Hebron

Hebron

City of the Patriarchs, intensely divided

Hebron is the traditional burial place of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their wives, and the Cave of the Patriarchs is sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Herod built the great enclosure over it, and today it holds both a synagogue and a mosque. A Jewish community lived in Hebron for centuries until riots in 1929, in which 67 Jews were killed and the survivors left. Jews returned after 1967. Since 1997 the city has been divided between Israeli and Palestinian Authority control, and the old center remains one of the most tense places in the region.

Glossary: Hebron