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Commentary
by Dr. Gerhard Falk |
1929
On August
23, 1929 the Arabs of the City of Chevron, or Hebron, massacred sixty seven
Jewish children, women and men and wounded 60 more Jews. At that time, Israel
was under British occupation. The British were most happy to supervise this
pogrom and assisted the Arab killers in destroying the entire Jewish community
in Chevron, burning the Torah scrolls and razing the synagogues in the most
ancient of Jewish cities.
Fifty nine
of the Jewish victims of this Nazi style atrocity were buried in a common grave.
Twenty three of these dead Jews had been dismembered by the Arab savages. The
surviving Jews fled to Jerusalem.
In 1931
some Jews returned to Chevron but in 1936 were removed from there by the British
colonialists. In 1948 Chevron was handed to the Jordanian Arabs by the
British. The Jordanians thereupon desecrated the Jewish cemetery and built an
animal pen on the ruins of the Avraham Avinu synagogue. That synagogue was named
after Abraham our Father.
No Jews
lived in Chevron from 1936 until the city was captured by the Israel Defense
Forces in 1967. That capture was achieved by Rabbi Goren of the Israel Defense
Forces all alone. The Arabs surrendered to him before the IDF reached the city.
In 1968 a
few Jews returned to Chevron to live and in 1979 more Israelis returned to
Chevron. Arab killers continued to attack the few Jews who lived there,
leading to military occupation of the center of the city by the IDF.
In 1971
more Jews arrived in Chevron and then built the town of Kiryat Arba which now
has a population of about 7,000 people. Today there are also 500 courageous Jews
living in Chevron. They have restored the Avaraham Avinu synagogue. Kiryat Arba
is also the location of Meir Kahane Park, named after the rabbi who foresaw all
the horrors the Arab haters are now inflicting on Israel by way of homicide
bombings and senseless killings of every kind. In that park is the grave of Dr.
Baruch Goldstein. A large monument to the martyr Goldstein has been erected
there.
The City
of Chevron was divided by the 1996 “peace” accords between Israel and the
terrorists. The terrorists received 80% of the city and the Israelis 20%. As was
to be expected, the terrorists have used their part of the city as a launching
site for endless attacks on the Jewish citizens on the other side of the
dividing line. Inside the Jewish part of the city is the cave of Machpelah,
which is regarded as the world’s most ancient Jewish site as the cave and the
field adjoining it were purchased by Abraham over 3,700 years ago. It is in
Chevron that Abraham, Sarah, Rebecca, Isaac, Jacob and Leah are buried. Look at
Bereshit (Genesis) 23:19: “And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in
the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre - the same is Hebron - in the
land of Canaan.”
All the
patriarchs and matriarchs of the Jewish people except Rachel are buried there.
Rachel is buried near Beth Lechem (House of Bread or Granary).
The
building topping the cave was built in the days of Herod about two thousand
years ago. The cave was found only a few years ago under the building. That cave
held artifacts which are 30 centuries old and indicate the Jewish presence there
at that time. It is of great importance that these artifacts have been uncovered
because these and other archeological findings give the lie to the oft repeated
anti-Jewish canard that somehow “the Jews” took the land from the Arabs. The
facts are exactly the opposite. It is for that reason that the Arab settlers in
Israel try to prevent archeological excavations which prove over and over that
there was never a time when Israel was not inhabited by Jews. The truth is that
the Arab population are settlers who came to Israel lately to take advantage of
Jewish work and Jewish effort and Jewish ingenuity.
In fact,
we have been there since the days of Abraham and we will be there forever.
Shalom
u’vracha.
Dr. Gerhard Falk is the author of numerous publications,
including Stigma: How We Treat Outsiders.
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