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| East Jerusalem, Long Divided and Seething | |
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| JERUSALEM — East Jerusalem, long the emotional heart of Palestinian life, is now the fiery soul of its discontent. | JERUSALEM — East Jerusalem, long the emotional heart of Palestinian life, is now the fiery soul of its discontent. |
| It is not just that most of the young people suspected in this month’s spate of stabbing attacks came from within the city borders, like the 18-year-old college student whose residency is being revoked by Israel after the police said she stabbed a Jewish man in the back. | It is not just that most of the young people suspected in this month’s spate of stabbing attacks came from within the city borders, like the 18-year-old college student whose residency is being revoked by Israel after the police said she stabbed a Jewish man in the back. |
| It is that her neighborhood of 18,000, Sur Baher, is also home to people like Fuad Abu Hamed, a successful businessman who condemns the wave of violence but shares the penetrating frustration and alienation underlying this new uprising. | It is that her neighborhood of 18,000, Sur Baher, is also home to people like Fuad Abu Hamed, a successful businessman who condemns the wave of violence but shares the penetrating frustration and alienation underlying this new uprising. |
| Mr. Abu Hamed, 44, is a lecturer at Hebrew University who runs two clinics in Israel’s health system, and lives in a comfortable home among Sur Baher’s tangle of crowded hills. The view from his balcony is of sprawling Jewish enclaves that he said were “built on our lands,” and the ugly barrier Israel erected that splits Sur Baher from the occupied West Bank. | Mr. Abu Hamed, 44, is a lecturer at Hebrew University who runs two clinics in Israel’s health system, and lives in a comfortable home among Sur Baher’s tangle of crowded hills. The view from his balcony is of sprawling Jewish enclaves that he said were “built on our lands,” and the ugly barrier Israel erected that splits Sur Baher from the occupied West Bank. |
| These days, he can also see the Israeli soldiers who have blocked two of the neighborhood’s exits and set up a checkpoint to search cars at the third, making the city’s psychic division all the more concrete. | These days, he can also see the Israeli soldiers who have blocked two of the neighborhood’s exits and set up a checkpoint to search cars at the third, making the city’s psychic division all the more concrete. |
| “You have a lot of evidence that you are not a human being,” Mr. Abu Hamed said ruefully. “The problem is the policy, because all the time as a Palestinian here you feel that they want to take you out of the city, you have a lot of problems that do not allow you to feel that you are part of the city. It’s killing from inside all the time.” | “You have a lot of evidence that you are not a human being,” Mr. Abu Hamed said ruefully. “The problem is the policy, because all the time as a Palestinian here you feel that they want to take you out of the city, you have a lot of problems that do not allow you to feel that you are part of the city. It’s killing from inside all the time.” |
| In East Jerusalem, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is most personal and most profound. | In East Jerusalem, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is most personal and most profound. |
| For Israeli Jews, the outbreak of seemingly random attacks by Palestinians — most with common kitchen knives — is both a vexing challenge to contain and a reminder of the inherent conundrum in their vision of a united Jerusalem. | For Israeli Jews, the outbreak of seemingly random attacks by Palestinians — most with common kitchen knives — is both a vexing challenge to contain and a reminder of the inherent conundrum in their vision of a united Jerusalem. |
| For many of the 320,000 Arab residents, the violence is an almost inevitable consequence after years of feeling like the neglected stepchildren of both City Hall and the Palestinian Authority, which is headquartered in the West Bank and is barred from operating in Jerusalem. They do not feel wanted here, or part of what is happening there. | For many of the 320,000 Arab residents, the violence is an almost inevitable consequence after years of feeling like the neglected stepchildren of both City Hall and the Palestinian Authority, which is headquartered in the West Bank and is barred from operating in Jerusalem. They do not feel wanted here, or part of what is happening there. |
| Civic and cultural institutions decamped years ago for the West Bank city of Ramallah. In East Jerusalem, there are too few classrooms, and too many dropouts. It is difficult to get a permit to expand a home; 98 illegal structures were demolished last year. Three-quarters of the population lives below Israel’s poverty line. | Civic and cultural institutions decamped years ago for the West Bank city of Ramallah. In East Jerusalem, there are too few classrooms, and too many dropouts. It is difficult to get a permit to expand a home; 98 illegal structures were demolished last year. Three-quarters of the population lives below Israel’s poverty line. |
| Insiders, but Outside | Insiders, but Outside |
| These Palestinians are regular visitors to the contested holy site in the Old City where fears of an Israeli takeover have helped fuel the violent outbreak. They speak Hebrew and, unlike their brethren in the West Bank or Gaza Strip, can work and travel throughout Israel like any citizen — giving them an intimate, daily view of all they do not have. | These Palestinians are regular visitors to the contested holy site in the Old City where fears of an Israeli takeover have helped fuel the violent outbreak. They speak Hebrew and, unlike their brethren in the West Bank or Gaza Strip, can work and travel throughout Israel like any citizen — giving them an intimate, daily view of all they do not have. |
| Even as they benefit from Israel’s robust economy, many seethe as they pump gas or stock shelves for better-off Jewish peers. | Even as they benefit from Israel’s robust economy, many seethe as they pump gas or stock shelves for better-off Jewish peers. |
| “On the one hand, yes, you have open access to Israeli society — on the other hand you also have more knowledge about the discrimination that’s being practiced against you,” said Sari Nusseibeh, the former president of Al Quds University and a scion of one of Jerusalem’s oldest Palestinian families. “Major issues that you identify with as a Palestinian and a Muslim, your dignity and self-respect, your position, your role, these are in total and constant conflict.” | “On the one hand, yes, you have open access to Israeli society — on the other hand you also have more knowledge about the discrimination that’s being practiced against you,” said Sari Nusseibeh, the former president of Al Quds University and a scion of one of Jerusalem’s oldest Palestinian families. “Major issues that you identify with as a Palestinian and a Muslim, your dignity and self-respect, your position, your role, these are in total and constant conflict.” |
| The uptick in aggression did not begin with the two dozen attacks that have killed seven Israeli Jews, five of them in Jerusalem, since Oct. 1. (At least 16 suspected assailants have been shot dead by Israelis, including three on Saturday, along with more than 20 other Palestinians in clashes with security forces). | The uptick in aggression did not begin with the two dozen attacks that have killed seven Israeli Jews, five of them in Jerusalem, since Oct. 1. (At least 16 suspected assailants have been shot dead by Israelis, including three on Saturday, along with more than 20 other Palestinians in clashes with security forces). |
| East Jerusalem has been a hotbed since July 2014, when Jewish extremists kidnapped and murdered Muhammad Abu Khdeir, a 16-year-old from the Shuafat neighborhood. The police reported 1,594 stone-throwing incidents in East Jerusalem over the next three months, up from 1,216 during 10 months of 2013; more than 700 people were arrested for rioting in Jerusalem during that period in 2014. The police said they detained 380 between Sept. 13 and Oct. 15 of this year, 171 of them minors. | East Jerusalem has been a hotbed since July 2014, when Jewish extremists kidnapped and murdered Muhammad Abu Khdeir, a 16-year-old from the Shuafat neighborhood. The police reported 1,594 stone-throwing incidents in East Jerusalem over the next three months, up from 1,216 during 10 months of 2013; more than 700 people were arrested for rioting in Jerusalem during that period in 2014. The police said they detained 380 between Sept. 13 and Oct. 15 of this year, 171 of them minors. |
| Yehuda Yemini, who spent 15 years working in East Jerusalem for Israel’s Shin Bet security agency, blamed “toxic incitement” that riddled textbooks in local schools until a few years ago. | Yehuda Yemini, who spent 15 years working in East Jerusalem for Israel’s Shin Bet security agency, blamed “toxic incitement” that riddled textbooks in local schools until a few years ago. |
| “You get a generation that has grown up with the messages that a Jew is someone who comes to harm us, and endangers our religion,” he said. “Even those who define themselves as secular have a lot of religious motifs. And there is a conflict between the modern, dynamic Israel they see and the narrative of the evil Israel that won’t succeed.” | “You get a generation that has grown up with the messages that a Jew is someone who comes to harm us, and endangers our religion,” he said. “Even those who define themselves as secular have a lot of religious motifs. And there is a conflict between the modern, dynamic Israel they see and the narrative of the evil Israel that won’t succeed.” |
| Complex Territory | Complex Territory |
| Arab East Jerusalem is not a single place but a series of some two dozen disparate satellites. There are isolated villages like Sur Baher, Jabel Mukhaber and Issawiya, where Israelis rarely venture, but also relatively upscale and accessible Beit Hanina, where many international aid workers and diplomats live and Israelis flock for hummus on Saturday mornings. | Arab East Jerusalem is not a single place but a series of some two dozen disparate satellites. There are isolated villages like Sur Baher, Jabel Mukhaber and Issawiya, where Israelis rarely venture, but also relatively upscale and accessible Beit Hanina, where many international aid workers and diplomats live and Israelis flock for hummus on Saturday mornings. |
| There is the restive, drug-ridden Shuafat refugee camp, one of several hamlets officially part of Jerusalem but left on the West Bank side of the concrete barrier. And there is the Old City itself, where the cobblestone streets have been eerily empty since the stabbings. | There is the restive, drug-ridden Shuafat refugee camp, one of several hamlets officially part of Jerusalem but left on the West Bank side of the concrete barrier. And there is the Old City itself, where the cobblestone streets have been eerily empty since the stabbings. |
| Israel captured it all from Jordan in the 1967 war, and expanded Jerusalem’s boundaries to 27 square miles from 2.3. Israel’s annexation was rejected by the United Nations, and most of the world considers the territory occupied. Today, 200,000 Jews live beyond Israel’s original border, most in new developments — widely considered illegal settlements — like those Mr. Abu Hamed can see from his balcony, 2,000 scattered amid the Palestinian enclaves. | Israel captured it all from Jordan in the 1967 war, and expanded Jerusalem’s boundaries to 27 square miles from 2.3. Israel’s annexation was rejected by the United Nations, and most of the world considers the territory occupied. Today, 200,000 Jews live beyond Israel’s original border, most in new developments — widely considered illegal settlements — like those Mr. Abu Hamed can see from his balcony, 2,000 scattered amid the Palestinian enclaves. |
| Israeli leaders claim the entire expanse as their undivided capital. Palestinians see East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. International road maps for peace imagine Palestinian control of Arab areas and Israeli control of Jewish ones, with a special arrangement for the Old City and its surroundings. | Israeli leaders claim the entire expanse as their undivided capital. Palestinians see East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. International road maps for peace imagine Palestinian control of Arab areas and Israeli control of Jewish ones, with a special arrangement for the Old City and its surroundings. |
| Rafat Sub-Laban, 27, who lives in the Old City’s Muslim quarter, said Palestinians in Jerusalem “have sort of a schizophrenic feeling.” | Rafat Sub-Laban, 27, who lives in the Old City’s Muslim quarter, said Palestinians in Jerusalem “have sort of a schizophrenic feeling.” |
| “You’re living among Israelis, you’re supposedly residents to whom the same law applies, you really see it’s not applied equally,” he said. He told a story of being stopped this summer at the Old City’s Jaffa Gate and asked for identification. | “You’re living among Israelis, you’re supposedly residents to whom the same law applies, you really see it’s not applied equally,” he said. He told a story of being stopped this summer at the Old City’s Jaffa Gate and asked for identification. |
| “I said, ‘Why?’ They said, ‘Because we want it.’ ” he recalled. “I said, ‘Am I being suspected of anything?’ It was a soldier girl, she said you’re not suspected of anything, we just want to see your ID. They almost detained me just because I’m asking for rights — under their own laws, by the way.” | “I said, ‘Why?’ They said, ‘Because we want it.’ ” he recalled. “I said, ‘Am I being suspected of anything?’ It was a soldier girl, she said you’re not suspected of anything, we just want to see your ID. They almost detained me just because I’m asking for rights — under their own laws, by the way.” |
| The devolution of East Jerusalem, in many ways, was driven by the Oslo accords that set up the Palestinian Authority in the 1990s. Ramallah, the seat of the provisional government, became the beating pulse of society: Trade unions and activists set up shop there, while storied theaters and cafes off Jerusalem’s Salahaddin Street shut down. | The devolution of East Jerusalem, in many ways, was driven by the Oslo accords that set up the Palestinian Authority in the 1990s. Ramallah, the seat of the provisional government, became the beating pulse of society: Trade unions and activists set up shop there, while storied theaters and cafes off Jerusalem’s Salahaddin Street shut down. |
| “In Jerusalem now, the night life is filled with bats,” Mr. Nusseibeh lamented. | “In Jerusalem now, the night life is filled with bats,” Mr. Nusseibeh lamented. |
| Zakaria Al-Qaq, an Al Quds professor who traces his roots in Jerusalem back 1,400 years, said that Ramallah has abandoned the city, with leaders invoking it as a “token” but doing nothing to solve day-to-day problems. | Zakaria Al-Qaq, an Al Quds professor who traces his roots in Jerusalem back 1,400 years, said that Ramallah has abandoned the city, with leaders invoking it as a “token” but doing nothing to solve day-to-day problems. |
| “Their words don’t go into deeds,” he said. “The society is in turmoil, internally, they are fighting with each other, there’s no law and order.” The protest, he added, “is not limited to the Israelis.” | “Their words don’t go into deeds,” he said. “The society is in turmoil, internally, they are fighting with each other, there’s no law and order.” The protest, he added, “is not limited to the Israelis.” |
| Mayor Nir Barkat of Jerusalem boasts that he has made unprecedented investments in East Jerusalem: 800 new classrooms, $130 million on infrastructure, and a $1.8 million community center in Sur Baher. | Mayor Nir Barkat of Jerusalem boasts that he has made unprecedented investments in East Jerusalem: 800 new classrooms, $130 million on infrastructure, and a $1.8 million community center in Sur Baher. |
| To speed fire and ambulance service, and allow mail delivery, the city has also named — for the first time — nearly 900 streets in Arab areas, including Mr. Abu Hamed’s (after Abu Hamel el Ghazali, an 11th century Islamic philosopher). Mr. Barkat invited more than a dozen Palestinian Jerusalemites to his office last week to discuss the situation, but walked out shortly after the meeting began to rush to the scene of yet another stabbing. | To speed fire and ambulance service, and allow mail delivery, the city has also named — for the first time — nearly 900 streets in Arab areas, including Mr. Abu Hamed’s (after Abu Hamel el Ghazali, an 11th century Islamic philosopher). Mr. Barkat invited more than a dozen Palestinian Jerusalemites to his office last week to discuss the situation, but walked out shortly after the meeting began to rush to the scene of yet another stabbing. |
| A June poll by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion found that 61 percent of Palestinians in Jerusalem support “armed struggle” against Israel. Yet 52 percent said they would prefer to be citizens of Israel with equal rights than citizens of a Palestinian state, up from a third in 2010. | A June poll by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion found that 61 percent of Palestinians in Jerusalem support “armed struggle” against Israel. Yet 52 percent said they would prefer to be citizens of Israel with equal rights than citizens of a Palestinian state, up from a third in 2010. |
| Israel officially offers citizenship to all Jerusalem Palestinians, but a tiny fraction apply. Residency provides parallel benefits, except the right to vote in national elections. (With 37 percent of Jerusalem’s population, Palestinians could wield influence in local balloting, but they boycott to avoid endorsing Israel’s sovereignty.) | Israel officially offers citizenship to all Jerusalem Palestinians, but a tiny fraction apply. Residency provides parallel benefits, except the right to vote in national elections. (With 37 percent of Jerusalem’s population, Palestinians could wield influence in local balloting, but they boycott to avoid endorsing Israel’s sovereignty.) |
| Now, as part of Israel’s crackdown, the interior minister is taking the rare step of revoking the residency of the college student from Sur Baher and 16 other alleged attackers — plus the citizenship of two more. They would still be able to live in the city, but would lose all social-welfare benefits, like free treatment at Mr. Abu Hamed’s clinics, and would need to renew visas every few months. | Now, as part of Israel’s crackdown, the interior minister is taking the rare step of revoking the residency of the college student from Sur Baher and 16 other alleged attackers — plus the citizenship of two more. They would still be able to live in the city, but would lose all social-welfare benefits, like free treatment at Mr. Abu Hamed’s clinics, and would need to renew visas every few months. |
| Palestinians are outraged that no such punishment was considered for the three Jewish men on trial for the grisly burning alive of Muhammad Abu Khdeir last year. Nor were checkpoints established in their neighborhoods. | Palestinians are outraged that no such punishment was considered for the three Jewish men on trial for the grisly burning alive of Muhammad Abu Khdeir last year. Nor were checkpoints established in their neighborhoods. |
| Collective Punishment | Collective Punishment |
| In Sur Baher, residents said the line of cars at the lone remaining exit on Thursday morning stretched for hundreds of yards. Moussa Dabash, 44, who runs a tour-bus company, said he was searched under his shirt and between his legs. | In Sur Baher, residents said the line of cars at the lone remaining exit on Thursday morning stretched for hundreds of yards. Moussa Dabash, 44, who runs a tour-bus company, said he was searched under his shirt and between his legs. |
| “If I say a word, they’ll accuse me of trying to stab them,” he said, reliving the humiliation hours later. “The soldier who searched me, I told him, ‘Why are you doing this?’ He said, ‘Because you are terrorists.’ ” | “If I say a word, they’ll accuse me of trying to stab them,” he said, reliving the humiliation hours later. “The soldier who searched me, I told him, ‘Why are you doing this?’ He said, ‘Because you are terrorists.’ ” |
| Mr. Abu Hamed, too, said he was delayed. But his complaints are more fundamental than a temporary checkpoint. | Mr. Abu Hamed, too, said he was delayed. But his complaints are more fundamental than a temporary checkpoint. |
| A couple and their two children died in a fire last year, he said, because engines are dispatched to Sur Baher from another Palestinian neighborhood rather than the closer Jewish ones. He petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court in 1999 to demand a girls’ school in Sur Baher, and won, but says the neighborhood now needs 20 schools, not the current 13, where classes burst with more than 40 children. The trash hauling bins down the road are overflowing, something he never sees when he goes to pay taxes on the other side of town. | A couple and their two children died in a fire last year, he said, because engines are dispatched to Sur Baher from another Palestinian neighborhood rather than the closer Jewish ones. He petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court in 1999 to demand a girls’ school in Sur Baher, and won, but says the neighborhood now needs 20 schools, not the current 13, where classes burst with more than 40 children. The trash hauling bins down the road are overflowing, something he never sees when he goes to pay taxes on the other side of town. |
| Yes, Mr. Abu Hamed and his neighbors can fly from Israel’s airport, a privilege denied to West Bankers and Gazans. But he said he never makes it through security “without crying,” because his Hebrew University ID card “means nothing — I am a Palestinian in the end.” | Yes, Mr. Abu Hamed and his neighbors can fly from Israel’s airport, a privilege denied to West Bankers and Gazans. But he said he never makes it through security “without crying,” because his Hebrew University ID card “means nothing — I am a Palestinian in the end.” |