Kiryat Arba and Hevron

Near the top of Kiryat Arba, looking north towards the neighborhood of Har Sina (the hilltop directly above the kids.)

The red roofed houses in the center are the neighborhood of Ashmoret Yitzhak. The white houses overlooking them are the Arab neighborhoods of Hevron. According to my friends who have lived in Hevron since the early 90's, at that time all this was bare hillside. The Arab custom is that when a son gets married, his wife goes to live with him in his family's house. His family just adds an extra floor to the house. So you have organic growth of buildings to four, five stories over the decades.

Vineyard next to the neighborhood of Ashmoret Yitzhak

The main road running through Kiryat Arba. The dirt road running left-right is the security track next to the fence. The white houses closer to the foreground are Arab houses. The trailers behind them are an army base. The hilltop on the left is Har Sina. Unfortunately, Kiryat Arba made the decision to put up a fence, which meant locking itself in; thus, many apartment buildings, due to the settlement's inability to grow outwards.

The top of Kiryat Arba. There is a park on top of the hill, with lots of big pines.

One of the industrial zones of Kiryat Arba. There is an auto repair shop, a carpentry and a bunch of other stuff. To the left, out of the picture, is an incubator for agrotech startups. The white buildings past the gate are an Arab neighborhood.

My friend, Baruch Hahamov. He and his family are Bukharan Jews, from Uzbekistan originally. They run this auto repair shop and have a reputation for scrupulous honesty. Baruch just finished his mechanical engineering bachelor's degree requirements and is working on an electrical engineering degree.

Baruch and his father Yosef

Arab neighborhood outside the back gate, between Kiryat Arba and Givat Gal.

This kid was very insistent that I take a picture of him and his family. The community living here has light eyes and features that look very Kurdish, and indeed there was a big Kurdish migration into Hevron a few centuries ago.

More pictures of the hilltop Arab neighborhood

View from the top of the hill. In the middle ground, you see the other Kiryat Arba industrial zone. Arabs and Jews work together in the factories here, except for in the two wineries; to make kosher wine, only Jews can be involved in the process. In the background, you can see south Har Hevron.

Givat Gal, an outpost of Kiryat Arba. These guys are doing it right-they don't have a fence. They raise goats here, produce organic goat milk and so on. I will put up some pictures of their goats and kids later-it's a beautiful thing.

Givat Gal, viewed from the top.

The industrial zone viewed from Givat Gal. Off to the left is my friend Eddie's house.

Givat Gal viewed from the bottom of the hill.

A pack of wild dogs. They made way for me.

My friend Eddie Dribben's house. Eddie is a major part of the story of how Hevron got re-settled by Jews after the Arab ethnic cleansing of 1929. I hope to get into more detail later.

The back door

Eddie