WEST BANK: Palestinians who are Israeli citizens, also known as Israeli Arabs, find that shopping in Hebron can cut down on their shopping bills

Record ID: 560651

  • Title: WEST BANK: Palestinians who are Israeli citizens, also known as Israeli Arabs, find that shopping in Hebron can cut down on their shopping bills
  • Date: 10th January 2008
  • Summary: ISRAELI ARABS GETTING ON BUS TO RETURN TO ISRAEL
  • Embargoed: 25th January 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations,Economic News
  • Reuters ID: LVA744KUWYV6NI3N3KXCB3KLTQ4N
  • Story Text: Israeli Arabs are descending on the West Bank city of Hebron in droves as they take advantage of lower prices and hunt for bargains at the city's bustling markets and commercial districts.
    In what has become a familiar sight in the city, bus-loads of Palestinian women shoppers from Israel disembark near Hebron's old city market carrying much needed currency to spend in the city.
    Although entering the West Bank is illegal for Israeli citizen's, many Israeli Arabs are willing to risk being fined by Israel if they are caught in order to support the Palestinian economy and find a few bargains in the process.

    "We visit the city of Hebron in order to support tourism and to shop in Hebron," says Souad Hindawi, who has just arrived from Nazareth for a West Bank shopping spree.
    Hindawi is keen to point out that she is not just in Hebron to take advantage of the lower prices, but also to support the Palestinian people and their fledgling economy.

    "Even though we are far away we still share the same blood. We are like one body, when they hurt, we hurt," she says.
    Hebron, site of the Tomb of the Patriarchs, is revered by both Jews and Muslims as the traditional burial place of the biblical forefather Abraham.
    The city was a frequent flashpoint for violence during the second Palestinian intifada and beforehand.
    Hebron's central market was completely flattened in 2003 by Israeli army bulldozers because the Jewish state claimed the city was "a hotbed of terrorism". Most Palestinian residents of the city suspected it was to make their lives even harder and to reduce popular support for the uprising for an independent Palestinian state which began in September 2000.

    "Three years ago (the old city) was closed. I closed my shop here for two years or even more during the Intifada. After the second Intifada, of course, here everything was prohibited and there was tight security everywhere. We closed the shop here for two years, and during that time, I was working for other people," says Murad Dofash, who owns a shop in the now rejuvenated and rebuilt central market.

    "With them coming here, and especially to the old city, is very good for us," adds Dofash, referring to Hebron's Israeli Arab visitors.
    Israeli Arabs are descended from those Palestinians who remained in what became Israel in 1948, when hundreds of thousands of other Palestinians either fled or were expelled.

    "What we are trying to achieve by making this visit is to provide support for the Palestinians and their economy. We love them and respect them and we are all brothers," says Samar, as she sat on a bus bound for Israel after a full day of shopping in Hebron.

    "It's a beautiful place, it's cheap and the prices are decent.
    Also people treat you well and we can relax," she adds.
    Israeli Arabs make up 20 percent of Israel's population and have long complained of discrimination. While generally sympathetic to the Palestinian struggle for statehood in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, Israeli Arabs have rarely taken up arms.
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