Back to Hebron

The Washington Post has an excellent piece on the status of Hebron, in the West Bank, in today’s edition.  Hebron remains heavily militarized, with Israeli soldiers enforcing a strict division of the city that is meant to separate roughly 700 Israeli settlers from the 150,000-strong Palestinian population.  Israeli settlements largely hug what was once a major Palestinian commercial street, which has been mostly shuttered since the 1990s.  The settlements are occupied by some of the most zealous members of Israel’s religious settler movement, and they have been met with increasing radicalization among Palestinians, who sent Hamas delegates to every seat in the city’s Parliamentary delegation following the 2005 elections.  The article has some excellent interactive maps, video footage, and interviews with residents, as well.