(Los Angeles Times) - David Wilder People frequently ask why we live in Hebron, a so-called Arab city in the heart of the "West Bank." Why are 800 Jews - men, women, and children - so stubbornly willing to risk their lives to remain in Hebron? Why am I living in a place where more than 40 of my Jewish neighbors and friends have been killed or wounded since I moved here in 1981? The answer is that Hebron is the first Jewish city in the Land of Israel, home of our patriarchs and matriarchs - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and Sarah, Rebecca and Leah. King David ruled from Hebron for more than seven years before moving the capital to Jerusalem. Jews have lived in Hebron almost continuously for thousands of years. When Israel returned to Hebron in 1967, Jews did not occupy a foreign city; rather, they came back home. Eviction from Hebron would be tantamount to the removal of Americans from Boston or Philadelphia upon terrorist demands. Except, of course, that American history is less than 250 years old; Jewish history in Hebron is more than 3,700 years old.
2003-07-18 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive