Opinion

Let there be no mistake, Jerusalem will be unique and Jewish

photo_camera Israel Palestina

There will be no dual capital of Jerusalem for a Jewish and a Palestinian state. Indeed, it is increasingly unlikely that the latter will ever be erected. The facts of history are stubborn, and once they are established, nothing is ever the same again. On this core issue of the age-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fooled no one, so clearly has his entire governmental performance outlined its ultimate goal: a Jewish state with Jerusalem as its sole, eternal and indivisible capital. Once again he has reminded us of this by ordering the bombing of the Gaza Strip in retaliation for the dozens of missiles launched from there by the Ezzeldin Al-Qassam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, an operation justified in turn by the actions of the Israeli police in the Esplanade of the Mosques at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

In addition to the Israeli forces' break-in at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the trigger for the current riots, clashes and bombardments was the order to evict six families, fifty people in all, all Palestinians, from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in East Jerusalem. Several Jewish settler organisations had filed a lawsuit, arguing that they were entitled to their homes prior to 1948, the date of the establishment and proclamation of the State of Israel. The court's ruling, favourable to the settlers, will almost certainly be ratified by the Supreme Court in the coming days, thus enshrining the progressive cornering of the Palestinian settlers and normalising their expulsion from East Jerusalem, occupied like Gaza and the West Bank, as well as the Golan Heights, after the Six-Day War (1967).

For Netanyahu, “As every nation builds in its capital, we too have the right to build in Jerusalem". For the Palestinians, these urbanisation plans constitute "ethnic cleansing". The virulence of the current outburst, in which some analysts want to see a new intifada, further widens the physical and mental wall separating the two peoples, Jews and Palestinians. 

Previously, the Israeli government has stepped on the accelerator and burned stages at full speed, taking advantage of Donald Trump's four years in the White House, whose measures will certainly not be reversed by the current administration of President Joe Biden. His recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state on December 6, 2017, and the subsequent relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv, are the decisive facts of a more than unconditional support for Israel's objectives.

Israel Palestina

A third intifada?

The current Palestinian protests are seen as a new intifada. It would be the third after those of 1987 and 2000. The first began when four Palestinian workers in the Jabalia refugee camp were killed after being rammed by an Israeli military truck. That uprising, also known as the "intifada of stones", brought worldwide attention to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. Public opinion forgot the terrorist campaigns encouraged by Yasser Arafat and other even more radical leaders, and negotiations were forced, leading to the Oslo Accords, which seemed to lay the foundations for the creation of the two states. This cost the Palestinians 1,164 dead and more than 20,000 wounded.

The second intifada, which also began on the same Esplanade of the Mosques, was completely different, both in terms of the number of victims and the perception of international public opinion. The surprise visit to the Esplanade by Israeli political "hawk" Ariel Sharon carried an implicitly discouraging message for the Palestinians: "We will never concede sovereignty over the Old City of Jerusalem", where the Esplanade and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holy site of Islam, the Temple Mount for the Jews, are located.

Unlike the first uprising, this second intifada had less civilian support and was more militia-driven. The Palestinians justified it as a response to Israel's alleged unwillingness to comply with the 1993 and 1995 Oslo Accords. Attacks on both sides multiplied: 5,500 Palestinians were killed compared to 1,100 Israelis. But above all, the heavy drip of suicide bombings against civilians alienated international sympathy for the Palestinian people, making it easier for Israel to launch its Operation Defensive Shield, reoccupying the six most important cities in the West Bank. In the interests of security, Israel proceeded to build a gigantic and extensive separation wall between Jewish and Palestinian-inhabited areas: concrete walls in urban areas; electrified fences in rural areas. A wall of security for the Israelis; of apartheid for the Palestinians. For the latter, passing up the chance to sign up to the last offer of former prime minister Ehud Barak had been a lousy deal. 

In The New York Times, Palestinian lawyer Khaled Zabarqa describes the new fire in the holy city as "a new religious war" for Jews, Christians and Muslims. So violent is the spiral of fire that all international actors - the United States, the European Union and even the Arab countries that have re-established diplomatic relations with Israel - are calling for containment efforts. It will not be easy, when the two sides can no longer tolerate each other and look at each other with increasing hatred.