Why the Media Blackout of Chol HaMo’ed Events in Chevron?

Sadly, there will be no links here to any news reports. Last Wednesday, all events were apparently washed out by the torrential rains on the first day of Chol HaMo’ed. But Thursday, the Chol HaMo’ed events in Chevron, including the Concert went uncovered, blacked out by the Media here (at least the English language media), even by Israel National News.

On Thursday, the sun was out and it was a great day for celebrations and a concert.

There was delicious and plentiful food and plenty of Succah room to eat it. There was tefillah inside the Ma’arat HaMachpela as well as the Concert with Bands and Artists who rocked. On of the featured acts, a drummer who is a singer as well and whose name escapes me, was up there “in a zone” as they say in Baseball when a hitter is on a hot streak. It was “a zone” reminescent of Purim two years at my Shul Kehillah Beis Tefillah when “Bad Benji” reached the heights with a mean pair of sticks.

The day was only slightly marred by Israeli police being Israeli police, totally lacking in any semblance of Jewish feeling and sensitivity, harrassing a vender near the Gutnick Hall.

Just as with the Seudah Sh’lish’t on the Shabbos before before Rosh Hashana where two soldiers attempted to disrupt and disperse a group of Chevron residents with whom I joined for the seudah in the plaza outside the Ma’arat HaMachpela, to honor the 3 families from Shi-Rat HaYam, the police approached this vendor with the same attitude. The hidden message was driven home: You are here, you are living here at our pleasure.

And, as if that were enough, some thoughtless young policemen took to peeling bumper stickers and littering the ground with the unadhesive parts.

I guess that somewhere at least in the neighborhood of 25,000 to 40,000 people attended and enjoyed the events on Thursday of Chol HaMo’ed and bonded with their brethren, the people of Chevron.