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One Building, Divided by Court Order

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One Building, Divided by Court Order

The Ibrahimi Mosque and Cave of the Patriarchs at Hebron is the clearest case anywhere of a religious building physically partitioned between two communities, and of what that costs.

The Herodian enclosure over the cave has been in Muslim use as a mosque since the seventh century, with Jewish access restricted for long periods; from the Mamluk era until 1967 Jews were permitted no further than the seventh step outside. After 1967 the site was opened to both communities under Israeli control, with the space shared and prayer times allocated.

In February 1994 an Israeli settler entered during dawn prayers in Ramadan and shot worshippers, killing twenty nine people and wounding many more before being killed himself. The Israeli commission of inquiry that followed recommended separation, and the building was divided: roughly four fifths allocated to Jewish worship and one fifth to Muslim worship, with separate entrances, metal detectors and soldiers, and a small number of days each year when each side has full access.

The arrangement has held for three decades and satisfies nobody. Palestinian residents describe it as the seizure of a mosque; Jewish worshippers describe restrictions on their own access; the surrounding old city has been substantially emptied by closures and checkpoints. It is included here because it shows what the management of a shared holy place looks like when the status quo model has already failed.

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