The last day of the Hebron Fund raffle is Wednesday afternoon February 15th
with proceeds going to help the Jewish Community of Hebron. The fundraising drive helps
provide assistance for the residents of the historic city with funds going toward parks
and playgrounds, ambulances, and upgraded facilities that benefit families, tourist
groups and soldiers stationed in the city.
The raffle coincidental coincides with Open Shuhada Street week, sponsored by the Youth
Against Settlements movement. For the past eight years, the group has organized
protests, sometimes violent, demanding that the main thoroughfare for the Jewish
neighborhoods in Hebron be open to traffic from Palestinian Authority residents.
Officially recognized as King David Street, it is known in Arabic as Shuhada, or Martyrs
Street.
It has been mostly shut to PA traffic intermittently since the mid 1990s by the Israel
Defense Force and government for fear of terrorist attacks. Numerous attacks occurred on
or near the street, including the murder of Gadi Levy and his pregnant wife Dina who
were killed in an explosion in 2003. After years of court wrangling, the Supreme Court
finally ruled that the closure was necessary to prevent loss of human life in
2011.
Ironically, while internationally funded agitators use King David Street as an example
of “Israeli apartheid,” it is the Jewish community that is restricted from accessing
most of the city. Hebron is divided into H1, under PA jurisdiction, and H2 under Israeli
jurisdiction, and Israelis are forbidden from crossing over. In contrast, PA residents,
though they must pass through checkpoints, can move back and forth from either side. Ein
Sarah street, where the Sarah’s Spring archaeological site is located is off limits for
Jews, as is the Elonei Mamre excavation, and other historic locations. Even holy sites
within H2 Hebron are open only on special occasion, such as the Tomb of Avner Ben Ner,
and the bustling Casbah area where Jewish people once lived prior to the 1929
massacre.
The Jewish community of Hebron is located in what is termed the Old City by PA
residents. But the majority of Hebron is a bustling metropolis which accounts for nearly
40% of the AP economic. H2 Hebron has two multi-story shopping centers, a 4,000-seat
sports area, and numerous large factories that employ thousands. There is even an
official outlet of the US Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise, located on Ein Sarah
Street.
Despite the inequalities and the slander in the media, the Jewish Community of Hebron is
thriving. There is a high rate of volunteerism and community involvement, and a low to
zero rate of crime and unemployment. People find Hebron to be a quaint place to raise
families and report a higher quality of life and a sense of living for a purpose.
But the community still needs help with many facilities needing upkeep, educational
programs and to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of people making pilgrimage.
For more information on the Hebron Fund raffle, click
here: https://hebronfund.org/support/hebron-fund-raffle
with proceeds going to help the Jewish Community of Hebron. The fundraising drive helps
provide assistance for the residents of the historic city with funds going toward parks
and playgrounds, ambulances, and upgraded facilities that benefit families, tourist
groups and soldiers stationed in the city.
The raffle coincidental coincides with Open Shuhada Street week, sponsored by the Youth
Against Settlements movement. For the past eight years, the group has organized
protests, sometimes violent, demanding that the main thoroughfare for the Jewish
neighborhoods in Hebron be open to traffic from Palestinian Authority residents.
Officially recognized as King David Street, it is known in Arabic as Shuhada, or Martyrs
Street.
It has been mostly shut to PA traffic intermittently since the mid 1990s by the Israel
Defense Force and government for fear of terrorist attacks. Numerous attacks occurred on
or near the street, including the murder of Gadi Levy and his pregnant wife Dina who
were killed in an explosion in 2003. After years of court wrangling, the Supreme Court
finally ruled that the closure was necessary to prevent loss of human life in
2011.
Ironically, while internationally funded agitators use King David Street as an example
of “Israeli apartheid,” it is the Jewish community that is restricted from accessing
most of the city. Hebron is divided into H1, under PA jurisdiction, and H2 under Israeli
jurisdiction, and Israelis are forbidden from crossing over. In contrast, PA residents,
though they must pass through checkpoints, can move back and forth from either side. Ein
Sarah street, where the Sarah’s Spring archaeological site is located is off limits for
Jews, as is the Elonei Mamre excavation, and other historic locations. Even holy sites
within H2 Hebron are open only on special occasion, such as the Tomb of Avner Ben Ner,
and the bustling Casbah area where Jewish people once lived prior to the 1929
massacre.
The Jewish community of Hebron is located in what is termed the Old City by PA
residents. But the majority of Hebron is a bustling metropolis which accounts for nearly
40% of the AP economic. H2 Hebron has two multi-story shopping centers, a 4,000-seat
sports area, and numerous large factories that employ thousands. There is even an
official outlet of the US Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise, located on Ein Sarah
Street.
Despite the inequalities and the slander in the media, the Jewish Community of Hebron is
thriving. There is a high rate of volunteerism and community involvement, and a low to
zero rate of crime and unemployment. People find Hebron to be a quaint place to raise
families and report a higher quality of life and a sense of living for a purpose.
But the community still needs help with many facilities needing upkeep, educational
programs and to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of people making pilgrimage.
For more information on the Hebron Fund raffle, click
here: https://hebronfund.org/support/hebron-fund-raffle
For more information click
here or call the office at 718-677-6886.
here or call the office at 718-677-6886.
Click here for
article on last year’s raffle.
article on last year’s raffle.
