Biden’s abandonment of the Afghanistan people is proof that in the end, one cannot trust another country to follow through on a promise of protection. The Jews in Israel learned that lesson 92 years ago this week when Great Britain allowed a massacre in the Jewish city of Hebron after promising them protection. Hebron 1929

Hebron was the first piece of land ever purchased by the Jews in Israel. Approximately 38 centuries ago, Abraham the forefather of the Jewish faith, purchased a cave in Hebron to bury his beloved wife, Sarah. Abraham purposely overpaid for the land so no one could deny it was his fair and square.

Hebron is a Jewish city that has been occupied by Arabs since 1929.  The occupation began on a Friday evening in August when a group of Arab terrorists massacred the Jews of the city. The British who ruled over the Holy Land at the time promised to protect the Jews of Hebron but instead watched the slaughter happen while not lifting a finger to prevent the carnage.

 

City of Hebron

Above the Tomb of Sarah at the Cave of Machpelah

When Abe passed away, he was buried there also. Eventually, Abraham’s son Isaac and his wife Rebekah, Jacob, and one of his wives Leah, and Jacob’s brother Esau’s head was also buried in the cave (long story).  The Jews had owned the land in that city from that sale of the cave to Abraham until 1929. Jews were the majority of the population most of that time.

Three days before the Hebron massacre, Davar newspaper of August 20th, 1929, reported:

Incitement of feeling against the Jews goes on, particularly round Jerusalem and Hebron. Rumors are being spread by unknown Hebron 1929persons that on Saturday last the Jews cursed the Moslem religion, and that it is the duty of Moslems to take revenge.

Rabbi Ya’acov Slonim, head of the Sephardic Jewish community, and Rabbi Frank, head of the Ashkenazic community, turned to the Arab Governor of Hebron, Abdullah Kardos. The Governor calmed us and said:

`There is no fear of anything happening. The British Government knows what it has to do. In the place where two soldiers are needed, it sends six.” And he added: “I tell you in confidence that they have many soldiers in the streets, in civilian clothes; these soldiers circulate among the crowds, and in the hour of need they will fulfill their duty.’‘ 

But that promise was never backed up with action.

“At about half past two on Friday (August 23) we saw a young Arab arrive by motorcycle from Jerusalem. He alarmed the Arab inhabitants of Hebron, saying that the blood of thousands of Moslems in Jerusalem was being shed like water And the Jews were destoying a mosque in Jerusalem. He called to the Arabs to avenge this blood. The unrest among the Arabs of Hebron was very strong, particularly after the motor cars began to arrive from Jerusalem with news of disturbances.”

On Friday night, August 23rd, Rabbi Ya’acov Slonim’s son invited any fearful Jews to stay in his house. The Rabbi was highly regarded in the community, and he had a gun. Many Jews took him up on this offer, and most of those Jews were murdered in his home.Hebron 1929

On Saturday morning, before the slaughter began, the Rabbis again appealed to the Governor for help. Again they received the same empty assurances. Bewildered, the Jews turned to Mr. Cafferata, the British officer in charge of the Police. From him, too, they received assurances of safety.

As early as 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, Arabs began to gather en masse. They came in mobs, armed with clubs, knives, and axes. While the women and children threw stones, the men ransacked Jewish houses and destroyed Jewish property. With only a single police officer in Hebron, the Arabs entered Jewish courtyards with no opposition.

Rabbi Slonim, who had tried to shelter the Jewish population, was approached by the rioters and offered a deal. If all the Ashkenazi yeshiva students were given over to the Arabs, the rioters would spare the lives of the Sephardi community. Rabbi Slonim refused to turn over the students and was killed on the spot. In the end,12 Sephardi Jews and 55 Ashkenazi Jews were murdered.

On hearing screams in a room I went up a sort of tunnel passage and saw an Arab in the act of cutting off a child’s head with a sword. He had already hit him and was having another cut, but on seeing me he tried to aim the stroke at me but missed; he was practically on the muzzle of my rifle. I shot him low in the groin. Behind him was a Jewish woman smothered in blood with a man I recognized as a[n Arab] police constable named Issa Sherif from Jaffa in mufti. He was standing over the woman with a dagger in his hand. He saw me and bolted into a room close by and tried to shut me out-shouting in Arabic, “Your Honor, I am a policeman.” … I got into the room and shot him.” (Bernard Wasserstein, The British in Palestine: The Mandatory Government and the Arab-Jewish Conflict 1917-1929, Oxford England, Basil Blackwell, 1991)

A Letter From A Survivor:

Now let me tell you about the massacre. Right after eight o’clock in the morning we heard screams. Arabs had begun breaking into Jewish homes. The screams pierced the heart of the heavens. We didn’t know what to do. Our house had two floors. We were Hebron 1929downstairs and a doctor lived on the second floor. We figured that we would be safe in the doctor’s apartment, but how could we get up there? The stairs were on the outside of the building, but it wasn’t safe to go out. So we chopped through the ceiling and that way we climbed up to the doctor’s house. Well, after being there only a little while, we realized that we were still in danger because by that time the Arabs had almost reached our house. They were going from door to door, slaughtering everyone who was inside. The screams and the moans were terrible. People were crying Help! Help! But what could we do? There were thirty‑three of us. Soon, soon, all of us would be lost.

Just then, God, blessed be He, in His great mercy, sent us an Arab who lived in back of our house. He insisted that we come down from the doctor’s apartment and enter his house through the back door. He took us to his cellar, a large room without windows to the outside. We all went in, while he, together with several Arab women, stood outside near the door. As we lay there on the floor, we heard the screams as Arabs were slaughtering Jews. It was unbearable. As for us, we felt that the danger was so great that we had no chance of coming out alive. Each one of us said his vidui [his confession in anticipation of death]. At any moment we could be slaughtered, for double‑edged swords were already at out throats. We had not even the slightest hope of remaining alive. We just begged that it should already be done and over.

Five times the Arabs stormed our house with axes, and all the while those wild murderers kept screaming at the Arabs who were standing guard to hand over the Jews. They, in turn, shouted back that they had not hidden any Jews and knew nothing. They begged the attackers not to destroy their homes.

Hebron 1929In all that day, sixty-seven Jews were killed, and another fifty-eight were injured, despite the promise of the British which at the time was the world’s superpower.

When the massacre finally ended, the surviving Jews resettled in Jerusalem. Some Jewish families tried to move back to Hebron but were removed by the British authorities in 1936 at the start of the Arab revolt.

In 1948, the War of Independence granted Israel statehood, but further cut the Jews off from Hebron. The city was captured by King Abdullah’s Arab Legion and ultimately annexed to Jordan.

When Jews finally regained control of the city in 1967, a small number of massacre survivors again tried to reclaim their old houses. Then-defense minister Moshe Dayan told the survivors that if they returned, they would be arrested and that they should be patient while the government worked out a solution to get their houses back. Dayan never got around to it–I guess he was too busy giving away Jewish rights to the Temple Mount.

The Memorial of the Jews of Hebron, as submitted to the High Commissioner of Palestine closes with these tragic words:

 

In the name of sixty-five slaughtered, fifty-eight wounded, and many orphans and widows; in the name of the remnants of the plundered and tortured we accuse:

  • The [British Mandatory] Government, which did not fulfill its duty and provide protection for its peaceful and defenceless charges.
  • The Governor, Abdullah Kardos, and the Commander, Cafferata, who deprived us of the means of appealing for help and defence, betrayed us with empty promises and gave the murderers and robbers their opportunity.
  • The police, which did not fulfill its duty, and behaved with contemptible baseness.
  • The emissaries of the Mufti and the Moslem Council, in particular the Sheikh Talib Narka and his colleagues, those mentioned above, as well as those who have not been mentioned, who proclaimed the massacre and permitted murder and rape.
  • Also, the inhabitants of Hebron (with the exception of some families) who did not rise up to help their brothers and neighbors in accordance with the commandments of the Koran…’]

 

 Hebron 1929

 

 

The Hebron massacre taught the future State of Israel is that she can never fully trust any other nation, even a reliable friend such as America. Donald Trump was a great friend in the White House, but he was preceded by Obama, a president whom many would describe as an enemy of Israel and Jews everywhere. Trump’s successor Joe Biden loaded his administration with Israel haters and Antisemites. It reiterates that the Jewish State must protect herself as she deems appropriate because when push comes to shove history has taught the Jews just like 92 years ago in Hebron, just like Obama taught the Jews during his administration if Israel doesn’t protect herself..no one else will.  And that’s the very same lesson our allies in Afghanistan who helped America in the war effort are learning today.

May the memories of the victims always be a blessing.

Hebron 1929

Hebron 1929

Hebron 1929

Hebron 1929

 Hebron massacre,  Hebron massacre, Hebron massacre,  Hebron massacre,  Hebron massacre, Hebron massacre