Israeli police have closed down access to the Old City, the area in occupied East Jerusalem around the Noble Sanctuary where Al-Aqsa is located. Palestinian men who are not residents in the area are excluded but it is open to Old City residents, local business owners, students who attend school in the area, Israeli citizens (presumably they mean the extremists), & “tourists”. That’s called martial law.
Now who would want to be touring an area where police are shooting off rubber-coated metal bullets, stun grenades, pepper & tear gas? And isn’t Israel afraid one of those “tourists” will get struck, maybe killed, & cause an international incident? Or aren’t they really tourists at all?
Al Jazeera tells us “the unrest has spread to the West Bank” & that dozens of Palestinians have been injured in “clashes with Israeli troops” on arrest raids in villages & refugee camps looking for “men involved in terrorist activities.” The language intentionally suggests Israel’s brutal repression & violent rampage are a response to Palestinian terrorism rather than the cause of Palestinian self-defense.
Prominent Palestinians were interviewed about the Israeli assault. Saeb Erekat, a chief negotiator of the betrayal called the Oslo Accords, said Netanyahu is exploiting the volatile situation “to derail the two-state solution.” You can’t imagine a guy could miss the point of martial law so badly–or not recognize that the train for a bantustate left the station a long time ago. But if you broker a betrayal you probably want to ride it out.
Ahmad Ruwaidy, an aide to Mahmoud Abbas, said Palestinian violence was a “natural reaction to Israeli policies”. Oh really!? A “reaction,” not defense against Israeli violence? But at least he pointed out the refusal of the Netanyahu regime to hold a credible investigation into the arson murder of the Dawabsheh family or to hunt for & arrest the settlers who did it along with constant attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank & East Jerusalem.
This is a call to arms for Palestinian supporters. Emergency rallies & continued campaigns to build BDS, the economic, cultural, & academic boycott of Israel are imperative.
Photo is Israeli police arresting a Palestinian man in East Jerusalem. Since Palestinians live in the area, he may have just been out & about on an errand.
(Photo by Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)