MOROCCO

indigenous Amazigh (Berber) village, Morocco, courtesy,
123rf.com

Morocco is an Arab-occupied country located in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, with land borders with Algeria to the east and Western Sahara (status disputed) to the south. In addition to the Western Sahara, Morocco also claims the exclaves of Ceuta, Melilla and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, all of them under Spanish jurisdiction, as well as several small Spanish-controlled islands off its coast. The indigenous people presently living under Arab occupation are from various Berber tribes, mainly, the Chleuh, Riffian, Sanhaja, Zayane, and Zenata.

Thousands of years ago, various Berber tribes settled in the area. Medieval Arab historian Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406) brings down two opinions as to the Berbers' origin, writing that some say that they were descended from Canaan, son of Ham. But citing Abu Bakr bin Yahya al-Suli, Ibn Khaldun wrote that they are descended from Casluhim, the son of Mizraïm. Beginning around the 9^th century BCE, this area would slowly be drawn into the wider emerging Mediterranean world by the Phoenicians, who had established trading colonies and settlements including Volubilis, Chellah and Mogador. These centers were trading hubs, and later offered support for resource development such as olive oil at Volubilis and Tyrian purple dye at Mogador. For their part, most Berbers maintained their independence as farmers or semi-pastorals although, due to the exemplar of Carthage, their organized politics increased in scope and acquired sophistication. In 225 BCE, the Berber Mauri under their king Baga, began to inhabit ancient Mauretania (not to be confused with the present state of Mauritania). It later became a realm of the Northwest African civilization of ancient Carthage as part of its empire. It became a client kingdom of the Roman Empire in 33 BCE. In 44 CE, under the reign of King Ptolemy of Mauretania, the last king of Mauretania, Emperor Claudius annexed the country directly as a Roman province to be ruled by an imperial governor. The Mauretanian cavalry fought in the Dacian Wars under the indigenous military leader Lusius Quietus. During the crisis of the 3rd century, parts of Mauretania were reconquered by Berber tribes. Direct Roman rule then became confined to a few coastal cities, such as Septum (Ceuta) in Mauretania Tingitana and Cherchell in Mauretania Caesariensis. The Roman Empire lost its remaining possessions after the area was devastated by the Vandals in 429. Afterwards, local Mauro-Roman kings assumed control. The Eastern Roman Empire under Byzantine control re-established direct imperial rule in the 530s.

The Muslim conquest of the Maghreb, that started in the middle of the 7^th and into the 8^th centuries, was achieved by the Arab Umayyad Caliphate early into the following century. It brought both the Arabic language and Islam to the area. Although part of the larger Islamic Empire, Morocco was initially organized as a subsidiary province of Ifriqiya, with the local governors appointed by the Muslim governor in Kairouan. Even though the indigenous Berber tribes adopted Islam, they retained their customary laws. They also paid taxes and tribute to the new Muslim administration. Some achieved a high status in society under the new rulers. Tariq ibn Ziyad, Berber Muslim and Umayyad general, led in the Muslim conquest of Spain in 711.

The following are the Berber rulers of Morocco under the various indigenous dynasties:

Banū Salih rulers

·         Salih I ibn Mansur "al-`Abd as-Salih" (710-749) founder of the first independent Muslim state in Morocco and with its capital at Temsaman. This kingdom would later exist alongside the Barghawata kingdom.

·         al-Mu'tasim ibn Salih (749-?)

·         Idris I ibn Salih (?-760), who founded Nekor and made it capital of the kingdom.

·         Sa'id I ibn Idris (760-803)

·         Salih II ibn Sa'id (803-864)

·         Sa'id II ibn Salih (864-916)

·         Salih III ibn Sa'id (917-927)

·         Abd al-Badi' ibn Salih "el-Mu'ayyid" (927-929)

·         Abu Ayyub Isma'il ibn 'Abd al Malik ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Sa'id I ibn Salih (930?-935)

·         Musa ibn Rumi ibn Abd as-Sami` ibn Salih ibn Idris I ibn Salih (936?-940)

·         Abd as-Sami' ibn Jurthum ibn Idris ibn Salih I ibn Mansur (940-947)

·         Jurthum ibn Ahmad ibn Ziyadat Allah ibn Sa'id I ibn Idris (947-970)

Thenceforth, the kingdom remained in his line until the Azdâji emir Ya'la ibn Futuh conquered it in 1019 and expelled the family.

Barghawata kings

·         Tarif al-Matghari began a revolt against the Arab Umayyad occupation authorities that ultimately gave the Barghawata their independence.

·         Ṣāliḥ ibn Tarīf (744-?), declared himself prophet in 744 and went away at the age of 47, promising to return. Possibly during the reign of his successor, an Arab kingdom under the Idrisid dynasty arose alongside the Barghawata. It was they who allowed Arab immigrants to colonize and occupy Morocco, often coming into conflict with the Barghawata for the duration of the kingdom as a result.

·         Ilyas ibn Salih (?792-842)

·         Yunus ibn Ilyas (?842-888)

·         Abu-Ghufayl Muhammad (?888-917)

·         Abu al-Ansar Abdullah (?917-961)

·         Abu Mansur Isa (?961-?)

Almoravid dynasty

·         Abdallah ibn Yasin (1040–1059) – founder & spiritual leader, made Aghmat the Almoravid capital.

·         Yahya ibn Ibrahim (1048)

·         Yahya ibn Umar al-Lamtuni (c. 1050–1056)

·         Abu Bakr ibn Umar (1056–1087) – moved the capital to Marrakesh.

·         Yusuf ibn Tashfin (c. 1072–1106)

·         Ali ibn Yusuf (1106–43)

·         Tashfin ibn Ali (1143–45)

·         Ibrahim ibn Tashfin (1145–1147)

·         Ishaq ibn Ali (1147)

Almohad caliphs (1121–1269)

·         Ibn Tumart 1121–1130 made Tinmel the capital of the kingdom.

·         Abd al-Mu'min 1130–1163 moved the capital back to Marrakesh where he established the Kutubiyya Mosque.

·         Abu Ya'qub Yusuf I 1163–1184

·         Abu Yusuf Ya'qub 'al-Mansur' 1184–1199

·         Muhammad al-Nasir 1199–1213

·         Abu Ya'qub Yusuf II 'al-Mustansir' 1213–1224

·         Abu Muhammad Abd al-Wahid I 'al-Makhlu' 1224

·         Abdallah al-Adil 1224–1227

·         Yahya 'al-Mutasim' 1227–1229

·         Abu al-Ala Idris I al-Ma'mun, 1229–1232

·         Abu Muhammad Abd al-Wahid II 'al-Rashid' 1232–1242

·         Abu al-Hassan Ali 'al-Said' 1242–1248

·         Abu Hafs Umar 'al-Murtada', 1248–1266

·         Abu al-Ula (Abu Dabbus) Idris II 'al-Wathiq' 1266–1269

Marinid rulers

·         Abd al-Haqq I (1215–1217), capital in Taza.

·         Abu Sa'id Uthman I (1217–1240)

·         Abu Ma'ruf Muhammad I (1240–1244)

·         Abu Yahya ibn Abd al-Haqq (1244–1258), moved capital to Fez.

·         Abu Yusuf Yaqub (1258–1269)

·         Abu Yusuf Yaqub (1269–1286)

·         Abu Yaqub Yusuf al-Nasir (1286–1307)

·         Abu Thabit 'Amir (1307–1308)

·         Abu al-Rabi Sulayman (1308–1310)

·         Abu Sa'id Uthman II (1310–1331)

·         Abu al-Hasan 'Ali (1331–1351)

·         Abu Inan Faris al-Mutawakkil (1348–1358)

·         Abu Zayyan Muhammad II (1358; first reign)

·         Abu Yahya Abu Bakr ibn Faris (1358–1359)

·         Abu Salim Ibrahim ibn 'Ali (1359–1361)

·         Abu 'Amr Tashfin ibn 'Ali (1361)

·         Abu Zayyan Muhammad II (1361–1365; second reign)

·         Abu Faris Abd al-Aziz I al-Mustansir (1365–1372)

·         Abu Zayyan Muhammad III (1372–1374)

·         Abu 'l-Abbas Ahmad I al-Mustansir (1373–1384, 1387–1393)

·         Abu Faris Musa ibn Faris (1384–1386)

·         Abu Zayyan Muhammad IV ibn Ahmad I (1386)

·         Abu Zayyan Muhammad V ibn Ali (1386–1387)

·         Abu 'l-Abbas Ahmad II ibn Ahmad I (1387–1393)

·         Abu Faris Abd al-Aziz II ibn Ahmad II (1393–1396)

·         Abu 'Amir Abdallah ibn Ahmad II (1396–1397)

·         Abu Sa'id Uthman III (1398–1420)

·         Abu Muhammad Abd al-Haqq II (1420–1465)

The Wattasid Viziers, capital continued to be Fez

·         1420-1448: Abu Zakariya Yahya al-Wattasi

·         1448-1458: Ali ibn Yusuf

·         1458-1459: Yahya ibn Abi Zakariya Yahya

·         In 1465 came the raids and conquests by the Portuguese.

Wattasid Sultans

·         1472-1504: Abu Abd Allah al-Sheikh Muhammad ibn Yahya

·         1504-1526: Abu Abd Allah al-Burtuqali Muhammad ibn Muhammad

·         1526-1526: Abu al-Hasan Abu Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad

·         1526-1545: Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad

·         1545-1547: Nasir ad-Din al-Qasri Muhammad ibn Ahmad

·         1547-1549: Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad

·         1554-1554: Abu al-Hasan Abu Hasun Ali ibn Muhammad

Since that time and until today, Morocco had been succeeded by a series of Arab occupation dynasties.

Since the 16^th century, Morocco managed to avoid the Ottoman conquests. In 1893-1894, the Melillan War broke out between the Berber tribes of the Rif and the Spanish invaders. Unfortunately, the Spanish emerged victorious. France also had had a strong influence on the country and in 1912, Morocco was divided into French and Spanish protectorates, with an international zone in Tangier.

During World Wars I and II and the Spanish civil war, several divisions of Goumiers or regular troops and officers largely made up of Berbers and some Arabs served in the French army. Between 1921 and 1926, a Berber uprising in the Rif Mountains, led by Abd el-Krim, against the French and Spanish, led to the establishment of the Republic of the Rif. The Spanish alone lost more than 13,000 soldiers at Annual in July–August 1921. The rebellion and the Rif Republic were eventually suppressed by French and Spanish troops. In 1956, Morocco gained its independence but as an Arab-occupied country.

While Berberism had its roots before the independence Morocco and the rest of the Maghreb, it was limited to the Berber elite. It only began to gain success among the greater populace when North African states replaced their European colonial languages with Arabic and identified exclusively as Arabian nations, downplaying or ignoring the existence and the social specificity of Berbers. In Morocco, after the constitutional reforms of 2011, Berber became an official language, and is now taught as a compulsory language in all schools regardless of the area or the ethnicity.

But in spite of the constant Arab discrimination, Berbers have actually reached high positions in the social hierarchy across the Maghreb, for instance, many of the prime ministers of Morocco were Berber including the present incumbent (as of this writing) Saadeddine Othmani.

CASABLANCA

view of Casablanca, courtesy, Berber Dream Tours

Casablanca, from the movie of the same name, is the largest city of Arab-occupied Morocco as well as in the Arab-occupied Maghreb (North Africa). It is located in the Chaouia Plain, the Tamasna, in the central-western part of Morocco along the Atlantic coast at the mouth of the Wadi Buskura. Casablanca it is the eighth-largest urban area in the “Arab world” and is also Morocco's chief port and economic and business center, and one of the largest financial centers in Africa.

In approximately the seventh century BCE, this area was settled by various Berber tribes who coalesced to form a settlement they called “Anfa”. Anfa was later used as a port by the Phoenicians and then the Romans and became prosperous because of its international trade as well as its fertile hinterland. From Anfa, began the expeditions of Juba II, king of Numidia and Mauretania in the service of Rome, to discover the Canary and Madeira islands off the west African coast. Juba was succeeded by Ptolemy of Mauretania under whose reign, the kingdom was officially annexed by Roman emperor Caligula thus incorporating Anfa into the Roman Empire.

Early in the 7^th century, a large Berber tribe, the Barghawata from the Masmuda confederacy, settled in the Tamasna Plain between the rivers Bou Regreg to the north and Oum er-Rbia to the south. A century later, it was conquered by the Arabs, as was all of North Africa. But in contrast to the Levant, Arab colonization and subjugation of North Africa was a very slow process, especially when confronting formidable Berber warriors. In 744, the Barghawata, following the revolt against the Arab Umayyads, established itself as an independent kingdom in Tamasna and made Anfa its capital. It remained an independent kingdom until it was conquered by the Berber Almoravids in 1068. Under the succeeding dynasty, the Almohads, also Berber, Sultan Abd al-Mu'min, finally drove the Barghawata out of Tamasna in 1149, and replaced them with Bedouin Arab tribes, notably Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym. Eventually, they would mix with the remaining local Berbers which, unfortunately, led to the beginning of widespread Arabization. During the 14th century, under the Merinids, a Zenata Berber dynasty, Anfa rose in importance as a port, and became an independent city in the early part of the following century. The last of the Merinids was ousted by a popular revolt in 1465.

Anfa suffered major damage during the raids and conquest by the Portuguese in the 15th century, but the Portuguese soon rebuilt it, and in the process, changed its name to Casa Branca meaning 'white house'. The present name, the Spanish, “Casa Blanca”, was adopted when the Kingdom of Portugal came under Spanish control through the Iberian Union. But the town couldn’t survive the Portuguese or Spanish and it soon became an abandoned city until 1770 when it was rebuilt by Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah from the Arab Alouite dynasty who was known to be friendly to the Berbers. Under his rule, the city was repopulated by Chleuh Berbers from the region of Essaouira and the environs of Meknes. Today, the name “Anfa” survives as a neighborhood of the present city, located on the site of the original town.

 

Before the beginning of the 20^th century, another wave of Chleuh arrived in Casablanca from the Souss and Draa regions to the south. This group would become famous for the grocery businesses they developed.

For many years, especially since independence in 1956, the Berbers in Casablanca, as with Morocco as a whole, were forced to undergo an Arabization process by the Arab occupiers, requiring them to abandon their indigenous Berber identities including their language which was deemed illegal. As far as Casablanca was concerned, this resulted in limited contacts with the native-born, Arabic-speaking, urban dwellers as migrations to the city which took place in the 50s and 60s, originated from the Berber-speaking rural hinterlands. Recently, the anti-Berber restrictions were eased and the Berber language was given official recognition. But in the end, the indigenous people still remained under Arab occupation, with all that that entails, and unfortunately at present, they have no choice but to live with it.

According to the 2019 census, the city has a population of about 3.71 million in the urban area and over 4.27 million in the Greater Metropolitan area. In spite of the Arab occupation, there is, nevertheless, an exceedingly strong Berber presence. There are several Berber tourist companies located throughout the city and some of the main indigenous sites might include -- the Berber Mosque; the gate Bab Marrakesh, so called because the road to Marrakesh starts from there; the Abderrahman Slaoui Museum which contains a fine Berber jewelry section; and the old medina, built in the 19^th century as a marketplace, filled with labyrinthine narrow streets and cafés, now a residential area.   

MEGIDDO

ancient site of Megiddo, courtesy, Wikipedia

Megiddo is the site of the ancient city of Megiddo whose remains form a tell (archaeological mound). It is situated in northern Israel near Kibbutz Megiddo, about 18 miles south-east of Haifa. Located in the Jezreel Valley, Megiddo is known for its historic, geographic, and theological importance, especially under its Greek name Armageddon. It was a royal city in the Kingdom of Israel and is now protected as Megiddo National Park, a World Heritage Site.

After the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites, the site of Megiddo was allotted to the tribe of Menasheh and it was situated near the border with the tribe of Zvulun. The famous ruins of the horse stables, originally thought to date from the time of Solomon, is now dated a century and a half later to the time of Ahab. The Battle of Megiddo (609 BCE) was fought between Egyptian pharaoh Necho II and the Kingdom of Judah, resulting in the defeat of Judah and the slaying of its king Josiah. But its importance soon dwindled, and it was finally abandoned around 586 BCE. Since that time it has remained uninhabited, preserving ruins pre-dating 586 BCE without settlements ever disturbing them.  The Book of Revelation mentions an apocalyptic battle at Armageddon (Revelation 16:16). The name “Armageddon” was derived from the Hebrew "Har Megiddo", meaning "Mount of Megiddo" and has become a byword for the end of the world.

Kibbutz Megiddo, located less than a mile from the ancient site, was founded in 1949 by a small group of Holocaust survivors from Hungary and Poland who organized at the end of World War II and fought in the War of Independence. In 1952, another group of immigrants from Lebanon and Mexico joined the kibbutz. In 1959, they were joined by immigrants from Argentina. Pope Paul VI's visited the site in 1964 during his trip to Israel. It was there that he met with Israeli dignitaries, including President Zalman Shazar and Prime Minister Levi Eshkol. Yigael Yadin, an Israeli soldier and archaeologist, conducted excavations at the tell in 1960, 1966, 1967, and 1971 for the Hebrew University. Megiddo has most recently (since 1994) been the subject of biannual excavation campaigns conducted by the Megiddo Expedition of Tel Aviv University, currently co-directed by Israel Finkelstein and David Ussishkin, with Eric H. Cline of The George Washington University serving as Associate Director (USA), together with a consortium of international universities.

On October 11, 1989, a Syrian MiG-23MLD defected to Israel, landing at Megiddo. The aircraft was afterwards flown by IAF's Flight Test Center and is now on display in the IAF museum in Hatzerim.

In November 2000, due to demographic problems and economic instability, the kibbutz members decided to change the lifestyle and structure of the kibbutz in a way that every member is now responsible for his or her own livelihood and the kibbutz provides only some welfare services. Also, ownership of housing units and businesses were transferred from the kibbutz to the residents. In 2007, two new neighborhoods were built in the west and north with 108 housing units.

Today, Kibbutz Megiddo is under the jurisdiction of the Megiddo Regional Council. On the west side is the Megiddo Forest and on the east is the Legio Archaeological Site and beyond that, Megiddo Junction of Highways 65 and 66.

CAVE OF MACHPELAH

ancient Herodian structure over the Cave of
Machpelah in Hebron, courtesy, Wikipedia

The Cave of Machpelah, sometimes referred to as the Tombs of the Patriarchs, is a series of caves located in the heart of the Old City of Hebron in the Judean hills, approximately 18 miles south of Jerusalem. In 1967, Israel liberated the site from Arab occupation and subsequently divided the ancient structure over the tombs and the cave into a synagogue and a mosque. The site is considered by Jews to be the second holiest place in the world, after the Temple Mount.

The word Machpelah means "doubled", "multiplied" or "twofold". Therefore, a literal translation would simply be "the double cave". But according to some, the name could refer to the layout of the cave which is thought to consist of two or more connected chambers. This hypothesis is discussed in the tractate Eruvin from the 6th century Babylonian Talmud which cites an argument between two influential rabbis, Rav and Shmuel. Another theory holds that Machpelah didn't refer to the cave but rather a large tract of land, The Machpelah, at the end of which the cave was found. This theory is supported by some Bible verses such as Genesis 49:30, "the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan…".

According to Jewish tradition, the cave and adjoining field were purchased by Abraham as a burial plot. This was the first commercial transaction mentioned in the Bible. He had approached the sons of Heth who were charmed by him and told him that he can bury his dead in any of their tombs. Instead, he decided to purchase the site of the Cave of Machpelah from its owner, Ephron the Hittite, for a fair price. Afterward, Abraham’s wife Sarah died, according to Genesis 23:1–20, and was buried in the cave. She was 127 and the only woman in the Bible whose exact age is given. The burial of Sarah is also the first account of a burial in the Bible. In time, Abraham himself followed her, and much later, his son Isaac, and his wife Rebecca, and finally Jacob’s wife Leah. In the final chapter of Genesis, Joseph, ruler of Egypt, had his physicians embalm his father Jacob, before they removed him from Egypt to be buried in the Cave next to Leah. (Jacob’s second wife Rachel was buried in her own tomb on the outskirts of Bethlehem.)

In 31–4 BCE, King Herod the Great built a large, rectangular enclosure over the cave. It is the only fully surviving Herodian structure from the period of Hellenistic Judaism. After the destruction of Jerusalem, the site remained a Jewish pilgrimage center, only now, they were forced to share it with Christians. The Piacenza Pilgrim (c. 570) noted in his pilgrimage account that Jews and Christians shared possession of the site.

The Arab occupation of the 7^th century was actually seen as a liberation by the Jews. When they conquered the country they handed over the supervision of Machpelah to the Jews, in recognition of their assistance. They also permitted the building of two small synagogues at the site. Over the years, even though Jews were permitted to pray at the site itself, it officially acted as a mosque as long as it was under Muslim rule (or a church when it was under the control of the Christian Crusaders). During the late 11^th century, the Jewish official responsible for the area bore the title of "The Servant to the Fathers of the World." The Jews of Hebron were accustomed to pray daily in Machpelah for the welfare of the head of the Palestinian gaonate. Many Jews sought to be buried in its vicinity considering burial there to be equal to burial on the sacred Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. When the site became a church during the Crusader period, Jews were banned from using the adjoining synagogues. In the mid-12^th century, the Arab nobleman from Damascus, Ibn al-Qalanisi in his chronicle alludes to the discovery of relics purported to be those of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, a discovery that excited eager curiosity among all three communities in the southern Levant, Muslim, Christian, and certainly Jewish. Towards the end of the period of Crusader rule, in 1166 Maimonides visited Hebron and wrote, "On Sunday, 9 Marheshvan (October 17), I left Jerusalem for Hebron to kiss the tombs of my ancestors in the Cave. On that day, I stood in the cave and prayed, praise be to God, (in gratitude) for everything." In 1170, Benjamin of Tudela visited the city, which he called by its Frankish name, St. Abram de Bron. He reported: "…there is the great church called St. Abram, and this was a Jewish place of worship at the time of the Mohammedan rule… The custodians tell the pilgrims that these are the tombs of the Patriarchs, for which information the pilgrims give them money. If a Jew comes, however, and gives a special reward, the custodian of the cave opens unto him a gate of iron, which was constructed by our forefathers, and then he is able to descend below by means of steps, holding a lighted candle in his hand. He then reaches a cave, in which nothing is to be found, and a cave beyond, which is likewise empty, but when he reaches the third cave behold there are six sepulchres, those of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, respectively facing those of Sarah, Rebekah and Leah, upon which the names of the three Patriarchs and their wives are inscribed in Hebrew characters. The cave is filled with barrels containing bones of people, which are taken there as to a sacred place. At the end of the field of the Machpelah stands Abraham's house with a spring in front of it". Rabbi Shmuel bar Shimshon visited the cave in 1210 with the permission of the governor of Jerusalem; he says that the visitor must descend by twenty-four steps in a passageway so narrow that the rock touches him on either hand.

When the Egyptian Muslim Mamelukes took over Crusader lands, they forbade Jews, as well as Christians, from entering the site, allowing them only as close as the fifth step on a staircase at the southeast, but after some time this was increased to the seventh step. But they were able to insert petitions into a hole opposite the fourth step. This hole pierces the entire thickness of the wall, to a depth of 6 ft. 6 in. It is first mentioned in 1521, and it can almost certainly be assumed to have been made at the request of the Jews of Hebron, possibly on payment of a large sum, so that their supplications would fall into the cave situated under the floor of the area. The Cave itself was off-limits to everyone, even Muslims.

After Jordan occupied Judea and Samaria in 1948, no Jew was allowed in the territory and consequently no Jew could visit the tomb. Following its liberation by Israel in 1967, Hebron, and Machpelah in particular, came under Jewish control for the first time in 2,000 years and the 700-year-long restriction limiting Jews to the seventh step outside was lifted. According to the autobiography of the Chief Rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces, Major General Rabbi Shlomo Goren, on June 8, during the Six-day war, he made his way from Gush Etzion to Hebron. He then entered the site and began to pray, becoming the first Jew to enter the compound in 700 years. While praying, a messenger from the Mufti of Hebron delivered a surrender note to him, whereby the rabbi replied "This place, Ma'arat HaMachpela, is a place of prayer and peace. Surrender elsewhere."

The stairway leading to the site was destroyed in order to erase the humiliating "seventh step". The first Jewish wedding ceremony to take place there was on August 7, 1968. At the same time, a special arrangement was made to accommodate Jewish services on the Jewish New Year and Day of Atonement. This led to a hand-grenade being thrown on the stairway leading to the tomb on October 9; 47 Israelis were injured, 8 seriously. However, that same day, the first Jew to enter the underground caves was Michal Arbel, the 13-year-old daughter of Yehuda Arbel, chief of Shin Bet operations in Judea and Samaria, because she was slender enough to be lowered into the narrow hole and gain access to the tomb site, after which she took photographs. A group of Israeli residents in the area then reestablished a small synagogue under the mosque. On November 4, a large explosion went off near the gate to the compound and 6 people, Jews and Arabs, were wounded. On Yom Kippur eve, in 1976, an Arab mob destroyed several Torah scrolls and prayer books at the tomb. In May 1980, an attack on Jewish worshippers returning from prayers at the tomb left 6 dead and 17 wounded. In 1981, a Jewish group lead by Noam Arnon took photos of the burial chambers. Tensions would later increase when the Zionist authorities under Yitzhak Rabin decided to backstab the Jews and sign the Oslo Accords in September 1993. It was only a matter of time before something tragic would happen. In February 1994, 29 Arabs were killed at the site and scores injured by a Jewish resident of Kiryat Arba, Baruch Goldstein. The resulting riots resulted in a further 35 deaths. The increased sensitivity of the site meant that in 1996, the Wye River Accords included a temporary status agreement restricting access for both Jews and Muslims. As part of this agreement, the Jews control the southwestern section. Muslims are allowed free reign over the entire site but the waqf (Islamic charitable trust) controls 81% of it which includes the whole of the southeastern section which lies above the only known entrance to the caves and possibly over the entirety of the caves themselves. In consequence, Jews are not permitted to visit the Cenotaphs of Isaac or Rebecca, which lie entirely within the southeastern section, except for 10 days a year that hold special significance in Judaism. Tourists are permitted to enter the site. Furthermore, it is illegal for Jewish religious authorities to maintain the site, allowing only the waqf to do so.

Security at the site has increased since the Intifada. On February 21, 2010, the Zionists, uncharacteristically, announced that it would include the Cave of Machpelah in a national heritage site protection and rehabilitation plan. This made the UN, the Arab governments, and the Obama administration, very angry.

LOD

Lod city center, courtesy, Wikipedia

Lod is an Israeli city about 9 miles southeast of Sheikh Munis. In 2019 it had a population of about 77,000. Israel's main international airport, Ben Gurion Airport (previously known as Lydda Airport, RAF Lydda, and Lod Airport) is located on the outskirts of the city.

The town of Lod appears in the Hebrew Bible as a town of Benjamin but is not mentioned in the Book of Joshua. It is however, mentioned in the Book of Chronicles as being founded by Shemed the Benjaminite who also founded the town of Ono (1 Chronicles 8:12; Ezra 2:33; Nehemiah 7:37; 11:35). In Ezra 2:33, it is mentioned as one of the cities whose inhabitants returned after the Babylonian captivity. From the fifth century BCE until c. the 2^nd century, the city was a center of Jewish scholarship and commerce. During the Hasmonean period, Jonathan Maccabee and his brother Simon conquered the city from the Greeks and enlarged the area under Jewish control. But in 63 BCE, the Land of Israel came under Roman rule and twenty years later, Cassius, the Roman governor of Syria, sold the inhabitants of Lod into slavery. They were set free two years later by Mark Antony. In the New Testament, Lod appears in its Greek form, Lydda, and was the site of Peter's healing of a paralytic man as described in Acts 9:32-38. The earliest Christian community in the town was established at this time. In 66 CE, during the First Jewish–Roman War, Lod/Lydda was under the command of John the Essene. The Roman proconsul of Syria, Cestius Gallus, razed the town on his way to Jerusalem which was also razed four years later. But in the period following the destruction, Rabbi Tarfon, who appears in many Tannaitic and Jewish legal discussions, served as the town’s rabbinic authority. During the Kitos War, 115–117 CE, the Roman army laid siege to Lod/Lydda, where the rebel Jews had gathered under the leadership of Julian and Pappos. The distress became so great, that Patriarch Rabban Gamaliel II, who was shut up there (and died soon afterwards), controversially permitted fasting on Ḥanukkah. Lydda was finally taken and many Jews were executed; the "slain of Lydda" are often mentioned in words of reverential praise in the Talmud. Generally speaking however, the town flourished between the first war against Rome and the Bar Kochba Revolt (132-135 CE). It had a large market; cattle were raised in the area; and textile, dyeing, and pottery industries were established. It was the seat of a local Sanhedrin; famous scholars, such as R. Eliezer b. Hyrcanus, R. Akiva, Joshua b. Levi, Judah b. Pazi, Eleazar bar Kappara, and Ḥanina bar Ḥama taught there. Among its synagogues was one specially maintained by a community of Tarsians.  After the Bar Kochba Revolt was crushed, Jews remained in Lydda, though its agricultural hinterland had been destroyed. On the other hand, the patriarch R. Judah I leased estates in its plain. The Samaritan element became more powerful in Byzantine times, although the town became predominantly Christian and had a bishop.

In 1170, Benjamin of Tudela found only one Jewish family there, but after Saladin's re-conquest of the town in 1191, more Jews settled there. The community was even described by the 14^th century geographer Ashtori ha-Parhi. A small community existed sporadically since then but was largely gone for most of the 19^th century. In the second half of the century however, a new community was established, but they were ethnically cleansed by Arabs after the 1921 Jaffa riots. Some returned afterwards. In 1934, an airstrip was built by the British authorities for purposes of trade and travel. In 1973, it was renamed, Ben Gurion Airport. 

In the 1947 United Nations proposal to divide Palestine into Jewish and Arab states, Lydda was allotted to the Arabs. During the bloody Arab onslaughts that triggered the War of Independence, Israeli forces captured the town and it was later incorporated into the State of Israel. The Arab population fled and later, Jewish refugees from “Arab” countries settled there. Beginning in the 70s, they were joined by Jews from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union.

In 1996, prior to the widening of HeHalutz Street, a well-preserved mosaic floor dating to the Roman period was excavated as part of a salvage dig conducted on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Municipality of Lod. The mosaic was initially covered over with soil at the conclusion of the excavation, for lack of funds, to conserve and develop the site. It is now part of the Lod Mosaic Archaeological Center.

Although Lod has been plagued by a poor image for decades, as of 2008 dozens of projects were under way to improve life in the city. New upscale neighborhoods are expanding the city to the east, among them Ganei Ya'ar and Ahisemah. In 2010, the Lod Community Foundation organized an event for representatives of bicultural youth movements, volunteer aid organizations, educational start-ups, businesses, sports organizations, and conservation organizations.   

Lod is also active in Israel’s sports scene. The city's major football club, Hapoel Bnei Lod, formed by a merger of Bnei Lod and Rakevet Lod in the 1997, plays in Liga Leumit (the second division). Its home is at the Lod Municipal Stadium. Two other clubs in the city play in the regional leagues: Hapoel MS Ortodoxim Lod in Liga Bet and Maccabi Lod in Liga Gimel. Hapoel Lod played in the top division during the 1960s and 1980s, and won the State Cup in 1984. It folded in 2002. A new club, Hapoel Maxim Lod (named after former mayor Maxim Levy) was established soon after, but folded in 2007.