Unrest erupts near Jerusalem
Israeli forces brace for second day of violence in wake of U.S. decision
Security forces in Israel and the West Bank are bracing for larger demonstrations in a second “Day of Rage” today against President Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Jewish state’s capital.
The Palestinians declared three “Days of Rage” yesterday, shuttering schools and businesses, and staging angry demonstrations at Damascus Gate, one of the entrances to Jerusalem’s Old City, and cities across the West Bank and Gaza.
Troops fired water cannons and tear gas to disperse a crowd in Bethlehem, weeks before thousands of tourists are expected to visit for Christmas. In Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian government, protesters set tires on fire. Demonstrators in the Gaza Strip burned U.S. flags and pictures of Trump.
Israeli forces were preparing for more violence today, when tens of thousands of Palestinians attend weekly Friday prayers at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque. In Gaza, the supreme leader of the Hamas militant group called on Palestinians to launch a new uprising against Israel. In a pre-emptive move, the military said it would deploy several battalions to the West Bank, while other troops were put on alert.
Ismail Haniyah, head of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, said Trump’s announcement marked “a new equation” in the “Satanic alliance” between the U.S and Israel that could “only be confronted by launching the spark of a new intifada.” He added that Jerusalem was “unified,” and was Palestinian.
A senior Palestinian official said the Palestinians would not meet with Vice President Mike Pence during his visit to the region later this month. Pence is expected to visit Israel and make a stop in the Palestinian city of Bethlehem. “We will not receive him in the Palestinian territories,” said the official, Jibril Rajoub.
Professor Malik Mufti of Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy Government said while Arabs are overwhelmingly against the move, it remains unclear whether people are willing to do more than march.
“The question is whether it will have any long-term effects,” Mufti said. “I think there will be negative effects for governments that are seen as weak in responding to this. And there will be, I’m sorry to say, negative reaction to the U.S. in the region. There will be a price paid in the long run, for the U.S.”
He said what form that takes depends on how motivated the people are to defy the U.S. proclamation.
“We had the intifada. We had the Arab Spring and the uprising and so far it hasn’t led to any positive results,” he said. “People are very dispirited and depressed throughout the region.”