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The complicated, bloody history of a religious site in the most contested city in Israel is the center of gravity for the Israel-Palestine conflict by Harrison Jacobs on Jul 31, 2018, 4:24 PM Advertisement
 - Hebron is the biggest city in the Palestinian West Bank with a population of 200,000 Palestinians and around 1,000 Israeli settlers.
- The city is home to the most important religious site for Jews and Muslims outside of Jerusalem: a 2,000 year-old building known as the Cave of the Patriarchs to Jews and Ibrahimi Mosque to Muslims.
- The history of the religious site and the tense situation around it today illuminate much about the persistence of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
- I recently visited Hebron on a "dual narrative" tour. Half the tour was guided by an Israeli Jew and the other half was guided by a Palestinian from Hebron. Each told their side of what has happened at the Cave of the Patriarchs/Ibrahimi Mosque.
It's not an exaggeration to say that if you want to understand the Israel-Palestine conflict, go to Hebron. But, more specifically, if you want to understand how history and conflicting narratives collide into a tense and tenuous present, visit one of the region's most important and contested religious sites: the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. Referred to as Ibrahimi Mosque by Muslims and Palestinians and the Tomb of the Patriarchs by Jews and Israelis, the structure is said to be the tombs of the biblical figures of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Leah. The 2,000-year-old building was built by King Herod the Great, and is considered to be the oldest continuously used prayer structure in the world. As both Muslims and Jews revere Abraham and his descendants, the site is immeasurably important to both cultures. And it has a contentious and bloody history over the centuries and even today. It has passed hands from Jews to Christians to Muslims throughout that time. The building holds a series of cenotaphs, or commemorative tombs, for the biblical figures, though some believe they are actually buried beneath the building. On a recent trip to Israel — my first — I decided to visit the religious site to better understand the conflict. I decided to take a tour led by Eliyahu McLean, an Orthodox Jew who moved from the US to Israel 20 years ago, and Mohammed Al-Mohtaseb, a 27-year-old Palestinian. Here's what it's like: SEE ALSO: I visited the most contested city in the Middle East, where Israelis and Palestinians are separated by a gauntlet of military checkpoints — and the harsh, complicated truth of the conflict was immediately clear Hebron is located 20 miles south of Jerusalem in the West Bank. With a population of more than 200,000 Palestinians and around 1,000 Israeli settlers, Hebron is the biggest city in the Palestinian territory. Its name in both Hebrew (Hevron) and Arabic (Al-Khalil) translates to "friend." 
Hebron is divided in two sectors: H1, controlled by the Palestinian Authority, and H2, controlled by the Israeli military. One of the key dividing points is the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs. The majestic building can be seen here. 
The presence of the site has drawn the devout of all Abrahamic religions to the city for centuries. In the Byzantine period, the building was turned into a church. When the city was conquered by Arab Muslims, it was turned into a mosque. It was turned back into a church during the Crusader period and then back into a mosque under the Mamluks and finally the Ottomans. 
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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