Israeli, Arab tensions come to surface in occupied Hebron

By Arthur Max / Associated Press Writer

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HEBRON, occupied West Bank — The latest cycle of violence in Hebron seems to have played squarely into the hands of Jewish militants who have long dreamed of wresting full control of the troubled city from its Moslem leadership.

The town south of Jerusalem has been crackling with tension since last week, when Arab assailants stabbed a Jewish seminary student to death and vengeful Jewish settlers set fire to stalls in the Arab market. The upshot of the troubles was a government decision to push ahead firmly with plans to strengthen the Jewish population in the city.

On Tuesday, Israeli occupation forces lifted the curfew imposed after the murder of American-born Aaron Gross, 18. But Hebron's central square was still cordoned off with barbed wire, and army patrols marched through the narrow alleys of the market.

The violence came as Moslems celebrated the religious holiday of Id el-Fitr, and children were playing with toy guns as armed Jewish settlers nervously went about their business in the town center. “There is no joy in the holiday this year,” said shopkeeper Gibril Zaloun.

“This is usually a time to visit family or go to the beach, but no one is doing it this year.” For more than 50 years, Hebron has been a microcosm of the religious and political passions that inflame the Middle East. It is the place where the biblical patriarch Abraham — Ibrahim to the Arabs — is buried, and his tomb is revered by Jews and Moslems alike.

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"Israeli, Arab tensions come to surface in occupied Hebron," Kitsap Sun, 16 July 1983. Covering Palestine archive, CP-1983-013. https://coveringpalestine.org/archive/cp-1983-013