The past 100 years brought mistrust. We share the same existential fear of the Other. Khalil/Hebron is the City of Abraham, home to SIX monotheistic faiths. In the most fractured city from the River to the Sea, we share the Abraham Mosque and the Tomb of the Patriarchs. One feels joy on both sides, but there is no joy for the space allocated for women.
Four Days will Heal Khalil.
Day One: Remember the Prophet.
Day Two: Remember the Massacre.
Day Three: Hand out flowers.
Day Four: Women take over.
Days One and Two offer women a choice: Fast like the Muslims or Feast like the Jews. They remember the past and atone for the present to heal their town forever. Almost like the five Jewish minor fasts, Muslims start at dawn. Dietary law requires no grape juice, wine, or meat. Muslim and Jewish women will cook in a kosher kitchen, then feast with paper and plastic in a Muslim home. Details are at my website: adajani.net.
Day 1, they remember the attempted assassination of the Prophet (blessings upon him) when Jews allied with the Pagans who sought to slaughter us all. Not out of Islamophobia, they feared the Great Nation prophesied for the Children of Ishmael three times in the Book of Genesis. Fasting and feasting will help them let go, let God, and move on.
Day 2, they remember the Hebron Massacre of 1929. This seminal event militarized our conflict. Not out of anti-Semitism, we feared we’d be ethnically cleansed. Let go, let God, and move on.
Day 3, schoolgirls hand yellow daisies and pink carnations to one another to and from school. Everyone fears they’ll be ethnically cleansed. Let go, let God, and move on.
Barriers come down for Jewish and Muslim Feast days. Each group has full run of the space, but for women and girls? Puny! Day 4, women and girls celebrate their own feast day to enjoy the whole space. Who doesn’t like a feast day with hamentaschen and qatayef? Two caveats: no Israeli female soldiers and no men in drag! They will hold hands and pray as they explore their large space. The men will feel jealous, as well they should! Our women and girls will together forever honor their Nabi Avinu.
Repeat these four days until they Heal Khalil. Walls come down. Shuhada Street re-opens. No more dispossession. Everyone stays where they are. They cross from village to town with a last stop at Jerusalem, where women of SIX Abrahamic faiths pray on the Temple Mount. Our holy land will be made whole, because the women will show us how.
Salaam al’aan. Shalom achshav. Heal Khalil. I’m done.
Aref N. Dajani 
This is a perfect plot for a perfect musical! Care to direct it one day?
LikeLike