Attacks on Al-Quds spark Palestinian resistance
2010Andrew Pollack 2010-04Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 5 →
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SOCIALIST ACTION APRIL 2010 5 On March 14, thousands of Zionist sol diers and cops surrounded the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Al-Quds (Jerusalem) in prep aration for a joint settler/government dedication of a synagogue near the mosque, the third holiest site in Islam. Zionist forces barred Palestinians from entering the mosque compound (Haram al-Sharif), then raided the mosque itself, arresting some worshippers and expel ling the others.
In response, thousands of Palestinian youth launched protests in Al-Quds and throughout the West Bank. They were met with tear gas and rubber bullets. About 100 Palestinians were injured and at least 60 detained. Four youths were murdered during protests in Nab lus the following weekend.
Police set up roadblocks to prevent Palestinians from pre-1967 areas of Is rael from joining protests in Al-Quds. Solidarity rallies were held across the Gaza Strip. Palestinian Authority police prevented protests in some areas, just as they had repressed protests against Israel’s massacres in Gaza.
Every Friday for years there has been restrictions on worshippers attempt ing to enter the mosque, and since midMarch only men over 50 and women have been allowed in. In response, a variety of religious and political forces called for Palestinians to come to AlQuds to defend their right to pray and to be present in case of a settler/govern ment attack.
These events are the culmination of a series of incidents heightening fears of a more massive assault on the mosque and on eastern Al-Quds. Right-wing Jews handed out Arabic fliers in Al-Quds call ing on “non-Jews to leave the land of Is rael,” and others called for Al-Aqsa to be blown up.
The Zionist government recently de clared two sites that are sacred to Mus lims, Masjid Bilal bin Rabah (Rachel’s Tomb) and the Ibrahimi Mosque (Cave of the Patriarchs), on the official Jewish “heritage” list, sparking worries of fur ther desecration and/or bans on wor ship at those sites.
Excavations under the Al-Aqsa Mosque, supposedly for archaeological purposes, threaten the stability of its foundations. At the end of the month, Tel Aviv an nounced it would carry out new con struction in the Mosque compound (the Haram al-Sharif) to expand the Jewish praying area, a move that if carried out would spark mass protests.
Thousands of graves in the oldest Pal estinian cemetery in Al-Quds, the Ma milla Cemetery, are under threat of des ecration by the Simon Wiesenthal Cen ter for “Tolerance.” And Palestinian fam (Above) Israeli police detain a boy at Shufat refugee camp, near Jerusalem, on March 19.
ilies in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Al-Quds who were expelled from their homes to make room for settlers have been camped out in protest across the street for months.
Events in Al-Quds come in the con text of increasing repression through out Palestine. Israeli occupation forces sealed off the entire West Bank during the above protests. When Passover be gan, the annual racist policy of closing the entire West Bank was carried out.
Detention without charges of leaders of protests against the Apartheid Wall have mushroomed, as have night-time raids on homes, including detention of chil dren. Weekly protests challenging the blockade and “no-go zones” in Gaza are met with violent repression and arrests.
Palestinian Christians face restrictions as well, inspiring church leaders to is sue the “Kairos Palestine-2009” decla ration, an appeal to churches worldwide to boycott Israel.
As we go to press, Christians are defy ing the annual restrictions on Palestin ians’ right to worship at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and other holy sites during Easter week, and church leaders have called on their followers to go to the sites without applying for permits from the Israeli government.
In the U.S., Palestinians and support ers mobilized immediately in response to the attacks. The U.S. Palestinian Com munity Network issued a statement calling for protests, and one of the first to respond was Al-Awda NY, which, in coalition with American Muslims for Palestine and other community allies, held a march in Manhattan from Times Square to Herald Square.
At the end point, Al-Awda handed out leaflets in front of retailer H&M to launch its Boycott Zionism campaign. (H&M is the target of a global boycott because it is opening seven stores in Israel, including in Al-Quds.) The same week, the UC Berkeley student senate passed a resolution calling for divest ment of all funds in corporations doing business with Israel.
In Palestine itself there are predictions by many of a third Intifada. It’s too soon to know whether this might occur in the near future or, if it did, how quickly forc es to the left of Fatah would be able to respond to organize the masses to resist the repression and sellouts that have ended previous Intifadas. But Palestin ians have shown through decades of re sistance that they will never give up.
Supporters in the U.S. and around the world must act now to create the great est possible maneuvering room for a third Intifada, whenever it begins—as it will sooner or later. n