Since thousands of years in the center of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, Al-Masjid Al-Ibrahimi, that is well-respected and loved by the Palestinian people, stands. The ‘Israeli’ occupation’s ambitions have extended to wanting to seize and Judaize Al-Masjid Al-Ibrahimi since 1967, and they remain the same until this day. It wishes to execute its plan of stealing the Masjid from the Palestinians and turning it into what serves its settlers.
Historically
The Masjid was named after the prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon him, who settled and died in Palestine along with his wife. In an exclusive interview with Dr. Adnan Abu Dayya, Assistant Professor at the Department of Tourism and Archeology in Hebron University, he said that historical narratives say that Prophet Ibrahim and his wife were buried in a cave in Hebron during the Bronze Age. Later, his sons Is’haq and Ya’koub died there as well. The Roman King Herod built a huge wall to protect the tombs from thieves and lions. The wall is still surrounding Al-Masjid until this day.
Abu Dayya also said, “The Masjid was at first a Byzantine church when Christianity was introduced to Palestine. After the Islamic liberation (conquest), it was turned into a Masjid. However, during the time of the Crusades it was turned into a church so that it would be returned into a masjid by Salah Ad-Din after liberating Al-Quds”.
Scheme for a Synagogue
After the 6-day war (the Naksa) in 1967, the occupation seized the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Golan, and Sinai. The settlers could move across the lands freely, so they entered Al-Masjid Al-Ibrahimi with the aim of turning it into a Jewish Synagogue. They started performing Talmudic rituals at separate intervals that peaked in 1972 when the occupation took over the prayer-room at the Masjid and Al-Ya’kubiya prayer-room, and prevented the visitors from entering the premises while settlers were allowed inside during the so-called Jewish holidays.
The occupation’s attempts to turn the Masjid into a synagogue date back to the Jews alleging their ownership, referring to the tombs of prophets there since thousands of years ago. This is completely untrue as Abu Dayya says, “the Jewish religion appeared 6000 years after Prophet Ibrahim. It first appeared in Egypt, not Palestine. There have been no Jewish structures in the territory. In addition, 90% of the architecture dates back to the Roman age of Herod or the Mamluks. All of this proves that the Jews do not have any right in Al-Masjid Al-Ibrahimi”.
Massacre of Al-Masjid and Its Partition
In 1994, a settler called Baruch Goldstein broke into Al-Masjid under the protection of the forces and started shooting the Muslims while performing Al-Fajr prayer on the 15th of Ramadan, killing 29 Palestinians and wounding 150 others. The soldiers closed the gates of Al-Masjid to prevent the performers from escaping and the help from entering. The performers managed to take out the shooter.
After the massacre, protests erupted across several Palestinian cities. The occupation forces fired bullets at the protestors leading to the martyrdom of 60 Palestinians. The occupation then took advantage of the incident, closed down Al-Masjid and initiated the partition work.
Commenting on this, Abu Dayya said, “The Masjid was closed for 7 months under the pretext of investigating the massacre. At first, 55% of the area was given to the settlers (including the prayer-rooms: Al-Ya’kubiya, Al-Ibrahimiya, Al-Yusufiya, and Al-Malikiya; and the arena). The remaining area was given to the Muslims (Al-Is’hakiya hall and Al-Juliya prayer-room)”.
This division was emphasized through building checkpoints and installing iron gates and surveillance cameras. Most of the roads leading to the Masjid were closed as well. The partition is suspended during the so-called ‘Jewish holidays’. The Masjid is opened completely for all settlers, and the Palestinians are prevented from entering and praying there.
Continuous Violations
The settlers’ and forces’ violations against the Masjid and Muslims never stopped. The most critical period was last year (in 2020) when the Azan was prevented 634 times claiming that it disturbed the settlers. The Azan would be prevented at Al-Maghrib and ‘Isha the night of every Friday in preparation for ‘the Holy Saturday’.
Other violations included preventing the Muslims from entering the Masjid for lame excuses, the most recent of which was containing the spread of the Coronavirus although the settlers were allowed to enter it and perform their rituals there.
According to Haftha Abu Sneina, Manager of the Masjid, the occupation forces closed the Masjid for two months in 2020. It was recently closed for 20 days during which hundreds of Muslims were deprived from their right to practice their religious rituals.
The harassments even included searching the performers of prayer on a daily basis, often beating them along with the guards of the Masjid. The forces spill burning chemicals in the ablution water, rip the masahif (the holy Quran) apart, enter the dogs, and hold dance parties inside the Masjid.
Judaization of the Masjid
The occupation prevented the Construction Committee at the Administration of Islamic Waqf from restoring Al-Masjid Al-Ibrahimi, yet it changed the internal designs of the Masjid as part of the Judaizational scheme. It demolished the internal walls and changed the designs of the ceilings and roofs. It also proposed a Judaizational project that included building an escalator and a private pathway for the handicapped settlers along the Masjid to facilitate their break-ins, and establishing a park on waqf lands that are owned by the Palestinians around it.
The new settlement project threatens historical facilities near the Masjid, and withdraws the construction and planning jurisdiction of Hebron municipality and transfers it to the occupation’s so-called civil administration.
Against the Law
In October 2010, the majority of votes in the UNESCO were in favor of declaring Al-Masjid Al-Ibrahimi as part of the Palestinian heritage in response to the occupation’s government which declared in February 2010 that the Masjid was part of the Jewish heritage. The declaration enraged the UN and the Arab states. However, the occupation rejected the UNESCO’s resolution, considering it biased to the Palestinian people. It continued to carry out Judaizational measures that disregarded all international laws.
The human rights activist Mustafa Ibrahim told PALM Centre in an exclusive interview that the occupation’s practices violate the Fourth Geneva Convention which grants the freedom of religion and thought. The occupation violated article 5 which rejects discrimination; it does discriminatory practices against the Palestinian people, and its holy sites. The closure of the Masjid under the pretext of stopping the spread of the Coronavirus is a form of depriving the Palestinians from performing their religious rituals freely and is described as discriminatory.
Exposure of Occupation’s Violations
Ibrahim pointed to the importance of the work the Palestinian leadership and the human rights centers should do to stop the occupation’s discriminatory practices. He said, “The PA must exert more efforts to exercise pressure on the international community through liberal powers, and address the civil society institutions to revive the issue and expose the occupation’s violations against Al-Masjid Al-Ibrahimi”.
He also added that the human rights centers must document and monitor such violations and present them to the UN Human Rights Council so the occupation is held accountable for its actions.
Until these steps are taken, the tragedy of Al-Masjid Al-Ibrahimi continues. The violations and changes made by the occupation, which takes advantage of international political shifts that leave the Masjid at the end of the list, continue.