Occupy Chevron

By COLlive reporter
Photos by Mendy Hechtman

Thousands of Jews gathered in Chevron over the weekend to mark the parsha of Chayei Sarah, in which Avraham Avinu purchases the Maaras HaMachpela (Cave of the Patriarchs).

Rabbi Dani Cohen, the Chabad Shliach in Chevron, hosted hunderds for Shabbos meals in a large tent near his home.

IDF soldiers who regularly eat by Cohen every Shabbos were now joined by the many guests who have come to support one of the four holiest cities for the Jewish people.

Over Shabbos, Rabbi Cohen and other Lubavitchers led farbrengens and encouraged the visitors to take upon themselves to do extra Mitzvos in addition to their physical support of Chevron.

Tents were erected on the lawn of the Maaras HaMachpela and Ohel Yitzchak Avinu was opened especially for the Jewish prayers.

They were joined by in Chevron by Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein, Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman, Coalition chairman Ze’ev Elkin and Knesset member Danny Danon.

“The Jewish settlement in Hebron is one of the pillars of Jewish settlement in the State of Israel,” Danon stated, according to the Jerusalem Post.

“The nationalist camp’s latest round of legislation will ensure the continuation of Jewish settlement in Hebron and in Judea and Samaria, and will prevent the Left from attempting to thwart widespread Zionist action.”

But not all went down peacefully over the Shabbos.

Some visitors reportedly threw stones at the home of a Palestinian terrorist released as part of the deal to free kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.

The rock throwers said the violence Saturday afternoon at the home of Hani Jaber began after a Palestinian attacked a teenage girl, Ynet reported. Jaber was freed after spending 18 years in jail in Israel for killing an Israeli Jew from Kiryat Arba, a Jewish neighborhood near Chevron.

Police and IDF soldiers were forced to separate dozens of Israelis and Palestinians in Chevron to prevent a potential violent encounter between the Jews and Arabs.