Proxy war in Jerusalem

The recent developments in Jerusalem have proved that the biggest crisis facing Israel is the presence of Palestinians in Palestine, and despite its frequent attempts to shatter this presence into smaller pieces it has remained as solid as ever.اضافة اعلان

What we have witnessed in Jerusalem proves that it is the people who are safeguarding Al-Aqsa Mosque after all. We can see that in the crowds mobilized on Laylat Al-Qadr and before that in the face of occupation, either for the sake of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood or in defense of Al-Aqsa Mosque in the face of the conspiracy.

But the occupation does not tire easily. We will see how the occupation power will pay it back to the protestors, using extremists who will rally in Jerusalem today, which means that the alleys and streets of Jerusalem will be closed to Palestinians. These measures have already been in place since Sunday, Ramadan 27, and Monday might be a bloody day, which would complicate the situation.

The Jerusalemites and the Palestinians inside Palestine have boosted the morale of all Arabs, without exception, as they watch the scene. Hate for Israel is on the rise in the Arab world, not only because of its violation to the sanctity of everything holy, but because of the occupation itself, which, every now and then, renews the waves of hate against it. People are rising up to express their genuine rejection of Israel in the region and calls for isolating it, regardless of the attempts to glamorize the occupation.

But the reliance on a proxy war is extremely dangerous. It means we leave the Jerusalemites alone in this crisis and in defending Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is an icon for all Muslims. This glorification of the people of Jerusalem as they fight their battle is hiding a dangerous trap. It should not be used to exempt Arabs and Muslims from their responsibilities towards the crisis. This is a collective responsibility, especially as we see an official absence and a weak narrative in the communication of the rest of the world at the official level in the Arab world. It is almost as if Arab officials come from another region and watch an occupied city, leaving its defense to its residents.

It is ironic that the Arab foreign ministers’ meeting comes late, after weeks into the confrontations. In all cases, it is a meeting the Jerusalemites do not await and it has no influence on the current situation. Besides, the hypocrisy of the Europeans and Americans, and other nations, in their silence in light of this situation will have adverse effects on the way the Middle East’s residents look at the world, widening the already existing gap.

Israel has tried every possible way to break down and weaken the Palestinians through dividing them into blocs. On such group, the Palestinians living in the Palestinian areas occupied in 1948, has been given citizenship. These people challenged Israel and moved to defend Jerusalem. The other bloc was kept inside Gaza, where it was subject to war and starvation. Suddenly, we found that it was fighting Israel with all available means and threatening the northern Israeli settlements. A third bloc was pushed under the umbrella of the Oslo authority in the West Bank. This bloc is anti-Israel, despite the authority’s attempts to tame it through security coordination. The bloc in Jerusalem has been pressured economically, threatened with withdrawal of their residency cards, the demolition their homes, or eviction from the city. But they did not back down and it has been proven that Israeli’s approach of dividing the Palestinian people into distinct groups, to ease the burden of security management, is just an illusion, and it cracks at every major crisis because they are one people, with one soul.

The occupation cannot have a free hand in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque. It is not so easy, even when the occupation force has the guns and the majority of Palestinians do not. Those millions living on their land cannot be transferred, expelled, brought into submission, or just turned into labor working in the occupation’s settlements.

Israel might succeed in neutralizing the official Arab system and reach a truce with it, but the first word and the last word are for the protectors inside Palestine, who have sent very serious messages recently over a highly sensitive issue like Jerusalem. They said that the inside protectors, as well as the average Arab individuals everywhere, are anti-Israel, and Israeli has always been able to renew this enmity, thanks to its policies.

What we have seen this time is bigger than a Palestinian intifada in its traditional sense. It tells Israel that its unstable enterprise is face-to-face with the factors of its doom, which come from inside and outside Israel.

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