Top > World > 2005 > November > 2005-11-25

Many Hebron settlers await soldiers

The United States, among other countries involved in Middle East peacemaking, has urged Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel to evacuate dozens of unauthorized settlements to continue reducing Israel`s presence in the Palestinian territories following its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip two months ago. So far, Sharon`s government has taken no action against the market settlers of the ancient city of Hebron, home to Jews for thousands of years before Arab riots in 1929 decimated the community.

This city of 140,000 people is a vivid symbol of the close-quarters conflict over land and heritage that has animated disputes in the Middle East for generations. Several hundred Jewish settlers live in the shadow of the Tomb of the Patriarchs -- a site also held sacred by Muslims, who call it the Ibrahimi Mosque -- in a tiny, fortified redoubt surrounded by the hillside homes, storefronts and graveyards of Palestinians. The community was formed soon after Israel occupied the city in the 1967 Middle East war.

The Old City is largely the domain of the Jewish settlers of Avraham Avinu, the apartment complex where 35 families live adjacent to the vegetable market. Those families are not subject to the eviction order, although they say they view the market as part of their community and plan to defend it.