Images of snowy Hebron

Yuval Ben-Ami By Yuval Ben-Ami February 18, 2012 | Edit

Photos by Fayez Imad Hashlamon

The forecast promised snow on the highlands today, and many were excited. Jerusalem is gorgeous in the snow, which falls there about once every two years. Coastal Israelis flock there when this happens, causing traffic jams that often render the white city inaccesible.

No such jams were created today. The snow in Jerusalem did not accumulate on the ground, nor did it even fall prettily: All the holy city recieved was a shower of sleet. Having woken up to such anticlimatic news, I cancelled my own plans for traveling in that direction.

It was only a few hours later that my Hebronite friend Fayez Imad Hashlamon reminded me which is truly the loftiest town around.  While Jerusalem soars on avarage 630 meters (2066 feet) above sea level,  Hebron’s downtown is 930 meters (3061 feet) high. Its residents were greeted by 5-10 centimeters of snow on the ground at day break.

Images of snowy Hebron
Hebron's University campus in the snow.
Images of snowy Hebron
A Hebronite snow-woman, wearing a snow-hijab
Images of snowy Hebron
Hebron intermingles beautifully with the farmland surrounding it.
Images of snowy Hebron
The Hussein stadium on Ein Sara St.
Images of snowy Hebron
A green and white Canaanite winter.

Fayez’s photos give us a oppurtunity to show Hebron for once not through the bitter perspective of the occupation, but as a winter wonderland. While the city’s traditional main drag, Shuhada Street, is kept deadened by Israel, its Palestinian-controlled H1 sector is a wonderful place to experience Palestinian urban bustle, to shop inexpensively, eat heartily, and meet lovely individuals like Fayez himself. A visit there is highly recommended also on warmer, less romantic days.

Yuval Ben-Ami

Yuval Ben-Ami is an author, journalist, traveler and cultural critic. He was born in Jerusalem in 1976 and raised in diverse corners of the country. He traveled Europe extensively in his twenties, working as a musician. He later moved to the United States and began writing for Israeli and international newspapers and magazines, among them Haaretz, Boston Globe, National Geographic (Israel), and Yedioth Aharonot. Since 2004 he has been resettled in Israel, writing the blog Everywhere. His books include "Susanna, Don't You Cry" - a travelogue of the American South, "Finnish Mythology", the novel "I'll meet you Halfway" and two travel books about Israel: "Wonderland" and "A Day on the Town." Yuval Ben-Ami is always on the search for interesting projects.

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