Left comes to Hebron, By Judy Lash Balint
Excerpts;
“While events in Amona seem destined to accentuate the great divide between secular Israelis and the national-religious public, an astonishing event in Hebron some days ago brought together these two sectors of Israeli society generally portrayed by the media as being strongly antagonistic toward one another.”
“…Several hundred kibbutz members, secular professors and members of secular Labor Zionist youth movements took part in a first-of-its-kind solidarity conference in Hebron. But this ground-breaking confluence of secular socialists and religious settlers took place with absolutely no media coverage. While politicians and rabbis constantly talk about the need for unity, no one seems to pay any attention when it actually occurs.”
“Residents of Hebron mingled with bare-headed men and women wearing pants in the Shalhevet Gate area of the city as speaker after speaker with impeccable Labor Zionist credentials rose to express their solidarity. Hebron pioneer Rabbi Moshe Levinger and Kedumim activist Daniella Weiss chatted warmly with secular student leader Liron Zeyden. Levinger hugged kibbutznik Yossi Tzur – a David Ben-Gurion look-alike.”