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| Palestinian Protests Turn Up Intensity and Draw a Diverse Crowd | Palestinian Protests Turn Up Intensity and Draw a Diverse Crowd |
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| RAMALLAH, West Bank — At one riotous demonstration this week, Palestinian university students seemed to be inviting Israeli soldiers to shoot them, moving closer rather than away from the drawn rifles and pointing at their chests as though offering target practice. | RAMALLAH, West Bank — At one riotous demonstration this week, Palestinian university students seemed to be inviting Israeli soldiers to shoot them, moving closer rather than away from the drawn rifles and pointing at their chests as though offering target practice. |
| At another, an unusually large number of young women turned out, all but their eyes covered in the signature black-and-white checked kaffiyehs. These teenagers in tight jeans and sneakers hurled rocks and firebombs, too, but resentful boys accused them of sometimes panicking when the Israelis responded with tear gas and of screaming when the rubber bullets flew. | At another, an unusually large number of young women turned out, all but their eyes covered in the signature black-and-white checked kaffiyehs. These teenagers in tight jeans and sneakers hurled rocks and firebombs, too, but resentful boys accused them of sometimes panicking when the Israelis responded with tear gas and of screaming when the rubber bullets flew. |
| A third protest brought unusually large numbers of prepubescent boys, many still in their striped school uniforms and hauling book-filled backpacks. “Look how small you are!” exclaimed an older man as a group that did not reach his waist galloped past and ducked behind a wall to avoid gas. Laith, all of 10 years old, grinned and boasted, “I want to liberate Palestine!” | A third protest brought unusually large numbers of prepubescent boys, many still in their striped school uniforms and hauling book-filled backpacks. “Look how small you are!” exclaimed an older man as a group that did not reach his waist galloped past and ducked behind a wall to avoid gas. Laith, all of 10 years old, grinned and boasted, “I want to liberate Palestine!” |
| As a series of Palestinians, apparently acting on their own, have attacked Israelis, mostly with knives, over the past week, they have been accompanied by swelling protests in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and even Jaffa and other Israeli towns with large populations of Arab citizens. Clashes between young Palestinians and Israeli settlers and soldiers are as old as the conflict itself, but the demonstrations in recent days have been more numerous, more sustained and more confrontational than those of the past few years. | As a series of Palestinians, apparently acting on their own, have attacked Israelis, mostly with knives, over the past week, they have been accompanied by swelling protests in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and even Jaffa and other Israeli towns with large populations of Arab citizens. Clashes between young Palestinians and Israeli settlers and soldiers are as old as the conflict itself, but the demonstrations in recent days have been more numerous, more sustained and more confrontational than those of the past few years. |
| “We feel that the intifada has begun,” said Mohammad Zeid, 23, an activist at Birzeit University, on a hill outside Ramallah. He said the demonstrations were a way to continue momentum, adding, “This is a letter to our political leaders: We don’t want submission, which is what they think peace is.” | “We feel that the intifada has begun,” said Mohammad Zeid, 23, an activist at Birzeit University, on a hill outside Ramallah. He said the demonstrations were a way to continue momentum, adding, “This is a letter to our political leaders: We don’t want submission, which is what they think peace is.” |
| Some protests break out spontaneously, as when hundreds gathered late Thursday night in Kufr Aqab, a crowded neighborhood on the outskirts of Jerusalem, to block Israeli forces from raiding the home of Thaer Abu Ghazala, 19, who was killed by a soldier after wounding four Israelis with a screwdriver near military headquarters in Tel Aviv. | Some protests break out spontaneously, as when hundreds gathered late Thursday night in Kufr Aqab, a crowded neighborhood on the outskirts of Jerusalem, to block Israeli forces from raiding the home of Thaer Abu Ghazala, 19, who was killed by a soldier after wounding four Israelis with a screwdriver near military headquarters in Tel Aviv. |
| Frequent focal points are the funerals for such so-called martyrs, and thousands marched on Friday with the body of Muhanad Halabi, 19, the law student who fatally stabbed two Orthodox men on Saturday night in the Old City of Jerusalem. They carried flags of various political factions, as well as butcher knives and even swords, as they headed from a mosque in Al Bireh, a Ramallah suburb, to the cemetery. | |
| “I am here to march in a hero’s wedding,” said Yousef Sarhan, 38, who had come from Jerusalem. “This young man has raised the heads of every Palestinian alive. His courageous attack has shown the whole world that the Palestinians will keep resisting, despite the martyrs who continue to drop.” | “I am here to march in a hero’s wedding,” said Yousef Sarhan, 38, who had come from Jerusalem. “This young man has raised the heads of every Palestinian alive. His courageous attack has shown the whole world that the Palestinians will keep resisting, despite the martyrs who continue to drop.” |
| After the funeral, much of the unruly crowd thronged to a checkpoint into Ramallah that has been closed all week by clashes with Israeli soldiers. The army sprayed skunk water and live ammunition, but many were not deterred in what appeared to be the most intense confrontation so far. | |
| Earlier protests were planned by political factions, who bused students from the universities of Birzeit and Bethlehem to friction points with Israelis two days running. | Earlier protests were planned by political factions, who bused students from the universities of Birzeit and Bethlehem to friction points with Israelis two days running. |
| “Cage a cat in a room and it will start scratching you. We are like the cats now,” said Elias Sarras, who has worked at the Bethlehem campus for 32 years and said the atmosphere now “looks like it did” during the Palestinian intifadas, or uprisings, of decades past. “The students encourage each other to protest because of the ongoing conflict, and it doesn’t take much to make them move.” | “Cage a cat in a room and it will start scratching you. We are like the cats now,” said Elias Sarras, who has worked at the Bethlehem campus for 32 years and said the atmosphere now “looks like it did” during the Palestinian intifadas, or uprisings, of decades past. “The students encourage each other to protest because of the ongoing conflict, and it doesn’t take much to make them move.” |
| The Israeli military has bolstered its presence in the West Bank, and the police have flushed Jerusalem with about 2,000 additional officers to contain the outbursts they universally call riots. | |
| Troops killed Wissam Farraj, 20, during clashes in the Shuafat refugee camp Thursday night; Huthafa Sleiman, 18, near the West Bank city of Tulkarm on Monday; and a bystander, 13-year-old Abdulrahman Obeidallah, in Bethlehem on Tuesday, in what military officials said was a mistake, caused by ricocheted rifle fire. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported about 1,000 injuries in various demonstrations, including dozens by rubber bullets or live ammunition. | Troops killed Wissam Farraj, 20, during clashes in the Shuafat refugee camp Thursday night; Huthafa Sleiman, 18, near the West Bank city of Tulkarm on Monday; and a bystander, 13-year-old Abdulrahman Obeidallah, in Bethlehem on Tuesday, in what military officials said was a mistake, caused by ricocheted rifle fire. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported about 1,000 injuries in various demonstrations, including dozens by rubber bullets or live ammunition. |
| “What we’ve seen in recent weeks is indeed an escalation,” said Lt. Col. Peter Lerner of the Israeli military. | “What we’ve seen in recent weeks is indeed an escalation,” said Lt. Col. Peter Lerner of the Israeli military. |
| “We see more and more attempts to confront forces,” he added. “We don’t see a substantial increase in the volume of participation. We do see on the other hand a greater level of violence.” | “We see more and more attempts to confront forces,” he added. “We don’t see a substantial increase in the volume of participation. We do see on the other hand a greater level of violence.” |
| That was certainly the case on Wednesday near the V.I.P. checkpoint into Ramallah. Masked youths filled two-liter water bottles with kerosene at a nearby gas station, then poured the fuel into scores of empty soda bottles and hurled the makeshift firebombs toward Israeli positions. About 300 protesters, mostly Birzeit students, tried to climb up a hill toward the wall of the Israeli settlement Beit El, but soldiers firing into the air chased them back. | That was certainly the case on Wednesday near the V.I.P. checkpoint into Ramallah. Masked youths filled two-liter water bottles with kerosene at a nearby gas station, then poured the fuel into scores of empty soda bottles and hurled the makeshift firebombs toward Israeli positions. About 300 protesters, mostly Birzeit students, tried to climb up a hill toward the wall of the Israeli settlement Beit El, but soldiers firing into the air chased them back. |
| Buses from Birzeit returned the next day for a repeat performance, though the presence of so many women changed the dynamic. “The party is just starting!” said one, named Mais, 26, who stood with three girlfriends and, like most of the protesters, spoke on the condition that her last name not be used. | Buses from Birzeit returned the next day for a repeat performance, though the presence of so many women changed the dynamic. “The party is just starting!” said one, named Mais, 26, who stood with three girlfriends and, like most of the protesters, spoke on the condition that her last name not be used. |
| Vian, 16, said it was her “first time in clashes” and burst into tears when asked if she was scared. “My parents don’t know I’m here,” she said. “But I want to be part of this.” | Vian, 16, said it was her “first time in clashes” and burst into tears when asked if she was scared. “My parents don’t know I’m here,” she said. “But I want to be part of this.” |
| One male student found the female presence frustrating, and he said half the boys had showed up only to stare at the girls. “I shouldn’t say this, but the girls are really causing tensions,” he said, because they shied away when things got intense. “That means we can’t throw rocks. We are too busy making sure the girls are O.K.” | |
| On Tuesday, it was dozens of small boys and skinny teenagers who turned up for a march called by Palestinian leaders at Qalandia, the main checkpoint into Ramallah. Some older brothers could be seen pushing the little ones out of the melee. One man angrily scooped up a boy who was crying behind a concrete barricade and shoved him into a bus leaving the area. But another youngster ignored the elder trying to hold him back, speeding off with a rock in his chubby hand. | On Tuesday, it was dozens of small boys and skinny teenagers who turned up for a march called by Palestinian leaders at Qalandia, the main checkpoint into Ramallah. Some older brothers could be seen pushing the little ones out of the melee. One man angrily scooped up a boy who was crying behind a concrete barricade and shoved him into a bus leaving the area. But another youngster ignored the elder trying to hold him back, speeding off with a rock in his chubby hand. |
| “This is fun!” said Yehye, 14, who was clutching a Palestinian flag. He was soon scolded by Firas, 15, who checked off the talking points. “It’s to liberate Al Aqsa,” Firas said, referring to the mosque at the heart of the Old City compound in Jerusalem that Palestinians fear Israel wants to divide. “And it’s for the martyrs. They are taking our lands and our holy sites, and as a Palestinian, I should defend my land.” | “This is fun!” said Yehye, 14, who was clutching a Palestinian flag. He was soon scolded by Firas, 15, who checked off the talking points. “It’s to liberate Al Aqsa,” Firas said, referring to the mosque at the heart of the Old City compound in Jerusalem that Palestinians fear Israel wants to divide. “And it’s for the martyrs. They are taking our lands and our holy sites, and as a Palestinian, I should defend my land.” |
| So far, the situation is more one of sporadic outbursts than the sustained movement that marked the intifadas of the late 1980s and early 2000s. Unlike those times, most stores and shops in Palestinian cities and neighborhoods were open this week, the clashes something of a sideshow. | So far, the situation is more one of sporadic outbursts than the sustained movement that marked the intifadas of the late 1980s and early 2000s. Unlike those times, most stores and shops in Palestinian cities and neighborhoods were open this week, the clashes something of a sideshow. |
| “I think that people are not all willing to go out and fight,” said Mousa Ahmad, 21, a Bethlehem business student who added that his personal goal was to make 1 million shekels — about $260,000 — by age 30. | “I think that people are not all willing to go out and fight,” said Mousa Ahmad, 21, a Bethlehem business student who added that his personal goal was to make 1 million shekels — about $260,000 — by age 30. |
| “I remember that Yasir Arafat said the pen of a writer, the brush of a painter, the microphone of a professor are all ways of resisting the occupation,” Mr. Ahmad said of the first Palestinian president. “So let us as Palestinians use these methods instead to increase awareness without losing lives. Life is too valuable to lose, especially at a demonstration.” | “I remember that Yasir Arafat said the pen of a writer, the brush of a painter, the microphone of a professor are all ways of resisting the occupation,” Mr. Ahmad said of the first Palestinian president. “So let us as Palestinians use these methods instead to increase awareness without losing lives. Life is too valuable to lose, especially at a demonstration.” |
| Over at Birzeit on Thursday, the student council played pounding, nationalistic music and had five buses ready to take people to the protest, but many did not board. One engineering student said he had hurt his leg at the demonstration the day before. | Over at Birzeit on Thursday, the student council played pounding, nationalistic music and had five buses ready to take people to the protest, but many did not board. One engineering student said he had hurt his leg at the demonstration the day before. |
| Another was busy: “I am ready to give my life for Palestine,” said Samih, who is 21 and also studies engineering. “But I have a class I can’t miss today.” | Another was busy: “I am ready to give my life for Palestine,” said Samih, who is 21 and also studies engineering. “But I have a class I can’t miss today.” |