A European solidarity delegation chaired by Ms. Luisa Morgantini and comprising a number of members, mainly Ingibjorg Solrun Gisladottir, an eminent politician from Iceland who occupied a number of senior positions in her country, visited Hebron in a show of solidarity with Palestinians in general and Hebronites in particular and in order to get a closer look at conditions in the Old City.

Hebron Mayor Khaled Osaily and a number of Municipal Council members met the delegation at Hebron Municipality. Mayor Osaily welcomed the delegation and spoke about conditions in Hebron and its Old City which he said continues to bleed on a daily basis due to Israeli occupation policies and measures against Palestinians in the south of the city, the Old City, and around the Ibrahimi Mosque. He touched on continuous settler attacks and said that not one day goes by without an aggression or a provocation by settlers against Palestinians on their way to their homes, schools, shops or to pray at the Ibrahimi Mosque. He added that a positive factor lies in the fact that inhabitants have responded to calls to revive the Old City by shopping there. As such, Old City streets and alleys are filled with visitors, shoppers and worshipers. He hoped to see this activity continue after the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Furthermore, Osaily urged the delegation to support efforts by the municipality to inscribe Hebron on the list of heritage safeguarded by UNESCO in order to protect the city, prevent the alteration thereof, and safeguard it as a cultural and human heritage to be protected by the free world.

Ms. Morgantini said the delegation is visiting Hebron in order to show solidarity with its inhabitants and to get acquainted with conditions during the holy month of Ramadan. Hebronites must be allowed to worship and to pray freely at Al Ibrahimi Mosque, she added. “The world must acknowledge that Palestinians have the right to live in freedom, to end occupation, to realize their national aspirations and to enjoy the rights enshrined in international conventions”, she said.

At the end of the meeting, the delegation toured the Old City in order to get a closer look at conditions there. Delegation members promised to faithfully convey what they saw in Hebron to their governments and populations.