Fears of new intifada are wrong
The threat to the Temple Mount is not perceived by Palestinians as clear and present, despite efforts to incite.
By Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel Tags: East Jerusalem Israel news PalestiniansHeadlines predicting the outbreak of a third intifada have proved wrong one more time, at least for now. This is the main conclusion from Tuesday's incidents in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Nonetheless, it seems that another substantial Israeli-Palestinian clash, with Jerusalem in the middle, is getting increasingly closer.
Tuesday's violent demonstrations occurred mostly in the villages around Jerusalem: Qalandiyah, Shuafat, Isawiyah, Al-Suwaneh and Abu Dis. There were also incidents in Hebron, in an area near the homes of settlers, and in Bil'in. But these were not mass demonstrations and their explosive potential was contained in large part because of the firm, albeit relatively restrained, response by the Jerusalem police. The police described the incidents during the past two days as a blatant failure of the Palestinians, both the Palestinian Authority and its Hamas rivals, to set the territories ablaze.
The village of Al-Suwaneh, which is on the foothills of the Old City, was one of the epicenters of Tuesday's confrontations. The security forces dispersed several dozen Palestinian stone-throwers without much effort. Once more it was shown that arrests by undercover policemen in broad daylight may be a greater deterrent (and of course a lot less damaging) than live fire against demonstrators.
Even though the young Palestinians arrested by undercover members of the Border Police will probably complain about the beatings they received, none of them needed to be hospitalized. Thus the police avoided adding fuel to the fire that Hamas and the Islamic Movement were trying to light. In a few hours, starting after noon, relative calm was restored to East Jerusalem. This happened despite the wild incitement in the Arab media of recent days, particularly in the Palestinian media, which aimed to encourage an outburst over the Temple Mount and launch what is already being called the Al-Quds intifada.
In a troubling and dangerous move, Hamas politicians like Khaled Meshal and Mahmoud al-Zahar joined forces with the heads of the Islamic Movement, who need confrontations over Al-Aqsa to receive heavy media exposure. Senior Fatah and PA officials joined the fray.
In this internal competition, and even though the demonstrations did not turn into a significant event, Hamas can register some achievements. On Tuesday, in the demonstrations organized by Hamas under the banner "Day of Rage," more people took to the streets in the West Bank and East Jerusalem than in similar demonstrations organized by Fatah the day before. Hamas still has a substantial support base in East Jerusalem as a result of the Islamic Movement's efforts. The Israeli Arab movement is proving capable of substantial organizational skill. Its blatant involvement in the events should certainly be cause for concern for political and security decision-makers.
Even though the events on Tuesday were more serious than anything similar over the past two years, it still resembled an intifada lite. The events contributed to the double game being played by the Palestinian Authority which on one hand takes part in incitement while on the other hand does not permit demonstrations in Palestinian cities that could flow out to IDF checkpoints. It was hard to find any passion in the demonstrators' eyes. By 1 P.M. some of the stone-throwers got into their cars in Al-Suwaneh and went back to their jobs - which meant going back to the Israeli companies many of them work for. In East Jerusalem, as in the West Bank cities, fatigue is discernible. The threat to the Temple Mount is not perceived as clear and present, despite efforts to incite.
Presumably, most Palestinians recognize that the restoration of a centuries-old Jewish synagogue in the Jewish Quarter does not in any way endanger the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip who are calling for a third intifada may have nothing to lose, but in the West Bank, the vast majority of the people prefer to keep things calm.
The American condemnation that Israel deservedly received also contributed to the demonstrations of recent days. But when the Obama administration attacks the Netanyahu government, the Palestinian Authority receives a boost - for popular protests and toughening its stance in the proximity talks, which are for the time being in deep freeze. Despite the tough tone of recent days, it will still be the Americans who have to think hard to find a solution that will bring the two sides back to the negotiating table. It's doubtful whether the conditions they posed in recent days will enable such rapprochement.
David Makovsky of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy wrote Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must do something to cool America's anger. He proposes removing Interior Minister Eli Yishai, who was behind the whole affair. But Makovsky has lived in Israel, in part as a Haaretz journalist, long enough to know that while he has an interesting idea, it's not realistic. Getting in a tangle with President Barack Obama is one thing, but Rabbi Ovadia Yosef is an entirely different story. It seems that Netanyahu will find it easier to give back Jerusalem than get rid of Yishai.
Posted by Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel on March 17, 2010
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...Actually I think you hope it does break loose,so you can write some more of your garbage,and once again slam "the bouncer" turned FM..don't understand your obsession with this constant referencing Leiberman "bouncer".
#13 you have missed the point totally. I know you exsist. My question is what makes you a Palestilian even though you are Muslim, and why cant a Jew be a Palestilian if they were born before 1948. You dont want people to deny you your birthright but you are willing to deny others theirs. How can you talk reconciliation when you cant get this simple thing correct
online you believe only what a jewish person told you .when i was about 15 a teacher ask me were i was from thinking i was spanish i told her palestine she said ''there was no such place as palestine''i told her that she was jewish she walked away i found out from another teacher she was jewish. the point is its offensive to tell me we never did or we don't exsist how much would it hurt if i told you the holecaust never exisisted don't deny me hertitage i won;t deny you yours i have a right to be palestinian and you jewish or israeli.we need to respect each other and stop the hate
The only states-of-affairs that "Palestinians" of the main factions (Hamas and Fatah) as well as some "minor" factions (such as PFLP and the grossly-misnamed DFLP) have are: (1) Active violence against Israel (2) Lull, planning/preparing for violence against Israel
Please can someone explain to me why these Arabs are called "Palestinians"? Where do they come from and what line of ancestory have this brand new nation come from? I am confused. If it is because they come from Palestine then what do we call all those Jews that were born in Palestine before 1948. Do we not have Muslim Palestinians and Jewish Palestinians?
Dear contributer, The PA obviously faces a dilemma. While it needs to participate and oust the Hamas in the street race it has, at the same time, live up to its image as the responsible and capapble leader in the West Bank. Thus, the PA needs to keep the Westbank as quiet as possible while gaining as much credit as possible from the riots in Jerusalem. Hamas, on the other hand, does not face this dilemma, as destabilizing the Wesybank order is in its interest. There is, and you have to understand this, no such a thing anymore as "RESISTANCE". It is a farce, a power game between the Palestinian factions. Israel and the occupation are only a pretext, a cover up of a zynical game of the Palestinians. The Palestinians are until know a dysfunctional society and actor in the regional struggle. Don't blind yourself to the truth behind the Palestinian "resistance".
I hope hell doesn't break loose. Perhaps the Netanyahu government will abandon it's policy of mindless provocation.
The Romans destroyed the temple. The Nazis engineered the holocaust. These should be the focus of Jewish hate. Oops, they aren't here any more! This means that a recipient of Jewish hatred and resentment must be found locally. Some right wing Jews boast of the Jewish presence in Palestine and Jerusalem for centuries. They don't complete the thought that this means that the huge Muslim majority allowed them to live there peacefully. Right wing Jews often cite the "Hebron massacre of 1929". This was Nazi incited violence which killed about 67 Jews. Hundreds more Jews were saved by local Arab families. Recently, in the Gaza op, Israel killed over 1000 Palestinians, dwarfing the numbers of the 1929 Hebron killings, and yet the Gaza op results don't bother Israel at all. There is an old, old strategy used by despots. First demonize your intended victim. This makes robbing and brutalizing him easier to stomach.
"kick a dog often enough and it will turn around and bite you!"sceptic Israel kicks the dog with the express hope he will bite so they can claim self defence when asked why they shot the animal. It is an old ploy---not developed by Israel but embraced and utilised with gleeful abandon.
Try some places in Africa, or Saudi Arabia or even Egypt (ever seen the way they treat black people). Have you ever lived in Israel #5? South Africa un apartheid? Nope, I guess not. There is no comparison. There are many non Jews (and no Arabs) living in Israel quite comfortably with full rights (and they of course dont shout jihad...) Oh yes Try Britain, there is lots of racism there too.
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"... both the Palestinian Authority and its Hamas rivals, to set the territories ablaze." That is misinformation; PA security establishment firmly controlled entrances to Palestinian cities. All Palestinians witnessed that. In addition, people did not reach to checkpoints as Israel and Hamas expected and wanted. Please writer, it is obvious, the Israeli government is looking for a confrontation that could result in acts and reacts of violence and killings, which will in turn pull us to square one. Simply read the weekly numbers of Israeli violations by UN-OCHA since 2008 up until now.
The Palestinian street have tried the soft option, hoping for concessions from the Israelis. That hasn't happened, so I imagine they feel their only option is in violent protest against the occupation and settlements - to be expected by Israel - kick a dog often enough and it will turn around and bite you!
The Palestinian street have tried the soft option, hoping for concessions from the Israelis. That hasn't happened, so I imagine they feel their only option is in violent protest against the occupation and settlements - to be expected by Israel - kick a dog often enough and it will turn around and bite you!
The struggle in Palestine is long and arduous. Arab regimes and part of Palestinians are closely siding and fighting for Israel against their own nations. Israel is at the zenith of its power. Against all odds, as Gaza did in stopping and humiliating Israel and its universal backers, Maqdesians and Palestininas will fight back and be always there, even if evicted to the furthest place on earth.