Hebron is home to the buriel site of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob, and the worship space above it dates from at least Herod's time. As such it is a holy site. The Old City of Hebron, the location of the buriel site, was for centuries the home of Muslims and Jews who lived there peacefully until 1929, during the time that it was a British colony. In 1929 there was a massacre of Jews by Arabs, and 67 Jews were killed. Over 400 were saved because they were hidden by their Palestinian neighbors (although this is never pointed out in Israeli literature about it). This event is a point of grief for both sides.
After the massacre, the British forced the rest of the Jews out, saying they could no longer be protected. In 1979, the Israelis established their first settlement in Hebron, claiming that it was an ancient Jewish site and forcing out the Palestinians who lived in the places they wished to settle. Today there are 4 Jewish settlements in Hebron, all with confiscated land. One is located right in the Old City, built literally on top of Palestinian homes, forcing the residents to flee.
In 1994 there was a massacre of Palestinians by a fanatical rabbi from New York, who opened fire on Muslims at prayer in the mosque located on top of the holy buriel sites. 27 Palestinians were killed by him, and an equal number were killed by Israeli soldiers who were brought in. The rabbi was killed by 3 Palestinian men who beat him with a fire extinguisher (the only weapon they had) in order to stop the killing. The three men were killed by Israeli soldiers.
Since that time the buriel site has been split in half--one part for Jews and one part for Muslims, with a wall between. Currently, the settlers are bulldozing several 700-year-old Palestinian near the site to make way for a new road from their settlement to the synagogue. Palestinians are forbidden to use these settler roads.
Until just a few months ago, there was constant violence between Palestinians and Jews in the Palestinian market area of the Old City and on a main road in town that was used for commerce, but was also used by the settlers to get to their homes. The CPT apartment is located in the market area, just off that main road. However, a few months ago, the Israelis changed tactics a bit and closed off the road completely to Palestinians and blocked the market area off from the road. This effectively shut down the market and forced most of the vendors out to another part of the city.
The idea is to get all the Palestinians out of the old city altogether, even though they own their homes and shops there. Many have left, of course, but others are staying, keeping their shops open as a kind of nonviolent resistance. Israeli soldiers are stationed around the Old City to protect the settlers, although reports from CPT and other international groups state that most of the violence originates from the settlers.
It seems to me that the settlers are a scary bunch with a lot of political power. They often sit at the Hebron check points, and along with the soldiers, are armed with machine guns. Their large guns intimidate the hell out of me, and I guess that is the point.
I do understand why Jewish people want their own state, because of centuries of suffering violent oppression as an ethnic minority. However, I don't understand getting it by doing the exact same thing to another ethnic group.
