Loading ...Three new checkpoints lock down an East Jerusalem neighborhood
A bronze statue cracked in two with an olive tree growing in the center stands beyond the entrance of the Jabel Mukaber neighborhood in East Jerusalem. The “Tolerance Monument” includes an engraving: In solidarity and tolerance—in English, Hebrew and Arabic.
Yet, a half a mile past the statue commissioned by a Polish businessman to honor a desired co-existence between the Palestinian neighborhood and the East Jerusalem settlement of Armon HaNetziv that was built on Jabel Mukaber’s land, is the first of three new Israeli checkpoints installed over the past week as part of a series of emergency measures passed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to bring security over Jerusalem.
For the 30,000 Palestinian residents of Jabel Mukaber, the new checkpoints— along with a new wall being constructed in the center of town, cement roadblocks suspending vehicle traffic and a border police force deployed throughout the neighborhood—have made a militarized enclave of the quiet hilltop town with a view from Tel Aviv to Jordan.
Since the beginning of October Israeli forces killed more than 50 Palestinians, and Palestinians killed ten Israelis in violence that Palestinian protesters and media—but scantly anyone else—are calling a “third Intifada” or uprising. Four of the alleged Palestinian attackers came from Jabel Mukaber, making the neighborhood home to more Palestinians accused of killing Israelis over recent weeks than any other area of East Jerusalem. And one of the attacks was especially grisly: on an Israeli bus, Bahaa Alian, 22, and Bilal Abu-Ghanem, 23, allegedly killed three Israelis and wounded 15. Israeli authorities killed Alian and two more alleged attackers from Jabel Mukaber, and shot and arrested the Abu-Ghanem.
What also makes Jabel Mukaber stand out from other Palestinian neighborhoods is that it is spacious. Large swaths of the town are zoned by the municipality as green spaces and housing construction is forbidden. While narrow and windy roads in the old section of the city date back nearly 2,000 years, most stand alone houses are have spacious yards with groves of olive trees.
At the same time, ringing the top of Jabel Mukabar and strategically located in the center of the township are Israeli settlements. Residents told me of instances over the past few weeks where settlers descended from the hilltop to walk through the Palestinian streets. The acts were perceived as provocations. In turn, Palestinians likely from Jabel Mukaber, have thrown stones and molotov cocktails at the same settlements.
Source: mondoweiss.net