Fears of ‘new intifada’
Palestinians throw stones at Israeli forces in the West Bank on Sunday. Whether making slingshots or sandwiches, residents have banded together to fight Israel. Stories,
“To end the occupation (by Israel), we must all fight any way we can.” Abu Rafeeq Muntaser, slingshot maker
Redfaced men and women tumble into Mohammed Najar’s home, choking on the tear gas that whitens the air outside.
Najar stands back while medics rush to treat them. He doesn’t know any of the people involved in the chaos that erupted in his living room, but he cares for each one like family.
As clashes between young Palestinians and Israeli forces have become a daily occurrence, community members in the West Bank have banded together, with everyone playing a different part, from the women who brings fresh sandwiches to the woodworker crafting new slingshots.
“Our door is open to anyone that needs help,” Najar, 52, who is retired, told USA TODAY. “Palestine needs all of us to do something to help keep each other safe.”
Over the past month, nine Israelis were killed in Palestinian attacks, most of them stabbings, while 41 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire, including 20 labeled by Israel as attackers, and the rest in clashes with Israeli troops.
The outbreak was fueled by rumors that Israel was planning to take over Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site to both Jews and Muslims. Jews call it the Temple Mount, and the site is also home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third-holiest shrine and a key national symbol for the Palestinians.
Israel adamantly denies the allegations, saying it has no plans to change the status quo at the site, where Jews are allowed to visit but not pray. Israel accuses the Palestinians, including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, of inciting violence through the false claims.
Since the start of the daily clashes, Najar’s home in Bethlehem has been used as a makeshift field clinic. Lara Ramadan, 24, a medic from a small village about 20 miles away, travels to Najar’s home every day.
Young men and women are carried into Najar’s home almost each time tear gas is fired from Israeli army jeeps.
Ramadan’s response appears to be second nature when she jumps to attend to a young man who cannot breathe, pounding on his chest, while calmly telling him to stay awake and try to speak.
“I used to wish to be throwing stones with the others during protests, but once I started training as a medic, I realized this was my way to help,” Ramadan said. “My job is just a small part, but it is a part.”
On the main street, Amal Mirazir, an older woman from a local refugee camp, watches from a distance as young men carry large plastic bags full of sandwiches that she made at home. It’s the third day in a row she has come outside with sandwiches of canned meat, cucumbers and cheese. “It’s not much, but I don’t have much. This is what I can do to help,” Mirazir said.
Neighbors pool their money to buy cases of water for the protesters, while families peer out their windows for those who may need shelter.
Others here put old skills to use. Abu Rafeeq Muntaser, 45, owns a pet shop in the area but lately has been struggling to keep up with orders he gets for his handmade slingshots.
“I used to make them in my free time sometimes,” Muntaser said, while sanding down a wooden handle. “But now the youth are coming to me begging me to make more, or to fix their old ones. Making these have become a priority.”
Muntaser now spends most of his time at his shop attaching rubber bands to the wooden handles. He learned how to make the slingshots from his father during the first intifada, a Palestinian uprising between 1987-1993.
“To end the occupation ( by Israel), we must all fight any way we can,” Muntaser said. “For our young people that is stones. For the rest of us there are other ways.”