The city of Hebron (Al-Khalil) is the epicenter of the cultural-battle between the Palestinians the right owners of the land and the racist Israeli occupiers who are working hard to Judaize Al-Khalil day and night. Israeli occupation authorities have obliterated Arab and Islamic sites turning parts of the Ibrahimi Mosque into a synagogue changed names distorted history and invented Talmudic stories which have nothing to do with truth.
Despite these Israeli attempts the city of Al-Khalil remained steadfast in the face of the treacherous aggression by showing resistance to these attempts and struggling against them; its people maintained its Arab and Muslim character. Many of its archeological sites such as the Sultan’s Pool the Ibrahimeya School and the Old Tekiyya are surrounded by Israeli occupation forces and settlers.
Historical roots
Located between the historical Qaitun neighborhood in the old city of Al-Khalil which is about 300 meters away from the Ibrahimi Mosque and the adjacent Bani Dar neighborhood a flat plain is located between the two neighborhoods with a number of traditional and archeological landmarks the most important of which is the Sultan’s Pool which was built using polished stones by Saif al-Din Qalawun Al-Alfi who was the Sultan of Egypt and the Levant during the Mamluks era. It takes a square shape with a length of about 40 meters and a depth of about 25 meters and ever since it has been known as the Sultan’s Pool.
Providing water to pilgrims and soldiers
The goal behind building this pool according to Dr. Adnan Abu Tabbana a specialist in the history of Hebron and Jerusalem was to provide water to pilgrims coming from the Levant heading towards Makkah as well as to Muslim soldiers who defended the Holy Land during the wars of the Mongols and the Crusaders.
Dr. Abu Tabbana who revised a prominent book in the history of Jerusalem and Al-Khalil told the PIC “Al-Khalil was a station for people coming from Turkey the Levant and Egypt and those heading towards Makkah as they used to sit by the Sultan’s Pool to take a rest and wash and feed their camels and livestock.”
Siege and Judaization
Since the occupation of the city of Al-Khalil after the Israeli aggression of 1967 the Israeli occupation authorities have been confiscating lands and building Jewish-only settlements and changing the demographics of the city. After the famous Dabouya attack in 1984 in which Palestinian fighters killed six illegal settlers Jewish settlers took over many sites in the city claiming that they were remnants of their old neighborhood which they lived in during the Ottoman time.
Abdel Hadi Hantash an expert on settlement affairs said fabrications and deception is part of the Jewish-Zionist policy of controlling Al-Khalil and imposing a siege on it.
“The Zionists stormed the Ibrahimi Mosque and turned a large part of it into a synagogue. They controlled the Daboya School the Osama bin al-Mukhtaz School the Brothers Clinic the Al-Khader Market the Sultan’s Pool and the Old Tekiyya and besieged the city and prevented Palestinians from reaching it. The Sultan’s Pool was an archaeological and heritage landmark and fell under siege and Judaization too” Hantash said.
