In divided east Jerusalem, anger, despair fuel violence
JERUSALEM — Streets are subdued, marketplaces are quiet and people are on edge in Jewish areas of Jerusalem, where Arabs have been using meat cleavers, guns, screwdrivers and even their cars in deadly small-scale attacks.
The holy city — which Israel says must forever stay united — has rarely seemed more divided.
In their 47th year of occupation, Palestinians are seething with anger over neglect and discrimination, continued Jewish settlement in their areas, and a belief, despite official denials, that Israel is scheming to take over their most revered site.
This anger, coupled with Jewish fears of further violence, has left the city’s 800,000 residents apprehensive, seemingly united in the belief that things will get worse before they get better.
“I’m really not safe, and before leaving the house I think twice,” said Sara Levi, a 22-year-old stay-athome mother. “We are not calm, and we hope there is going to be an end to this, and that it is not just a beginning.”
Levi spoke as she waited at a stop for Jerusalem’s light rail train — a frequent target of Palestinian violence. There have been two deadly attacks in recent weeks by cars being rammed into crowded stations.
In a separate attack, a Palestinian gunman shot and seriously wounded a prominent Jewish activist who has pushed for greater Jewish access to the city’s most sensitive holy site — the hilltop compound known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.
The violence reached a new turning point Tuesday when two Palestinian attackers burst into a crowded synagogue during morning prayers, killing four worshippers and a policeman with meat cleavers and guns. In Jewish parts of Jerusalem, traffic was lighter than usual Wednesday. Fewer people were riding the train, and the crowds that normally pack the city’s Mahane Yehuda open-air marketplace were thin.
“Business is weak today. It was worse yesterday,” vegetable salesman Itzik Shimon said as he stood at his empty stall. “People are afraid. Can you blame them?”
Identifying the cause of the unrest is an imprecise science.
Relations with the Palestinians took a downturn with the collapse of U.S.brokered peace talks in April. Then Palestinian militants in the West Bank kidnapped and killed three Israeli teenage boys in early June. Weeks later, Jewish extremists kidnapped and killed a Palestinian teenager in a revenge attack in Jerusalem.
The violence widened during the summer when Israel fought a 50-day war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. Jewish nationalists have moved into a tense Arab neighbourhood in east Jerusalem, the section of the city claimed by the Palestinians as their capital, and Israel has pushed forward plans to build hundreds of homes for Jews in the eastern part of the city.
But perhaps more than anything, Palestinians point to turmoil at the Jerusalem holy site as the cause of their consternation.
Under a long-standing agreement, Muslims administer the compound under Jordanian custody. While Jews are permitted to visit, they are not allowed to pray. In recent months, a growing number of Jewish worshippers have visited, many of whom seek greater access and the right to pray.
These visits have sparked clashes between Palestinian youths and Israeli police. In turn, Israel, as a security measure, has frequently restricted Muslim access to pray, fuelling accusations that it is secretly plotting to take over the site.
“We are angry because we feel lost,” said Mahmoud Ammouri, a teacher in the Arab neighbourhood of Shuafat. “What has happened in the Al-Aqsa Mosque is just the explosion of years of suffering.”