In a controversial move sure to stoke the flames of tension in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett has given his approval for a new Jewish neighborhood in the old Arab marketplace in Hebron. The restoring of the marketplace to Israeli control has Palestinian authorities enraged, with senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat complaining that the new project is a result of “the U.S. decision to legitimize colonization”, referring to the Trump administration’s decision last month to no longer consider Israeli settlements illegal.
David Rubin, former Mayor of Shiloh Israel and author of “Trump and the Jews” is calling the controversial move “a correction of an historical injustice”, because the marketplace, which has been out of commercial use for many years, was the site of the infamous 1929 massacres, in which 67 Jews were slaughtered by Arab rioters.
Mayor Rubin is here to explain this complicated issue that seems to be once again increasing tensions in the West Bank.
Suggested Q&A
- Where is the city of Hebron? The city of Hebron, mostly populated by Arabs, is in the heart of Judea (a region south of Jerusalem, part of the area known to most of the world as the West Bank).
- Who controls it? According to the Oslo Peace Accords, Hebron is divided into two sections – H1, controlled by the Palestinian Authority, and H2, controlled by Israel.
- Why is this new proposed Jewish neighborhood so controversial? The old marketplace located in H2, the Israeli-controlled part of Hebron, has been Arab-occupied since the notorious Arab massacre of the Jews in 1929, when 67 Jews were slaughtered in their homes by mobs of Arab rioters. The approval of this new Jewish neighborhood is essentially restoring the area to its original owners.
- Why are the Palestinians so upset? Hebron, where the biblical Patriarchs and Matriarchs of Israel are buried, is one of the most important historical sites in the world, but the Muslims want to claim it as their own and deny the deep Jewish roots in the city. Perhaps they also don’t want the world to know about the 1929 massacre.
- Was the Palestinian Authority spokesman Saeb Erakat correct when he blamed the Trump administration for the Israeli announcement? The announcement by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo simply confirmed the fact that Israel recaptured Judea and Samaria in the defensive Six Day War in 1967, and that there is nothing inherently illegal about the Jewish communities that have been restored there. President Trump should be proud to be blamed for that.
- Where can people get a copy of your book, “Trump and the Jews”? You can go to my website www.DavidRubinIsrael.com or just go to Amazon and type in the words “Trump and the Jews”.
Bio: David Rubin, former Mayor of Shiloh Israel, is the author of the book, “Trump and the Jews” and five other books. Rubin is the founder and president of Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund, established after he and his then three-year-old son were wounded in a terror attack. He can be found at www.DavidRubinIsrael.com or at http://www.ShilohIsraelChildren.org
