bar Kokhba in 135 CE, innumerable Jewish captives were sold into slavery at Hebron's Terebinth slave-market. [Jerome, "in Zachariam" 11:5; "in Hieremiam" 6:18; "Chronicon paschale," cited Emil Schürer, Fergus Millar, Géza Vermes, "The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (175 B.C.-135 A.D.)", Continuum International, 1973 p.553 and note 178 ] [Catherine Hezser, ‘The Social Status of Slaves in the Talmud Yerushalmi and in Graeco-Roman Society,’’ in Peter Schäfer, Catherine Hezser, (eds.), "The Talmud Yerushalmi and Graece-Roman Culture," Mohr Siebeck, 1998 pp.91-138, p.96] Eventually it became part of the Byzantine Empire. Byzantine emperor Justinian I erected a Christian church over the Cave of Machpelah in the 6th century CE which was later destroyed by the Sassanid general Shahrbaraz in 614 when Khosrau II's armies besieged and took Jerusalem.cn

Islamic era

The Caliphate established rule over Hebron without resistance in 638, and converted the Byzantine church at the site of Abraham's tomb into a mosque. Trade greatly expanded, in particular with Bedouins in the Negev and the population to the east of the Dead Sea. Both Muslim and Christian sources note that Umar allowed Jews to build a synagogue and burial ground nearby Abraham's tomb, while the 9th century Karaite scholar Zedakah ben Shomron wrote about a continued Jewish presence and described a Jewish man as the 'keeper of the cave'.Fact|date=October 2008 The Jerusalem geographer al-Muqaddasi, writing in 985 described the town as:

Habra (Hebron) is the village of Abraham al-Khalil (the Friend of God)...Within it is a strong fortress...being of enormous squared stones. In the middle of this stands a dome of stone, built in Islamic times, over the sepulchre of Abraham. The tomb of Isaac lies forward, in the main building of the mosque, the tomb of Jacob to the rear; facing each prophet lies his wife. The enclosure has been converted into a mosque, and built around it are rest houses for the pilgrims, so that they adjoin the main edifice on all sides. A small water conduit has been conducted to them. All the countryside around this town for about half a stage has villages in every direction, with vineyards and grounds producing grapes and apples called Jabal Nahra...being fruit of unsurpassed excellence...Much of this fruit is dried, and sent to Egypt.
In Hebron is a public guest house continuously open, with a cook, a baker and servants in regular attendance. These offer a dish of lentils and olive oil to every poor person who arrives, and it is set before the rich, too, should they wish to partake. Most men express the opinion this is a continuation of the guest house of Abraham, however, it is, in fact from the bequest of [the sahaba (companion) of the prophet Muhammad] Tamim-al Dari and others.... The Amir of Khurasan...has assigned to this charity one thousand that :"... this Sanctuary has belonging to it very many villages that provide revenues for pious purposes. At one of these villages is a spring, where water flows out from under a stone, but in no great abundance; and it is conducted by a channel, cut in the ground, to a place outside the town (of Hebron), where they have constructed a covered tank for collecting the water...The Sanctuary (Mashad), stands on the southern border of the town....it is enclosed by four walls The Mihrab (or niche) and the Maksurah (or enclosed space for Friday-prayers) stand in the width of the building (at the south end). In the Maksurah are many fine Mihrabs. [Le Strange, Guy: "Palestine under the Moslems." London, 1890. [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
] and [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
] ] He further recorded that "They grow at Hebron for the most part barley, wheat being rare, but olives are in abundance. The [visitors] are given bread and olives. There are very many mills here, worked by oxen and mules, that all day long grind the flour, and further, there are slave-girls who, during the whole day are baking bread. The loaves are [about three pounds] and to every persons who arrives they give daily a loaf of bread, and a dish of lentils cooked in olive-oil, also some raisins....there are some days when as many as five hundred pilgrims arrive, to each of whom this hospitality is offered." [Le Strange, Guy: "Palestine under the Moslems." London, 1890. [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
] ] [Amy Singer, "Constructing Ottoman Beneficence: An Imperial Soup Kitchen in Jerusalem", SUNY Press, New York, 2002 p.148]

Arab rule lasted in the area, which was predominantly populated by peasants of various Christian persuasions, [Steven Runciman,"A History of the Crusades" (1951) 1965 vol.1 p.303.] until 1099, when the Christian Crusader Godfrey de Bouillon took Hebron and renamed it "Castellion Saint Abraham". ['The Castle of St. Abraham' was the generic Crusader name for Hebron. Edward Robinson, Eli Smith, "Biblical Researches in Palestine, and in the Adjacent Regions: A Journal of Travels in the Year 1838", Crocker and Brewster, 1856 vol.2, p.78] He then gave Hebron to Gerard of Avesnes as the fief of Saint Abraham. Gerard of Avesnes was a knight from Hainault held hostage at Arsuf, north of Jaffa, who had been wounded by Godfrey's own forces during the siege of the port, and later returned by the Muslims to Godfrey as a token of good will. [Runciman, "A History of the Crusades", pp.308–309.] As a Frankish garrison, soon governed by Tancred, Prince of Galilee, its defence was precarious, being 'little more than an island in a Moslem ocean'. [Runciman, "A History of the Crusades", vol.2 p.4.] The Crusaders converted the mosque and the synagogue into a church and expelled Jews living there. In 1106, an Egyptian campaign thrust into southern Palestine and almost succeeded in wresting back Hebron in 1107 from the crusaders from Baldwin I of Jerusalem, who personally led the counter-charge to beat the Muslim forces off.

In the year 1119 during the reign of Baldwin II of Jerusalem, then, according to Ali of Herat (writing in 1173), a certain part over the cave of Abraham had given way, and "a number of Franks had made their entrance therein". And they discovered "(the bodies) of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob", "their shrouds having fallen to pieces, lying propped up against a wall...Then the King, after providing new shrouds, caused the place to be closed once more". Similar information is given in ", vol 4 (1896) Paris pp.477ff. (2) Runciman, "A History of the Crusades" vol.2 p.319]

visited Hebron, which he apparently thought lay east of Jerusalem [Horatius Bonar, "The Land of Promise: Notes of a Spring-journey from Beersheba to Sidon', Adamant Media Corporation, 2002 reprint, p.71] , and wrote,

'On Sunday, 9 Marheshvan (17 October), I left Jerusalem for Hebron to kiss the tombs of my ancestors in the Cave. On that day, I stood in the cave and prayed, praise be to God, (in gratitude) for everything'. [Lawrence Fine, "Judaism in Practice: From the Middle Ages Through the Early Modern Period," Princeton University Press, 2001 p.422]

In 1167 the episcopal see of Hebron was created along with that of Kerak and Sebastia (the tomb of John the Baptist). [Jean Richard, "The Crusades; c.1071-c 1291," Cambridge University press ISBN 0-521-62566-1 p. 112] In 1170, Benjamin of Tudela visited the city, which he called by its Frankish name, "St.Abram de Bron". He considered the funerary structures of the patriarchs the handiwork of Gentiles, and remarked on the way pilgrims desiring to see the 'sepulchres of the fathers' were subject to extortionate fees. cite encyclopedia |last=Warren |first=C.|author=|authorlink=Charles Warren|coauthors= |editor=James Hastings |encyclopedia=A Dictionary of the Bible |title=Machpelah|url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/hastings/dictv3/Page_199.html |accessdate= |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition= |date= 1900|year= |month= |publisher= |volume= |location= |id= |isbn= |doi= |pages= |quote= Here is the large place of worship called St. Abraham, ... The Gentiles have erected six sepulchres in this place, which they pretend to be those of Abraham and Sarah, of Isaac and Rebekah, and of Jacob and Leah; the pilgrims are told that they are the sepulchres of the fathers, and money is extorted from them.]

The Kurdish Muslim Saladin took Hebron in 1187, and changed the name of the city back to "Al-Khalil". A Kurdish quarter still existed in the town during the early period of Ottoman rule. [Michael Avi-Yonah, "A History of Israel and the Holy Land", Continuum, New York & London, 2003 p.297] Richard the Lionheart subsequently took the city soon after. Richard of Cornwall, brought from England to settle the dangerous feuding between Templars and Hospitallers, whose rivalry imperiled the treaty guaranteeing regional stability stipulated with the Egyptian Sultan As-Salih Ayyub, managed to impose peace on the area. But soon after his departure, feuding broke out and in 1241 the Templars mounted a damaging raid on what was, by now, Moslem Hebron, in violation of agreements. [Runciman,"A History of the Crusades" vol.3 p.219.]

In 1260, Sultan Baibars established Mamluk rule. The minarets were built onto the structure of the Cave of Machpelah/Ibrahami Mosque at that time. Six years later, while on pilgrimage to Hebron, Baibars promulgated an edict forbidding Christians and Jews from entering the sanctuary, [Michael Angold, "Eastern Christianity," Cambridge University Press, 2006,p.402] and the climate became less tolerant of Jews and Christians than it had been under the prior Ayyubid rule. Non-Moslems wishing to visit the site were often required to pay a fee or bribe, and were only allowed to climb up to a certain step outside the Eastern wall.

Many visitors wrote about Hebron over the next two centuries, among them Nachmanides (1270), Ishtori HaParchi (1322),, Rabbi Meshulam from Volterra (1481) [See the account in Leo Walder Schwarz, "Memoirs of My People: Jewish Self-portraits from the 11th to the 20th Centuries,"Schocken Books, New York 1963 p.40] and Rabbi Obadiah ben Abraham, a famous biblical commentator (1489), who found living there more pleasant than in Jerusalem. [Isaac Landman, "The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia:An Authoritative and Popular Presentation of Jews and Judaism Since the Earliest Times,"(ed.) Simon Cohen for The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Inc., 1940p.242] HaParchi in 1322 does not record any Jews in Hebron whereas by 1333, an account from Hakham Yishak Hilo of Larissa, Greece, records a number of them working in the cotton trade and glassworks. He noted that in Hebron there was an 'ancient synagogue in which they prayed day and night'. Other minute descriptions were recorded in Stephen von Gumpenberg’s Journal (1449),
Felix Fabri (1483) and by Mejr ed-Din [Edward Robinson, Eli Smith, "Biblical Researches in Palestine, and in the Adjacent Regions: A Journal of Travels in the Year 1838", Crocker and Brewster, 1860 vol.2 p.440-442 n.1)] It was in this period, also, that the Mamluk Sultan Al-Ashraf Sayf al-Din Qa'it Bay revived the old custom of the Hebron "table of Abraham", and exported it as a model for his own madrasa in Medina. [Ami Singer, "Constructing Ottoman Beneficence: An Imperial Soup Kitchen in Jerusalem", SUNY Press 2002 p.148] . This became an immense charitable establishment near the Haram, disributing daily some 1,200 loaves of bread to travellers of all faiths. [dward Robinson, Eli Smith, "Biblical Researches in Palestine," ibid. vol.2, p.458]

Ottoman rule

The expansion the Ottoman Empire along the southern Mediterranean coast under sultan Selim I coincided with the "Reyes Católicos" (Catholic Monarchs) establishing Inquisition commissions. The fear engendered during the Inquisitions caused a migration of "Conversos", ("Marranos" and "Moriscos") and Sephardi Jews into Ottoman provinces, ending the centuries of the Iberian "convivencia". The migrants initially settled in Constantinople, Salonika, Sarajevo, Sofia and Anatolia and could now freely travel throughout the territories that had fallen under Turkish administration enabling the sparse Jewish population of Hebron to grow. [Toby Green (2007) "Inquisition; The Reign of Fear" Macmillan Press ISBN 978-1-4050-8873-2 pp xv-xix] [ [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/5960 Arutz Sheva] A Sephardic Perspective on Hevron Part I by Shelomo Alfassa] [http://www.alfassa.com/contributions.pdf Alfassa.com] Sephardic Contributions to the Development of the State of Israel By Shelomo Alfassá] With the Ottoman occupation of the Holy Land, a slow influx of Jews performing aliyah took place. Already, by 1523, a Caraite congregation, consisting of 10 families, is registered as living in Hebron.Yehoseph Schwarz, Isaac Leeser, (1850) "A Descriptive Geography and Brief Historical Sketch of Palestine" Translated by Isaac Leeser A. Hart, Original from Oxford University pp 397-401] In 1540 Rabbi Malkiel Ashkenazi bought a courtyard ("El Cortijo") and established the Abraham Avinu Synagogue for the Sephardim congregation: this structure was restored in 1738, and enlarged in 1864. However some decades later, it was still proving difficult for the community to form a minyan or quorum of ten for religious ends. [ [http://www.mb-soft.com/believe/txx/hebron.htm Hebron] ] As with most of the Jewish communities in Palestine, the small Sephardic congregation suffered from heavy debts, almost quadrupling from 1717 to 1729. [12,000 Kurus to 46,000 Kurus. See Jacob Barnai, Y. Barnay, Naomi Goldblum (1992) "The Jews in Palestine in the Eighteenth Century: Under the Patronage of the Istanbul Committee of Officials for Palestine" Translated by Naomi Goldblum, University of Alabama Press, ISBN 0817305726 and ISBN 9780817305727 pp 89-90] However, in 1807, they managed to purchase a 5 dunam (5,000 m²) plot, upon which the city's wholesale market stands today. In 1823 the Lubavitcher Hasidic movement founded a separate congregation in Hebron. [Martin Sicker (1999)" Reshaping Palestine: From Muhammad Ali to the British Mandate, 1831-1922" Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 0275966399 and ISBN 9780275966393 p. 6]

During the Ottoman time Hebron became known for its glass production throughout the Arab world, and Western travellers to Palestine in the 19th century also wrote of Hebron's glass industry. For example, Ulrich Jasper Seetzen noted during his travels in Palestine in 1808-09 that 150 persons were employed in the glass industry in Hebron, [Quoted in Alexander Schölch (1993): "Palestine in Transformation, 1856-1882," p.161.] while later, in 1844, Robert Sears writes of Hebron's population of 400 Arab families that "manufacture glass lamps, which are exported to Egypt. Provisions are abundant, and there is a considerable number of shops." [Sears, "A New and Complete History of the Holy Bible as Contained in the Old and New Testaments" , 1844, p. 260.]

Travellers in the early 19th. century remarked on the relative prosperity of Hebron's agriculture. Apart from glassware, it was a major exporter of "dibsé", grape sugar, [Conrad Malte-Brun, "Universal Geography: Or, a Description of All Parts of the World, on a New Plan", J.Laval, 1829 p.362. The word is a loan-word from Hebrew ("debash", 'honey, syrup of grapes' ] from the famous Dabookeh grapestock characteristic of Hebron. [James Finn, "Byeways in Palestine," 1868 p.39]

Hebron took part in the rebellion of 1834 in Palestine, and suffered badly in Ibrahim Pasha's campaign to crush the uprising. An estimated 750 Muslims from Hebron had been drafted as soldiers, and some 500 of them were subsequently killed. [ [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moa&cc=moa&idno=afg7241.0002.001&q1=hebron&frm=frameset&view=image&seq=106 Robinson, p. 88] ] The town was invested and then sacked by Ibrahim Pasha's army. [ [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moa&cc=moa&idno=afg7241.0002.001&q1=hebron&frm=frameset&view=image&seq=106 p.88] ] [Joseph Schwarz, translator Isaac Leeser, "A Descriptive Geography and Brief Historical Sketch of Palestine", A. Hart, Philadelphia, 1850 p. 403] Most of the Muslim population managed to flee beforehand to the hills. The Jews however remained, and during the general pillage of the town five of them were killed. [Joseph Schwarz, translator Isaac Leeser, "A Descriptive Geography and Brief Historical Sketch of Palestine", A. Hart, Philadelphia, 1850 p. 399 "In 5594 (1834) Hebron met with a heavy calamity, since it was taken by storm on the 28 day of Tamuz (July), by Abraim Pacha, and given up to his soldiers for several days……Nearly all the Mahomedans inhabitants fled into the depth of the mountain range, but the Jews could not do this; besides which, they entertained little fear, since they could not be viewed as rebels and enemies by Abraim, wherefore they fell an easy prey into the hands of the assailants."]

In 1838 Hebron had an estimated 1,500 taxable Muslim households, in addition to some 240 Jews, 41 of whom were tax-payers. 200 Jews and one Christian household were under 'European protections'. The total population was estimated at 10,000. [Robinson, [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moa&cc=moa&idno=afg7241.0002.001&q1=hebron&frm=frameset&view=image&seq=106 p.88] ] At the time the population of Hebron was given according to the number of taxpayers, i.e., male heads of households who owned even a very small shop or piece of land.

When the Government of Ibrahim Pasha fell in 1841, the local clan-head Abd ar-Rahman once again resumed the reins of power as the Sheik of Hebron. Due to his extortionate demands for cash from the local population, most of the Jewish population fled to Jerusalem. In 1846 the Ottoman Governor-in-chief of Jerusalem ("serasker"), Kıbrıslı Mehmed Emin Pasha, waged a campaign to subdue rebellious sheiks in the Hebron area, and while doing so, allowed his troops to sack the town. Though it was widely rumoured that he secretly protected Abd ar-Rahman [James Finn, "Stirring Times, Or, Records from Jerusalem Consular Chronicles of 1853 To 1856," Adamant Media Corporation reprint, 2004, pp.287f.] , the latter was deported together with other local leaders (such as Muslih al-'Azza of Bayt Jibrin), but he managed to return to the area in 1848.Schölch (1993), p. 234-235.] By 1850 Hebron has grown to be considered as a large village or small town and the Jewish population of Hebron consisted of 60 Sephardic families and a 30 year old Ashkenasic community of 50 families.

In 1855, the newly-appointed Ottoman "pasha" ("governor") of the "sanjak" ("district") of Jerusalem, Kamil Pasha, attempted to subdue the rebellion in the Hebron region. Pasha and his army marched towards Hebron in July 1855, with representatives from the English, French and other Western consulates as witnesses. After crushing all opposition, Kamil Pasha appointed Salama Amr, the brother and strong rival of Abd al Rachman, as "nazir" of the Hebron region. After this relative quiet reigned in the town for the next 4 years.Schölch (1993), p. 236-237.] [Finn (1878), Vol II, p. 305-308] From 1874 the Hebron district as part of the Sanjak of Jerusalem was administered directly from Istanbul. [Rashid Khalidi (1998) "Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness" Columbia University Press, ISBN 0231105150 and ISBN 9780231105156 p 151]

Late in the 19th. century the production of Hebron glass declined due to competition from imported European glass-ware, however, the products of Hebron continued to be sold, particularly among the poorer populace, not least of all by travelling Jewish traders from the city. [Delpuget, David: "Les Juifs d´Alexandrie, de Jaffa et de Jérusalem en 1865", Bordeaux, 1866, p. 26. Quoted in Schölch (1993); p.161, 162] Even at the World Fair of 1873 in Vienna, Hebron was represented with glass ornaments. A report from the French consul in 1886 suggest that glass-making remained an important source of income for Hebron: Four factories were making 60,000 francs yearly. [Quoted in Schölch (1993); p.161, 162]

The Jewish community was under French protection until 1914. Hebron was highly conservative in its religious outlook, with a strong tradition of hostility to Jews. [Henry Laurens, "La Question de Palestine", Fayard, Paris vol.1, ISBN 221361251X p.508]

Twentieth century

The British occupied Hebron on 8 December 1917. Later, this was sanctioned as a part of the British Mandate of Palestine. In the 1929 Hebron massacre, Arab rioters killed 67 Jews and wounded 60, and Jewish homes and synagogues were ransacked; 435 Jews survived by hiding with their Arab neighbours. [ [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/a-rough-guide-to-hebron-the-worlds-strangest-guided-tour-highlights-the-abuse-of-palestinians-773018.html Independent] 26 January 2008 "A rough guide to Hebron: The world's strangest guided tour highlights the abuse of Palestinians"] Two years later, 35 families moved back into the ruins of the Jewish quarter, but on the eve of the Arab revolt, the British Government decided to move the Jewish community out of Hebron as a precautionary measure to secure its safety. The sole exception was Ya'akov ben Shalom Ezra, who processed dairy products in the city, and resided in the city on weekdays. In November 1947, in anticipation of the UN partition vote, the Ezra family closed its shop and left the city. [Shragai, Nadav, "And the Loser Rejoiced", Haaretz June 11, 2008]

At the beginning of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Egypt and Jordan took control of Hebron. After the Egyptian forces were defeated by Israeli forces, the city was occupied by Jordan.

After the Six-Day War in June 1967, Hebron came under Israeli control with the rest of the West Bank.

In 1968, a group of Jewish settlers, with the tacit support of Levi Eshkol and Yigal Allon, [Gershom Gorenberg, "The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements, 1967-1977," Times Books, Henry Holt & Co., New York 2007 pp.137ff.] began to reside in the city, though a government compromise soon focused the Jewish presence to the east in the new settlement of Kiryat Arba.cite web| url= http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/040531fa_fact2_a| title= "Among The Settlers", by Jeffrey Goldberg ("The New Yorker", May 2004)] Beginning in 1979, Jewish settlers moved from Kiryat Arba to found the Committee of The Jewish Community of Hebron in the former Jewish neighbourhood near the Abraham Avinu Synagogue, and later to other Hebron neighborhoods including Tel Rumeida.

Jewish settlement after 1967

Following the Six-Day War of 1967, Israel's position was that parts of the West Bank be traded for peace with Jordan. [Chaim Herzog "Heroes of Israel" p.253.] In what was called the Allon Plan, Israel was to annex 45% of the West Bank and Jordan the remainder.

On July 12, 1967, Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion told the BBC: "In the cause of peace, Israel should take nothing in the conquered territories with the exception of Hebron, which is more Jewish even than Jerusalem." According to Randolph Churchill, Ben-Gurion declared that "Jerusalem became Jewish three thousand years ago under King David but Hebron became Jewish four thousand years ago under Abraham and included a number of settlements that were destroyed two days before Israel was established." [Randolph Churchill, Winston S.Churchill, "The Six Day War,"1967 p.199 citing 'The World at One' BBC radio, July 12,1967]

In 1968, a group of Jews led by Rabbi Moshe Levinger rented the main hotel in Hebron and then refused to leave. American historian Ian Lustik describes the events as follows: "The government was caught by surprise. Internally divided, depending for its survival on the votes of the National Religious Party, and reluctant to forcibly evacuate the settlers from a city whose Jewish population had been massacred thirty-nine years earlier, the Labor government backed away from its original prohibition against civilian settlement in the area and permitted this group to remain within a military compound. After more than a year and a half of agitation and a bloody Arab attack on the Hebron settlers, the government agreed to allow Levinger's group to establish a town on the outskirts of the city." [Ian Lustick: " [http://www.sas.upenn.edu/penncip/lustick/lustick13.html For the Land and the Lord: Jewish fundamentalism in Israel] ". New York, N.Y. : Council on Foreign Relations, 1988. Chapter 3]

They moved to a nearby abandoned army camp and established the settlement of Kiryat Arba. In 1979, Levinger's wife led 30 Jewish women to take over the former Hadassah Hospital, Daboya Hospital, now Beit Hadassah in central Hebron, founding the Committee of The Jewish Community of Hebron. Before long this received Israeli government approval and a further three Jewish enclaves in the city were established with army assistance,Fact|date=April 2007 and settlers are currently reported to be trying to purchase more homes in the city. [cite news|url=http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1176152784857&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull|title=Hebron settlers try to buy more homes|author=Yaakov Katz and Tovah Lazaroff|publisher="The Jerusalem Post"|date=April 14, 2007] [cite news|url=http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1176152794781&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull|title=Hebron settlers give up comfort to expand Jewish holdings|author=Tovah Lazaroff|publisher="The Jerusalem Post"|date=April 15, 2007]

Jews living in these settlements and their supporters claim that they are resettling areas where Jews have lived for centuries. However, some reports, both foreign and Israeli are sharply critical of the settlers."Boston Globe". [http://www.globalexchange.org/countries/palestine/293.html A top Israeli Says Settlers Incited Riot In Hebron] 2002-7-31. (was [http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/212/nation/A_top_Israeli_says_settlers_incited_riot_in_Hebron.shtml here] )] "The Scotsman". " [http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=820752002 Settlers’ revenge leaves Hebron bleeding] ", 2002-7-30.]

The sentiments of Jews who fled the 1929 Hebron massacre and their descendants are mixed. Some advocate the continued settlement of Hebron as a way to continue the Jewish heritage in the city, while others suggest that settlers should try to live in peace with the Arabs there, with some even recommending the complete pullout of all settlers in Hebron."The Jerusalem Post". " [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=1&cid=1145961357122&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull Field News 10/2/2002 Hebron Jews' offspring divided over city's fate] ", 2006-05-16.] Descendants supporting the latter views have met with Palestinian leaders in Hebron."The Philadelphia Inquirer". " [http://www.angelfire.com/il/FourMothers/Yona.html Hebron descendants decry actions of current settlers They are kin of the Jews ousted in 1929] ", 1997-03-03.] The two most public examples of the descendants' views are the 1997 statement made by an association of some descendants dissociating themselves from the then-current Jewish settlers in Hebron and calling them an obstacle to peace, and the May 15, 2006 letter sent to the Israeli government by other descendants urging the government to continue its support of Jewish settlement in Hebron in their names, and urged it to allow the return of eight Jewish families evacuated the previous January from the homes they set up in empty shops near the Avraham Avinu neighborhood. Beit HaShalom, was established in 2007. [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/907606.html Ha'aretz] ] [ [http://www.hebron.com/english/article.php?id=313 hebron.com] ] [ [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c=JPArticle&cid=1176152784857&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull Jpost] ] One of the purchasers is a descendant of Jews who fled Hebron during Arab massacres.Cite news
last = Shragai
first = Nadav
title = 80 years on, massacre victims' kin reclaims Hebron house
work = Haaretz
accessdate = 2008-02-07
date = 2007-12-26
url = http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/938599.html]

A total of 86 Jewish families now live in Hebron. [ [http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/624279/jewish/A-Visit-to-Hebron.htm Chabad.org] ]

Post-Oslo Accord

Since early 1997, following the Hebron Agreement, the city has been divided into two sectors: H1 and H2. The H1 sector, home to around 120,000 Palestinians, came under the control of the Palestinian Authority, in accordance with Hebron Protocol. [cite web |url=http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/c7d7b824004ff5c585256ae700543ebc?OpenDocument |title=Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron |date=January 17, 1997 |work=United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine |publisher=Non-UN document.] H2, which was inhabited by around 30,000 Palestinians,cite news |first=Meron |last=Rapoport |title=Ghost town |url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=646948 |work=Haaretz |date=November 17, 2005] remained under Israeli military control in order to protect some 800-900 Jewish residents living in the old Jewish quarter, now an enclave near the center of the town. During the years since the outbreak of the Second Intifada, the Palestinian population in H2 has decreased greatly, the drop in large part having been identified with extended curfews and movement restrictions placed on Palestinian residents of the sector by the IDF for security needs, including the closing of Palestinian shops in certain areas. Settler harassment of their Palestinian neighbours in H2 was a reason for several dozen Palestinian families to depart the areas adjacent to the Israeli population. [cite news |title=Israeli NGO issues damning report on situation in Hebron |url=http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/AllDocsByUNID/a17e4c9ace4785bac1256d87004bca62 |work=Agence France-Presse |publisher=ReliefWeb |date=August 19, 2003] [cite web |url=http://www.btselem.org/Download/200308_Hebron_Area_H2_Eng.pdf |title=Hebron, Area H-2: Settlements Cause Mass Departure of Palestinians |month=August | year=2003 |work=B'Tselem|format=PDF "In total, 169 families lived on the three streets in September 2000, when the intifada began. Since then, seventy-three families—forty-three percent—have left their homes."] [cite web |url=http://www2.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/YAOI-6UN95C?OpenDocument |title=Palestine Refugees: a challenge for the International Community |date=October 10, 2006 |work=United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East |publisher=ReliefWeb |quote=Settler violence has forced out over half the Palestinian population in some neighborhoods in the downtown area of Hebron. This once bustling community is now eerily deserted, and presents a harrowing existence for those few Palestinians who dare to remain or who are too deep in poverty to move elsewhere.] cite web| url=http://www.btselem.org/english/Publications/Summaries/200705_Hebron.asp | title=Ghost Town: Israel's Separation Policy and Forced Eviction of Palestinians from the Center of Hebron |month=May | year=2007 | work = B'Tselem]

The Hebron Jewish community has been subject to attacks by Palestinian militants since the Oslo agreement, especially during the periods of the Intifadas; which saw 3 fatal stabbings and 9 fatal shootings in between the first and second Intifada (0.9% of all fatalities in Israel and the West Bank) and 17 fatal shooting (9 soldiers and 8 settlers) and 2 fatalities from a bombing during the second Intifada. [cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palestinian+terror+before+2000/Fatal+Terrorist+Attacks+in+Israel+Since+the+DOP+-S.htm|title=Fatal Terrorist Attacks in Israel Since the DOP (Sept 1993)|date=24 September, 2000|accessdate=2007-04-13|publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs] and thousands of rounds fired on it from the hills above the Abu-Sneina and Harat al-Sheikh neighbourhoods. While the settler compound of Beit haddassah has been used as a firing point to shoot indiscriminately into Palestinian areas. [Center of the Storm: A Case Study of Human Rights Abuses in Hebron District By Human Rights Watch, Peter Bouckaert, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Watch (Organization), Clarisa Bencomo Published by Human Rights Watch, 2001 ISBN 1564322602 and ISBN 9781564322609 pp 5 & 45-46] 12 Israelis were killed (Hebron Brigade commander Colonel Dror Weinberg , 8 soldiers and 3 civilians, members of the civil defense unit of Kiryat Arba) in an ambush of Jewish settlers walking home from Sabbath prayers at the synagogue in the Cave of Machpelah, and of the policemen, security guards and soldiers who rushed to their rescue. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990DE4D81230F935A25752C1A9649C8B63 12 Israelis Killed in Hebron Ambush Near Prayer Site] ] Two Temporary International Presence in Hebron observers were killed by Palestinian gunmen in a shooting attack on the road to Hebron, Cengiz Soytunc (Turkish) and Catherine Berruex (Swiss). [ [http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200203/s514316.htm Two Norwegian observers killed near Hebron: Israeli TV] , ABC News online, March 27, 2002.] [ [http://www.tiph.org/en/News/?module=Articles;action=Article.publicShow;ID=1579 Two TIPH members killed near Hebron] , Temporary International Presence in the City of Hebron website, March 27, 2002.]

On February 25, 1994, Baruch Goldstein, an Israeli physician and resident of Kiryat Arba, opened fire on Muslims at prayer in the Ibrahimi Mosque, killing 29, before the survivors overcame and killed him. [ [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Archive/Peace%20Process/1994/Preliminary%20Report%20on%20the%20Events%20in%20Hebron%20-%2026-Fe Israeli Ministry of Foreign affairs] Preliminary Report on the Events in Hebron as presented by Commanding Officer of the Central Command General Dani Yatom Before the Diplomatic Corps] [ [http://www.al-bushra.org/palestine/hebron.htm PHRIC: Details of Hebron Massacre] List of victims of the incident and subsequent disturbances] This event was condemned by the Israeli Government, and the extreme right-wing Kach party was banned as a result. [ [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Law/Legal%20Issues%20and%20Rulings/COMMISSION%20OF%20INQUIRY-%20MASSACRE%20AT%20THE%20TOMB%20OF%20THE Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs -- Excerpts from the report of the Commission of Inquiry Into the Massacre at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron (aka the "Shamgar Report")] ]

A year later, Hebron mayor Mustafa Abdel Nabi invited the Christian Peacemaker Teams to assist the local Palestinian community in opposition to what they describe as Israeli military occupation, collective punishment, settler harassment, home demolitions and land confiscation. [cite web |url= http://www.cpt.org/publications/history.php |title=History/Mission of CPT |work=Christian Peacemaker Teams]

An international unarmed observer force—the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) was subsequently established to help the normalization of the situation and to maintain a buffer between the Palestinian Arab population of the city and the Jews residing in their enclave in the old city. On February 8, 2006, TIPH temporarily left Hebron after attacks on their headquarters by some Palestinians angered by the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. TIPH came back to Hebron a few months later.

Demographics

Israeli-Palestinian conflict

The city of Hebron has been the site of numerous acts of violence from both sides and remains an important locale in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The 1994 Shamgar Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israeli authorities had consistently failed to investigate or prosecute crimes committed by settlers against Palestinians. According to Human Rights Watch, the settler bias of the IDF was confirmed and clarified by Hebron commander Noam Tivon when he stated in an Ha'aretz article:

Let there be no mistake about it. I am not from the UN. I am from the Israeli Defense Force. I did not come here to seek people to drink tea with, but first of all to ensure the security of the Jewish settlers. [Center of the Storm: A Case Study of Human Rights Abuses in Hebron District By Human Rights Watch, Peter Bouckaert, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Watch (Organization), Clarisa Bencomo Published by Human Rights Watch, 2001 ISBN 1564322602 and ISBN 9781564322609 pp 30-31]

Tivon, on 6 October 2000, suggested that the "Palestinian Authority is encouraging children to participate in clashes with the IDF by offering their families $300 per injury and $2,000 for anyone killed. He also said "the soldiers have acted with the utmost restraint and have not initiated any shooting attacks or violence." [ [http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/62288539.html?dids=62288539:62288539&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+6%2C+2000&author=MARGOT+DUDKEVITCH&pub=Jerusalem+Post&edition=&startpage=03.A&desc=IDF%3A+Palestinians+offer+%242%2C000+for+%27martyrs%27] Jerusalem Post, October 6,2000 "IDF: Palestinians offer $2,000 for 'martyrs'"]

Landmarks

The Hebron archaeological museum has a collection of artifacts from the Canaanite to the Islamic periods.

The Oak of Sibta, also called 'The Oak of Abraham' or 'The Oak of Mamre', is an ancient tree which, in non-Jewish tradition ['the great oak of Sibta,, commonly called Abraham’s oak by most people except the Jews, who do not believe in any Abraham’s oak there. The great patriarch planted, indeed, a grove at Beersheba; but the “Eloné Manre” they declare to have been “plains,” not “oaks,” (which would be Alloné Mamre,) and to have been situated northwards instead of westwards from the present Hebron.' James Finn, "Byeways in Palestine." 1868 p.184] , is said to mark the place where Abraham pitched his tent. It is estimated that this oak is approximately 5,000 years old. The Russian Orthodox Church owns the site and the nearby monastery.

Other landmarks are Abraham's Well and the tombs of Abner ben Ner (the commander of Saul and David's army), Ruth and Jesse.

Notable Hebronites

* Abraham
* Malkiel Ashkenazi, leader of Sephardic Jewish Community of Hebron, 16th century
* Nafez Assaily pro-Palestinian activist
* Abraham Azulai (c.1570-1643), rabbi, Kabbalistic author of the "Kirjath Arba" Zohar commentary,
* Haim Isaac Carigal 18th.century Hebronite and Rabbi.
* Mazen Dana, Palestinian journalist killed by United States soldiers in Baghdad,
* Hasan Hourani, Palestinian artist,
* Sulaiman Ja'abari, mufti,
* Baruch Marzel, Israeli religious and nationalist activist and Kach member.
* Eliyahu de Vidas, Medieval Kabbalist, author of "Reshit Ḥokmah".
* David Wilder, Hebron Jewish community spokesman

See also

* Hebron glass
* Shabab Al-Khaleel, the towns football team.
* LMLK seals (oldest inscription naming the city dates to 700 BCE if HBRN=Hebron)
* Temporary International Presence in Hebron
* Hebron Yeshiva
* 1929 Palestine riots
* al-Aqsa Intifada
* Palestinian Child Arts Center
* List of burial places of biblical figures

References

Bibliography

*Michael Angold, Eastern Christianity, Cambridge University Press, 2006 ISBN 0521811139
*Michael Avi-Yonah, A History of Israel and the Holy Land, Continuum, New York & London, 2003 ISBN 0826415261
*Jacob Barnai, Y. Barnay, Naomi Goldblum (1992) "The Jews in Palestine in the Eighteenth Century: Under the Patronage of the Istanbul Committee of Officials for Palestine" Translated by Naomi Goldblum, University of Alabama Press, ISBN 0817305726 and ISBN 9780817305727
*Horatius Bonar, The Land of Promise: Notes of a Spring-journey from Beersheba to Sidon', Adamant Media Corporation, 2002 reprint
*Robert G. Bratcher, Barclay Moon Newman, A Translator's Handbook on the Book of Joshua, United Bible Societies, 1996
*Charles E.Carter, The Emergence of Yehud in the Persian Period: A Social and Demographic Study', Continuum International, 1999 ISBN 1841270121
*Randolph Churchill, Winston S.Churchill, (first published June 1967) "The Six Day War,"1967 Ritana (reprinted 1996) ISBN 8185250146 and ISBN 9788185250144
*Marcello Craveri, The Life of Jesus: An assessment through modern historical evidence, 1967
*Lawrence Fine, "Judaism in Practice: From the Middle Ages Through the Early Modern Period," Princeton University Press, 2001 ISBN 0691057869
*Israel Finkelstein, Neil Asher Silberman, " The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts," Free Press, New York, 2001, ISBN 0684869136
*Finn, James (1868): " [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22097/22097-h/22097-h.htm Byeways in Palestine] ",
*Finn, James (1878): "Stirring Times, or Records from Jerusalem Consular Chronicles of 1853-1856." Vol.II, London.
*Josephus Flavius Antiquities of the Jews
*Josephus, Jewish War'
*Toby Green (2007) Inquisition; The Reign of Fear Macmillan Press ISBN 978-1-4050-8873-2
*Gershom Gorenberg, The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements, 1967-1977, Times Books, Henry Holt & Co., New York 2007 ISBN 978-0-8050-8241-8
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*Ben Halpern, Jehuda Reinharz, Zionism and the Creation of a New Society,Oxford University Press, 1998 ISBN 0195092090
*Rashid Khalidi (1998) "Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness" Columbia University Press, ISBN 0231105150 and ISBN 9780231105156
*Ian Lustick: For the Land and the Lord: Jewish fundamentalism in Israel. New York, N.Y. : Council on Foreign Relations, 1988.ISBN 0876090366
*Conrad Malte-Brun, Universal Geography: Or, a Description of All Parts of the World, on a New Plan, J.Laval, 1829
*Henry Hart Milman, The History of Christianity from the Birth of Christ to the Abolition of Paganism in the Roman Empire,Baudry's European Library, 1840
*Albert Montefiore Hyamson, Palestine, the Rebirth of an Ancient People: The Rebirth of an Ancient People, A. A. Knopf, New York, 1917
*Avraham Negev, Shimon Gibson, Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land, Continuum International Publishing Group (2001) ISBN 082641527X
*Jean Richard, The Crusades; c.1071-c 1291, Cambridge University press ISBN 0-521-62566-1
*Robinson, Edward (1856): " [http://name.umdl.umich.edu/AFG7241.0002.001 Biblical researches in Palestine, 1838-52. A journal of travels in the year 1838. By E. Robinson and E. Smith. Drawn up from the original diaries, with historical illustrations] ",
*Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades (1951)
*Schölch, Alexander (1993): "Palestine in Transformation, 1856-1882," ISBN 0887282342,
*Leo Walder Schwarz, Memoirs of My People: Jewish Self-portraits from the 11th to the 20th Centuries,Schocken Books, New York 1963
*Yehoseph Schwarz, Translated by Isaac Leeser (1850): " [http://books.google.com/books?id=-CUAAAAAQAAJ A Descriptive Geography and Brief Historical Sketch of Palestine] "
*Sears, "A New and Complete History of the Holy Bible as Contained in the Old and New Testaments" , 1844
*Martin Sicker (1999) Reshaping Palestine: From Muhammad Ali to the British Mandate, 1831-1922 Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 0275966399 and ISBN 9780275966393
*Ami Singer, "Constructing Ottoman Beneficence: An Imperial Soup Kitchen in Jerusalem", SUNY Press 2002 ISBN 0791453529
*W. Robertson Smith, Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia, ed.Stanley A.Cook (1903) Beacon Press, reprint, Boston
*Center of the Storm: A Case Study of Human Rights Abuses in Hebron District By Human Rights Watch, Peter Bouckaert, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Watch (Organization), Clarisa Bencomo Published by Human Rights Watch, 2001 ISBN 1564322602 and ISBN 9781564322609

External links

* [http://www.pal-chambers.org/chambers/photogallery.html Hebron Chamber of Commerce]
* [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace%20Process/Guide%20to%20the%20Peace%20Process/Hebron%20-%20Background Israeli Ministry of Foreign affairs]
* [http://www.pbase.com/rdavid/hebron Photographs of Hebron]
* [http://www.hebron.com/english Hebron.com - English]
* [http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/ Collection of Palestinian articles on Hebron published by "This Week in Palestine"]
* [http://www.sephardicstudies.org/pdf/census_hebron.pdf Sephardic Studies] 1839 Sephardic census of Ottoman controlled Hebron.