Today Visit Hebron Old Town: So, on my first trip to visit the sites, today I went to Hebron´s old town (also known as “Kalil Ar-Rahman” The friend of God): a 10mn taxi away from the Excellent Centre. With me came Mohammed, EC´s guide and 2 students (Sam & Dariush). So there went, the Australian, the Polish-Lebanese and the French-Algerian on our first little adventure in Hebron…Keep reading.
Starting off with a check-point (1 of many..), business as usual for most Palestinians. Glad I had the last minute “revolutionary idea” to take my passport with me…Don´t be without it, you can be controlled by the Israeli occupying forces anytime…especially when you go through checkpoints.
We walked around the cobbled streets leading to very cute market stalls.
First stop: The “Al Takiyya Hospice”: This is where the locals who can´t afford food can come and get a bucket of the daily soup often made of wheat bulgur &/or meat and various loaves of bread for their family. We had access to their kitchen to watch the volunteer cooks and the huge stoves they use to cook the soup. The “Hospice” is funded by local donations. This is because Palestinians believe no one should go hungry no matter what… “Food for thoughts” I would add…
After that, we headed to the highlight of our visit: the Al-Ibrahimi Mosque. Hebron is mostly known as the burial place of the Prophets: Abraham (Ibrahim), Isaac, Jacob and their wives. It´s dated back to the Chalcolithic period (4500-3200 BC). I think this is the only Mosque I can think of, in the world, divided between 2 faiths…The local original worshippers: the Muslims and the settlers/occupiers: the Jews. It is separated by a concrete wall which is opened during the 3 days Eid celebration. Mohammed tells us this is the result of a bombing in 1997 killing 30 worshipers. The Mosque itself is peaceful and wasn’t buy (it was a Wednesday I guess, Fridays are the busiest). Like most of Hebron, the mosque has preserved its original Mamluk-style architecture, although a little updating of the paint-work would do it good..
Next off, the “Friendship garden”: a charming enclosed garden with a café in the middle. We ended up spending a few hours talking about the Palestinian culture/Hebron and drinking coffee and Hebron with a lovely local lady who looks after the garden. She has great plans to create an Art and Craft oasis where local food could be sampled and bought. This would be the opportunity for local Hebron women to show their craftmanship and culinary talentsJ Great place to stop off, a must on Hebron´s list.
Next in line was the “Hammam Sidna Ibrahim” which has been renovated thanks to the Italian´s government donations. Although, not in working order anymore as its main entrance has been closed off by the Israeli forces who also cut off the essential water supply. However, it is still worth a visit, they have done an excellent job at keeping the original spirit of the place, very “roman baths”, it is simply a gem! Beware,It is a lot bigger than it looks on the outside and one can really imagine the bathing experience it must once have been.
Our visit ended with the visit of the closed off road that was once a busy market cobbled street: Al Shuhada St. Another check-point with passport checks and our guide warns us that he can only walk a couple of blocks with us, Palestinian are banned from walking their old street. It is now settlers territory as all the Israeli flags on the closed off shops indicates. We are heavy in thoughts on our way back to EC as we pass streets where wired walls and watch towers is a constant reminder that this city is indeed under occupation.
