Revisiting the Hebron Massacre: Myths and Their Deadly Repercussions (Part 1)

Unpacking Israeli History

Unpacked

Judaism, Religion & Spirituality, Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 25 November 2025

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, we’re revisiting one of the most overlooked yet consequential chapters in the Arab–Israeli conflict: the 1929 Hebron Massacre. In just two days, 67 Jews were murdered and an ancient community was destroyed—all sparked by a lie about Jewish plans to take over Al-Aqsa, a false rumor whose fear and fury have echoed for generations. Understanding this story is essential to understanding the region itself. We’re re-releasing this episode now because next week, Noam sits down with journalist and author Yardena Schwartz, author of Ghosts of a Holy War, to explore Hebron’s past and present, and how the mythology surrounding Al-Aqsa continues to shape the conflict in profound ways. This episode, first released in Season 3, is generously sponsored by Liz and Moshe Neiman. To sponsor an episode or to be in touch, please email noam@unpacked.media. Here are links to the sources used in this episode: Unpacking Israeli History about Black Saturday: https://jewishunpacked.com/black-saturday-how-far-would-you-go-for-a-homeland/ Unpacking Israeli History about UN Resolution 3379: https://jewishunpacked.com/is-zionism-racism-un-resolution-3379/ Once Upon a Country: A Palestinian Life, Sari Nusseibeh https://www.britannica.com/biography/Amin-al-Husayni https://www.britannica.com/topic/mufti https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/hajj-amin-al-husayni-the-mufti-of-jerusalem A History of Israel, From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time, Howard Sachar Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-1998, Benny Morris One Palestine, Complete: Jews and Arabs Under the British Mandate, Tom Segev Reapproaching Borders: New Perspectives on the Study of Israel-Palestine, Sandy Sufian and Mark Levine https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/1929-hebron-massacre-begins-1.5427655 https://www.jpost.com/features/in-thespotlight/this-week-in-history-the-1929-hebron-massacre Israel: A History, Martin Gilbert The Claim of Dispossession, Aryeh Avneri Year after the Riots: American Responses to the Palestine Crisis of 1929-30, Naomi Cohen https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015066430987&view=1up&seq=7&skin=2021, The Shaw Report https://www.jta.org/archive/testimony-of-orphaned-jewish-children-moves-hebron-court Year Zero of the Arab-Israeli Conflict 1929, Hillel Cohen http://en.jabotinsky.org/media/9747/the-iron-wall.pdf https://www.sefaria.org/topics/mashiach?tab=sources https://hebronfund.org/the-return-to-hebron-1967/ Check us out on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠This podcast was brought to you by Unpacked, an OpenDor Media brand. ------------------- For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jewish History Nerds⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Soulful Jewish Living⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Stars of David with Elon Gold ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Wondering Jews⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, I'm Noam Weisman and this is unpacking Israeli history, the podcast that takes a deep
0:04.8	dive into some of the most intense, historically fascinating, and often misunderstood events and
0:09.7	stories linked to Israeli history. This week, we're unpacking maybe one of the most overlooked,
0:15.1	but consequential stories in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the story of the 1929 Hebron massacre.
0:23.9	It's a story that's hard to listen to, but essential to understand.
0:28.1	And I would argue that understanding this story can and should transform our understanding
0:35.2	of the entire history of the region and the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict
0:41.5	from then until now. In the span of two days, an ancient Jewish community that had lived in Hebron
0:49.1	for centuries was wiped out, totally wiped out. Sixty-seven Jews murdered by their Arab neighbors,
0:57.2	their homes and synagogues destroyed. And what sparked it? A lie. Propaganda. Rumors spread
1:06.9	through the Arab world that Jews were plotting to take over or destroy Alaksa Mosque
1:12.0	in Jerusalem, a claim that we know with absolute historical certainty was not true, but it
1:20.3	was devastatingly powerful. The fear, rage, and religious fervor those lies unleashed didn't end in 1929.
1:30.9	In many ways, they have echoed through every generation since.
1:35.3	That's why we are releasing this episode now, because next week, I'm going to be sitting down
1:40.2	with journalist and author Jardana Schwartz, whose book Ghosts of a Holy War takes a deep
1:46.6	and deeply reported look at the city and history of Hebron, its fault lines, and how the
1:53.0	mythology around Al-Axa continues to shape this conflict nearly a century later.
2:00.5	If you've been following the headlines over the past, I don't know, 100 years,
2:04.5	you know that the constant flare-ups around the Temple Mount are not over.
2:09.4	Political and religious leaders still use Al-Axa as a rallying cry.
2:14.8	This isn't just a story about the past.
	...

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