Jerusalem Day 20 (Saturday, 21st)

Today we headed off early to Hebron, the ancient city, now part of the Palestinian Territory. The trip lasted about 40 minutes and the entry into the zone went without any difficulty.

Once there we struck a little bit of a problem as the road we needed to travel was so narrow that our driver, Samir, had to perform another little miracle as he guided the bus to our destination - the Ibrahimi Mosque, or the Cave of the Patriarchs.

Sadly this place was the site of a massacre when an US born Israeli walked into the Mosque in February 1994 and killed 29 worshippers and injured 125 others. This led to riots and the deaths of many others and is another occasion when the two peoples who live in this country struggle to live together without conflict.

Inside the Cave of the Patriarchs (Muslim section) there are the sarcophagi of Isaac, Jacob and Sarah and we were able to see the sarcophagi of Abraham (in the Jewish section through a opening in the wall). There is some proof that under the present structure caves had been discovered that indicated that these ancients had truly been buried there.

 Sarah's sarcophagi

 Abraham's sarcophagi

Following the massacre in 1994 local religious leaders worked together and now the Cave of the Patriarchs is used by both Muslim and Jewish Communities with access being given to both halves of the complex for major feastdays/celebrations.

From there we wandered down the hill to see if we might be able to access to Jewish part of the Cave but were prevented by Israeli soldiers. In the meantime people were able to buy souvenirs etc from a little Palestinian shopkeeper. We learnt that he didn't normally open his store because there were no longer many tourists who came to this part of the town and it was only because our guide had rung to say that we would be there that he had opened.

This was the same story as we walked along what once would have been a busy souk but now had few shops open. There were stories regarding shopkeepers who owned buildings with several levels who were now able to access only the shop front level and who had their upper floors taken over by Jewish settlers and who had had to place chicken wire above the walkway of the souk to prevent people being bombarded by rubbish etc being thrown on them.

From there we traveled to a Glass Blowing and Ceramics factory where we able to watch artisans at work. The two guys blowing glass were amazing as they worked in quite incredible heat and perform little miracles with the glass.

From there we came back to Ecce Homo for lunch and then I had a brief nap before we headed back to the classroom for two sessions with Dr Frans Bouwen on the Eastern and Oriental Churches in Jerusalem, some background and history. Just as he was last week with his introduction to Islamic Spirituality he was able to provide us with heaps of information.

There was a short break before the evening meal and it was interrupted by the power going out because of a storm which also produced quite a deal of rain - something quite unusual for September so hopefully it will mean good winter rains for Israel.

Now bed.