The old man’s hometown is a microcosm of the most intractable problems facing Israeli and Palestinian negotiators – a little Jerusalem. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and PLO leader Yasir Arafat both declared last weekend that they were close to signing a landmark accord on Israeli withdrawal from Arab towns and cities in the occupied West Bank – including Hebron. The two sides wanted to stage a signing ceremony at the White House this week, during a break between the Jewish holidays. But the intensive negotiations – which have missed many deadlines and last week sent the top Palestinian negotiator to the hospital suffering from exhaustion – will be easy compared with what comes after: making the agreement work on the ground.
Hebron will be the toughest test. The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) is popular here. And the Jewish settlers are among the most militant anywhere. “We are representatives of the Jewish people throughout history and all the Jews of the world,” says Noam Arnon, a spokesman for the settlers in Hebron. He points out that it was here, in ancient times, that King David established his first capital, and here that Arab rioters massacred Jews in 1929. So what will happen if, as expected, Palestinian police take over security in much of the city? “I’m afraid we’ll have a hot winter,” Arnon says.
Mayor Mustapha Natche thinks the only lasting solution is to kick the settlers out. “We don’t accept that part of the city should remain under Israeli security,” he says, unfurling a map of Hebron across his desk. He points out the tiny Jewish settlements in the old city, and the densely populated Arab neighborhoods around them. “The continuing harassment by settlers, the harassment by soldiers, the closure of markets and the main street – our people want to see real change on the ground.”
Any hope that the Arabs and Jews in Hebron will learn to live together remains a very distant dream. “The Jews can live here under Palestinian control, just like any other citizens,” says Firyal Abu Haikal, a 49-year-old headmistress of a girls’ school. “And if they don’t want to live as we do, by the same rules as we do, they can find somewhere else to live with all their guns and weapons.” How would settler Noam Arnon respond to orders from a Palestinian policeman? “I won’t recognize him,” he says. “For me, he’s a terrorist and should be in jail.” Far from encouraging the two peoples to live together in Hebron, the main task of peacemakers may be to keep them apart.
