[Ha'aretz ] Nadav Shragai - The city of Hebron is about 18 sq. km. - 15 sq. km. of which were handed over to the PA in the Hebron agreement. This area is closed to Jews, although the agreement guaranteed Jews freedom of movement in the city. In most of the remaining area, (H2), a Jewish presence was also forbidden, but most of it is open to Arab movement and presence. The Jews are today limited to 0.6 sq. km., or 3% of Hebron, where thousands of Arabs continue to live. The houses, the stores, and land left behind by the Jews of Hebron, who were expelled after the 1929 riot, were confiscated after the Jordanian conquest in 1948 and were never returned. In the past 20 years, building permits in the tiny Jewish district have been given to only three houses, so that those suffering from urban suffocation are not the Arabs, who are building high-rises in the west of the city, but the Jews.
2008-06-27 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive