Meet the 'Jewish' Palestinians in the West Bank town of Yata

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been ongoing for decades. But is it possible that both people have the same roots? 

This question has occupied the mind of Zvi Mesinai, an entrepreneur and investor, as well as one of Israel's hi-tech pioneers. 

In the early 2000s, he sold his share in the tech company Sapiens, and decided to go on a journey to explore the connection between Jews and Muslims in the Middle East. He says he has spent millions of shekels trying to research the issue. 

“Around 1,000 years ago there was a Muslim invasion" says Mesinai. "But not all of the Jews who lived here fully converted to Islam. They maintained their Jewish identity inside their homes, keeping the traditions and costumes, some even until today."

His journey brought him to the Palestinian city of Yata, in the West Bank, located near Hebron. He managed to locate several families which he believes saved their Jewish traditions. He gives several examples of this phenomenon, such as the Jewish tradition of circumcision on the eighth day of a boy’s life, and "hafrashat challah," a practice in which Jewish women throw dough into a fire for good luck.  

Mesinai is not the first person to identify this obscure connection between the Palestinians of Yata and Jews. We took a tour with Dr. Doron Sar-Avi to the outskirts of Yata, who shared with us more interesting details about this theory, which some call far-fetched. 

"Yitzhak Ben Zvi, the second president of Israel, came to Yata in 1928 after a visit to the neighboring city of Hebron. Ben Zvi saw Muslim people who were searching for a menorah, the Jewish candelabra used during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. He tried to understand what he saw, and the Jewish residents of Hebron sent him to Yata."

Sar-Avi continues, "When he got here, he was sent to the El Haram family and there he sat down and spoke with the Mukhtar, the head of the village, who told him that their great-grandfather was called Mehamar. He came from the city of Haibar, in the Arabian Peninsula. Somehow, he found himself in Yata."

"Ben Zvi heard the story from different families in Yata who said that they all came from Haibar and their roots were Jewish. He later discovered that they didn’t eat camel meat, they called the Jews ‘our cousins,’ and perhaps most significantly — they did not marry other Muslims in Yata. There was a separation between the Mehamra tribe and other Muslims," Sar-Avi concludes. 

Our tour took us to a fascinating and beautiful archaeological park near Yata, called Susya. According to Sar-Avi, Susya peaked during the Byzantine era — from the fifth to seventh centuries. 

The synagogue, which sits at the top of the hill, was the beating heart of the Jewish community. But starting in the ninth century, the Early Muslim period, we see changes to the architecture of Susya. One of the most significant additions is the appearance of a michrav, a Muslim prayer niche outside the synagogue which is pointed toward Mecca. We can also see a Muslim inscription near it which indicates that a mosque was active here starting in the year 814 CE. 

"This raises some big questions," Sar-Avi says. "Who lived here? Were they Jews who converted to Islam, perhaps by force? Or maybe the two communities, Jews and Muslims, lived here side-by-side? These questions remain open until today."

The synagogue in Susya has a rare Hebrew inscription on the mosaic floor. But as we walk around the ancient site, we can see the remains of other Jewish symbols in this area, such as menorah statues and even evidence of mezuzahs, the parchment inscribed with Hebrew prayers that is affixed to doorposts, namely at the entrance of Jewish homes.

"One of the most telling symbols we can see here in Susya are the mikvehs — Jewish ritual baths," says Sar-Avi. 

"We can see more than 30 mikveh baths in an area of 22 acres — this is unprecedented. In other Jewish sites from the Byzantine era you'll find no more than 5 to 10 mikveh baths. All of these elements are significant because it tells the story of a community that preserved its memories for hundreds of years."

These questions are indeed fascinating, but can we still find traces of Judaism among the Muslims of Yata, a city of 80,000 people, today? 

Possible answers may be found by Abed Rajoub, a Palestinian man from Hebron who now lives in Israel.

"Half of Yata comes from the Mehamra tribe," says Abed. "They all know that their origins are Jewish. They keep Jewish customs, such as lighting candles on Friday evenings, the start of the Jewish Sabbath. My origins are also Jewish," Abed tells us. “Everybody knows it." 

When we ask Abed why the people of Yata have turned their backs on their Jewish identity, he tells us: "When we look at history, in the time before the Prophet Mohammed, Jews were here in Yata. Even today, everyone in the West Bank, in every house — forget about what they say on the news— everybody knows that this land belongs to the Jews" he says.

Mesinai says that in recent years it is becoming harder to collect evidence from the Palestinians, and to convince politicians of his theory. However, he is sticking to it, and he believes it may change the situation in the Middle East. 

"We will all be one people" he says.