Muslims in Occupied Jerusalem like Muslims everywhere celebrate Ramadan in their own way despite the inundation of irritating and remorseless measures taken by the Israeli occupation authorities. Jerusalemites decorate their living quarters; Ramadan lanterns dangle decoratively from ornate strings of flickering colored strings of lights. Shops are filled with customers from the West Bank and 1948 occupied territories and the merchants describe the high-energy mood as a revival of Jerusalem’s markets. Vendors selling special Ramadan desserts like Katayef and Baraziq and other pastries proliferate the streets and at night thousands of worshippers flock to Al-Aqsa Mosque to pray Taraweeh.
A few days ago before Ramadan hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from the 1948 occupied territories and the West Bank converged on Jerusalem cleaning the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque the graves the paths and the schools applying anti-slip strips on stairs and decorating the compound with lanterns to spruce up Al-Aqsa compound for Ramadan to welcome worshippers.
The Jerusalem-based photojournalist Muhammad Idkaidek says that the most beautiful picture he likes to take is the gathering of all Palestinians from across Palestine in Occupied Jerusalem: “The occupation tries by all means to separate Jerusalem from the rest of the Palestinian territories” he says “yet during Ramadan despite all of the nonsense Israeli procedures we can see Palestinians from other areas than just Jerusalem.”
Yet despite the uplifting celebratory vibes of Ramadan Palestinians still harbor fears of wider escalation throughout the Palestinian territories as the Jewish holiday Passover coincides with the third week of Ramadan. In the past Passover has marked an escalation of settler incursions into Al-Aqsa and aggression in the Holy City in general. Many confrontations have occurred between Palestinians and Israeli forces and settlers due to these incursions which are seen as provocative by Palestinians.
Since 2003 the Israeli police have unilaterally allowed settlers to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque daily except on Fridays and Saturdays in a move that has long been condemned by the Islamic Endowment Department in Jerusalem. Sho’aib Abu Snainah a researcher in Jerusalem affairs says that the Israeli occupation forces allow such provocative acts to impose their presence and to demonstrate their control on the Al-Aqsa compound.
Last Ramadan in May after Israeli forces stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound attacking Muslim worshippers firing gas canisters and rubber pellets Israel launched an 11-day aggression on the besieged Gaza Strip in response to the Gaza resistance firing rockets in retaliation to the Israeli assault on Al-Aqsa and the worshipers. At least 256 Palestinians including 66 children were killed.
Palestinians have been reporting a recent rise in Israeli violations across the West Bank and East Jerusalem. On the second night of Ramadan tensions ran high in the area around Bab Al-Amoud and the Old City after the occupation forces erected an iron fence under the pretext of preventing Palestinians from gathering.
The head of a local committee of the families of Jerusalemite detainees Amjad Abu Asab stated that “several punitive measures are being taken recently by Israeli occupation authorities to prevent the outbreak of a popular uprising or any kind of tension that might happen.”
Campaigns of arrest and deportation were launched among the Jerusalemites who Israeli forces suspect may instigate uprising and resistance.
In a further injustice Abu Asab tells us the occupation authorities have resorted to depriving 21 Jerusalemite families of their right to health insurance threatening ex-prisoners and activists to demolish their homes claiming that they were built without permits.
Commercial interests have also been targeted with arbitrary violations and exorbitant taxes. In some neighborhoods known activists have had their movement restricted by the Israeli authorities preventing them from leaving their neighborhoods based on recommendations from the political level.
All of these measures are meant to deter Palestinians from confronting the occupation forces suppressing any preparations for potential uprising against Israeli settlers’ incursions in order to clear the path for settlers to establish geographic realities and alter the status quo such that Israel’s sovereignty throughout Jerusalem cannot be challenged.
Yet in spite of the draconian measures and escalating tensions Abu Assab stressed that Jerusalemites are accustomed to confronting the oppression and tyranny of the occupation and will not be deterred during the coming weeks.
“The conditions are largely ripe for the situation in the city to deteriorate again during the month of Ramadan and the occupation is expected to take advantage of the world’s preoccupation with the Russian-Ukrainian war to commit new follies in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque” he said.
– Wafa Aludaini is a Gaza based journalist. She contributed this article to the Palestinian Information Center.
