Palestinians in Jerusalem, more than a third of the city's population, have awoken to a new reality: Israeli troops are encircling Arab neighborhoods, blocking roads with concrete cubes the size of washing machines and ordering some of those leaving on foot to lift their shirts to show they are not carrying knives.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has portrayed the measures as temporary, in line with what his advisers say any police department in the U.S. or Europe would do to quell urban unrest. But some allege he is dividing Jerusalem, something Netanyahu has said he would never do.
Arab residents, who have long complained of discriminatory Israeli policies, say the latest closures are bringing them to a boiling point and lead to more violence. "They want to humiliate us," said Taher Obeid, 26, janitor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He spoke over the din of car horns, as drivers stuck at one of the new checkpoints vented their anger.
Domestic critics say Netanyahu long opposed to any negotiated partition of Jerusalem into two capitals is effectively dividing the city along ethnic lines with his security measures. Some warn that recent events a rise in "lone wolf" attacks by Palestinians and Israeli crackdowns offer a taste of the constant hate-filled skirmishes that would likely prevail for years if there's no deal on setting up Palestine next to Israel. While Netanyahu has said he supports the establishment of a Palestinian state, there has been no progress in peace efforts during his six years in office, and expectations of a negotiated agreement have faded.
Israel continues to expand Jewish settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, chipping away at territory sought for a future Palestine. Netanyahu says he wants to negotiate with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, but under tougher Israeli ground rules, with east Jerusalem off the table. Abbas refuses to engage under such conditions. Palestinians say they have suffered years of official discrimination, such as severe restrictions on building rights and the threat of residency rights being revoked if they move to the West Bank because the housing shortage in Arab areas.
Meanwhile, Israel's West Bank separation barrier slices through Arab neighborhoods, leaving one-third of Jerusalem's Arab residents on the "West Bank side" and making it harder for them to reach jobs, schools and hospitals.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry confirmed that he will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Germany and then separately with President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah at the end of the week to discuss ways to end the violence. He also said he will hold a meeting this week in Europe with his counterparts from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Russia to explore options for a political solution in Syria. The violence over the past two weeks has resulted in the deaths of 41 Palestinians, eight Israelis and now one Eritrean.
The Palestinian district of East Jerusalem was captured by Israelis in the 1967 Six-Day War, and since then Israel has tried to expand its influence over the neighborhood by allowing Jewish settlers to live in the disputed area. This comes after last year's Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip in which more than 2,100 Palestinians died, including many civilians, according to Palestinian and U.N. officials.
Eritrean mistakenly linked to Israel attack dies after lynching
Meanwhile, an Eritrean migrant, shot by a security guard and kicked by an angry Israeli crowd that mistook him for a gunman, was identified yesterday as one of the dead from an attack on a bus station in the southern city of Beersheba. The Eritrean agricultural worker was named by his employer as Mila Abtum. In what some Israeli media described as a lynching, captured on amateur video on Sunday, the attack on Abtum underscored a mounting sense of panic and anger over a wave of Palestinian attacks that shows no sign of abating. Amateur video showed a security guard shooting the Eritrean.
Lying on the ground bleeding, and with armed paramilitary police surrounding him in an apparent effort to protect him, he was kicked in the head several times by people who slipped through the loose cordon. Nitza Neuman-Heiman, Deputy Director General of Soroka Medical Center, told Army Radio the Eritrean died of gunshot wounds and the injuries he sustained from the kicks.
