Israeli police will also allow tens of thousands of Palestinian worshipers to arrive from the West Bank on Fridays during the month-long fasting holiday and for festivities at the Damascus Gate
Thousands of worshipers are expected to attend prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on Wednesday night to mark the opening of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, with the fast set to begin on Thursday.
The Jerusalem police have already deployed large forces in and around the Old City to police worshipers, and are expected to swell the number of officers on duty on Fridays to up to two thousand officers. Tens of thousands of Palestinian worshipers will be allowed to arrive from the West Bank on Fridays during the month-long fasting holiday, police say.
The center of festive events will be at Damascus Gate, a common and increasingly symbolic gathering place for Palestinians during the holiday that has also been the site of severe Israeli police violence. This year, the police and Jerusalem municipality will enable Palestinian vendors to place stalls in the gate plaza and cultural events will be held.
The city has invested funds in the production of cultural and sports events for Palestinian worshipers, and events will be held at other sites in the Old City and Palestinian neighborhoods to prevent a large gathering of youths at Damascus Gate.
Internal city documents suggest the city is trying to hide the fact that the booths and activities are funded by the municipality to avoid the risk of being shunned by the Palestinian public.
Police sources also say that the city will put a freeze on home demolitions in East Jerusalem as is customary every year during the month-long fasting holiday.
Visiting hours for Jews and tourists on the Temple Mount will be reduced during the holiday with a total ban implemented during the last ten days.
Right-wing Temple Mount lobby groups are expected to put pressure on National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to lift the ban on Jewish visits. However, the final decision lies with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The center of festive events, and likely confrontations between Israeli police and Palestinians, will be at Damascus Gate, a common and increasingly symbolic gathering place for Palestinians during the holiday. This year, the police and Jerusalem municipality will enable Palestinian vendors to place stalls in the gate plaza and cultural events will be held.
In Jenin the sudden change of atmosphere was felt last Thursday, a week before the start of Ramadan. In the middle of a bustling trade day on the main street a force of Israeli commandos dressed as Arabs entered the city and assassinated two fugitives. The incident caused a confusion, with four people killed and some 25 people wounded. The photographs and video clips went viral, especially among Jenin’s businesspeople and merchants. Everyone feared the event would mar the entire week and harm the trade.
“To our surprise on Saturday about 7,000 cars came into the city and on Sunday another 6,000,” Amar Abu Bachar from Jenin’s trade bureau told Haaretz. “That means people, especially our brothers within the Green Line weren’t deterred and that’s good. But you can’t say people don’t care whether Israel continues this trend of raids and arrests and shooting and casualties, it ultimately depends on Israel and its policy. On the one hand they talk of deescalation and on the other they take steps that only raise the tension. We want to live and make a living but you can’t trample us roughshod and then claim escalation and lack of quiet,” he said.
Nablus also expects a continued stream of visitors, mainly from the Arab community. But beyond the IDF’s raids and activity the city is dealing with the roadblocks around the city and in the Hawara area. “You can get stuck in a roadblock for an hour and a half. Those who come for shopping and trade can despair,” says Rassan Daglas from Burka village, who is responsible for following the settlers’ activity in the northern West Bank. “Whether we want it or not, if we have Ramadan atmosphere it’s up to Israel. Another raid and more killing won’t advance any calm, but lead to the opposite.”
People in Nablus follow the reports in Israel such as the amendment to the disengagement law and its repercussions. “It’s clear to us that the hill boys are now the government in Israel, they’re not the fringes but the policy makers. If new provocations are made every day and more laws and more video clips to wipe out Hawara it won’t end well,” says a senior official in the Palestinian security service in Nablus.
“Every raid and every killing by Israel only humiliates the Palestinian Authority further. You can’t play a double game – on the one hand talk about wanting to deescalate and other other raids and killing and roadblocks and in the end a law that encourages settlements.”
Despite the will in the West Bank to pass the Ramadan in peace, they have no control over the goings on around the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Old City. Nor can they control the security prisoners who are to launch a hunger strike on Thursday to protest the penalty measures against them in recent months at the initiative of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
The prisoners administration says the prisoners’ leadership already started the strike on Wednesday. The hunger strike is expected to lead to a popular response on the street barring a compromise, which will increase the anger and friction. Every Palestinian family has a relative who is a prisoner, so this isn’t an event that can be contained within the prison walls, says Kadura Fares, director of the Palestinian Prisoner’s Club.
He says the Israeli Defense establishment is aware of this and has discussed it with Palestinian Authority officials, as well as the goings on in Sharm el-Sheikh this week. The question is, says Fares, who will set the tone – Ben Gvir with his fascist policy or someone with common sense.