Welcome, peace-loving viewers. Today we would like to invite you on a visit to a city at the heartland of the West Bank of Palestine: Hebron.

Insert a little pause for broll Hebron is a major city located 30 kilometers south of Jerusalem.
Hebron rests in the Judaean Hills area, a biblical region of Judaism. The city is one of the very few in the world
that have been continuously inhabited for 5,000 years! At the moment, Hebron is the home of over 170,000 residents.  composed of Palestinians and Israelis with plural cultural and religious backgrounds.

Hisham (m): My name is Hisham Sharabati. I’m a Palestinian resident of Hebron. And Hebron is the biggest city in the West Bank.

HOST: Freelance radio producer Mr. Hisham Sharabati gives us a tour around the city of Hebron.

Hisham:  Hebron district is like 600,000 residents. The city is considered compared to the other cities of the West Bank as a conservative city. And mostly the residents are Muslims.

HOST:  Located on an ancient crossroads of cultures and surrounded by a group of smaller towns of 20,000 residents each, Hebron was and still is a major trading center in Palestine.  All sorts of businesses and native industries are very much still alive after thousands of years.

Hisham: Palestinians are well known in the West Bank also as good businessmen.

Hisham: As a traditional city, Hebron has like strong family ties and most of the businesses here are family led businesses. Of course, with the developments and modern economy, the businesses are mainly led by family, but of course, there is a big working class compared to maybe other Palestinian cities.

Hisham: Hebron is also well known for the traditional industries, part of it is the textile, and part of it is glass blowing.