Jerusalem: A Ghost City on Edge

Like the rest of the world, Jerusalem was reeling today after the stunning air, sea, and land attacks by Hamas and Islamic Jihad forces on Israel. This much is sure: Nothing will ever be the same. But the future is uncertain.

Last night, the events in Gaza ricocheted into Jerusalem. On the one hand, among Palestinians, there was widespread pride and a sense of freedom and restored honor and dignity.

On the other hand, confrontations and demonstrations erupted across the Palestinian neighborhoods of the city, including Wadi al-Joz, Silwan, Ras al-Amud, Jabal Mukabbir, al-Tur, Shu‘fat refugee camp, and Kufr ‘Aqab.

Some religious leaders warned youth to stay home and not risk aggression from settlers, police, or soldiers who were out for revenge in some places. One of these was Bishop Atallah Hanna, who issued this public warning: “To our youth: be careful when you go out and only go out if it is absolutely necessary.” He witnessed and videotaped Palestinian cars being stopped by flag-waving Israelis who were forcing Palestinian drivers out of their cars and beating them on the back road of Shu‘fat, near the Israeli settlement of Pisgat Ze’ev.

Palestinians (mostly citizens of Israel) who live in some of the Israeli settlements near Jerusalem are extremely concerned and worried about potential acts of revenge against them. “We are worried. The situation is very, very difficult,” shared a Palestinian resident of Pisgat Ze’ev, who preferred not to be identified for fear of retaliation.

People stockpiled food in preparation for war.

The day after the invasion, East Jerusalem was an “eerily quiet” ghost city. The streets were empty; shops were closed.

Frequent sirens blared.

Israel closed Qalandiya checkpoint, leaving many Jerusalemites stranded. No one was allowed to enter the city through the checkpoint, which is the only point of access to Jerusalem for Palestinians living in the entire West Bank to the north of the city.

The closure of the checkpoint is making it hard for Palestinian Jerusalem residents to return home on their way back from other West Bank cities. Dimitri Diliani, a Jerusalem activist and former member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, told Jerusalem Story that the closure “demonstrates a blatant disregard for the basic rights and dignity of our people. These Israeli measures amount to nothing short of collective punishment that intensifies Israel’s already tight grip on the occupied city, effectively punishing the entire population for events occurring in Gaza.”1

The vehicular checkpoints of Hizma (Pisgat Ze’ev) and al-Za‘ayim (on Route 1 towards Ma‘ale Adumim settlement), used by Israelis driving yellow-plated cars, remained open.

In the evening hours of Sunday, October 8, Palestinian media reported that two youths were killed near the Qalandiya checkpoint after a gun exchange. Red Crescent ambulances carried the two youths to the Ramallah hospital, where they were declared dead upon arrival. One of those killed was identified as Yaser Thaer Kasbeh, a resident of the Qalandiya refugee camp. A statement from the camp said his family are refugees from the village of Barvilia and that his family has lost three brothers: Yaser, Samer, and Mohammad Kasbeh.

East Jerusalem observed a general strike, bringing life to a standstill, in protest of Israel’s attacks on Gaza.

Schools were suspended. Imad Abu Kishek, president of Al-Quds University, told Jerusalem Story, “The situation is very difficult. We have decided to close our physical campus and have asked all to return to studying virtually as had happened during the COVID period.”2

Hospitals declared a state of emergency. Doctors cancelled their holidays.

Arabs who happened to find themselves in any Israeli residential area were called out by Jewish residents, who in some cases summoned the police to remove the “terrorists.”

The Muslim waqf guards at al-Aqsa Mosque were on high alert and reported that one guard was beaten up by police, detained, and released.

Israeli police were on high alert in the vicinity of the Old City, searching and assaulting young Palestinian men and making widespread arrests.

Diliani said there is an escalation of hostility impacting the city’s Palestinian residents. “With the closure of schools and a notable increase in Israeli occupation forces’ violent aggressions against Palestinians residents, it is evident that the city is on the verge of yet another distressing cycle of violence.”3

Jiryis, a Palestinian university lecturer, told Jerusalem Story that the city is eerily quiet. “While East Jerusalem was on strike today, the same kind of quiet and absence of the hustle and bustle existed in West Jerusalem, where the streets are also empty.”4 Jiryis noted that he was unable to spot a single Palestinian Arab on the usually busy Jaffa Street in West Jerusalem.

Lutheran Bishop Munib Yonan told the Jerusalem Story that his neighborhood, Beit Safa, is “very tense.”5

The general sense is that this might be the quiet before the storm.

Talal Abu Afifa, a resident of the Shu‘fat refugee camp and a member of the Palestinian Writers’ Union, told Jerusalem Story that the feelings in the camp are anger and protest regarding the brutal acts by Israel in Gaza. “I expect that acts of protests in the camp and other locations will escalate.”6

Hazem H. Kawasmi, who runs a Jerusalem-centric WhatsApp group called Al Quds Electronic Forum, said that the city is like a ticking time bomb. “The city is boiling, and it might explode any moment.”7