This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/05/world/middleeast/israel.html
The article has changed 10 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 8 | Version 9 |
|---|---|
| Tensions High in Jerusalem as Palestinian Teenager Is Given a Martyr’s Burial | Tensions High in Jerusalem as Palestinian Teenager Is Given a Martyr’s Burial |
| (2 months later) | |
| JERUSALEM — Before the body arrived, young Palestinian men, some with faces covered by kaffiyehs, filled the main street, chanting about blood and guns, sacrifice and struggle. | |
| Older men, most with beards long-ago gone white, waited quietly on plastic chairs in the shade of a blue tarpaulin. The women, many with tear-stained cheeks, were in the courtyard outside the home where 16-year-old Muhammad Abu Khdeir no longer lives. | Older men, most with beards long-ago gone white, waited quietly on plastic chairs in the shade of a blue tarpaulin. The women, many with tear-stained cheeks, were in the courtyard outside the home where 16-year-old Muhammad Abu Khdeir no longer lives. |
| Thousands thronged Friday afternoon to Shuafat, the East Jerusalem neighborhood where Muhammad was snatched and slain before dawn on Wednesday, to give him a martyr’s burial after what is widely believed to have been a revenge attack by Jews angered by the abduction and killing last month of three Israeli students at yeshivas in the occupied West Bank. | Thousands thronged Friday afternoon to Shuafat, the East Jerusalem neighborhood where Muhammad was snatched and slain before dawn on Wednesday, to give him a martyr’s burial after what is widely believed to have been a revenge attack by Jews angered by the abduction and killing last month of three Israeli students at yeshivas in the occupied West Bank. |
| “Ululate, mother of the martyr, all the youth are your sons,” they chanted in Arabic. “We sacrifice our souls and blood for the martyr.” And, “Rest, martyr, we will continue the struggle.” | “Ululate, mother of the martyr, all the youth are your sons,” they chanted in Arabic. “We sacrifice our souls and blood for the martyr.” And, “Rest, martyr, we will continue the struggle.” |
| The funeral was accompanied by some clashes between mourners and Israeli security forces that injured some mourners and police officers. It came against a tense backdrop of recent rockets and airstrikes between Israel and the Gaza Strip and fears that they would explode into a full-scale battle. | The funeral was accompanied by some clashes between mourners and Israeli security forces that injured some mourners and police officers. It came against a tense backdrop of recent rockets and airstrikes between Israel and the Gaza Strip and fears that they would explode into a full-scale battle. |
| Rockets continued to land in southern Israel on Friday: four before sunrise, four more by noon and a half-dozen through the afternoon and evening, according to statements from the Israeli military. Israel, which mobilized troops around Gaza on Thursday but insisted it did not want an escalation, dropped three bombs there Friday night on what it called “Hamas terror targets.” Israeli troops shot at two Palestinians who Israeli officials said had been placing an explosive near the border fence, wounding one of them. | Rockets continued to land in southern Israel on Friday: four before sunrise, four more by noon and a half-dozen through the afternoon and evening, according to statements from the Israeli military. Israel, which mobilized troops around Gaza on Thursday but insisted it did not want an escalation, dropped three bombs there Friday night on what it called “Hamas terror targets.” Israeli troops shot at two Palestinians who Israeli officials said had been placing an explosive near the border fence, wounding one of them. |
| Since the June 12 abductions — for which Israel blames Hamas — Israel has counted about 150 projectiles fired from Gaza, a military statement said. Ninety-eight landed in Israel, 18 were intercepted and the others fell short. Many nights brought Israeli airstrikes in response. | Since the June 12 abductions — for which Israel blames Hamas — Israel has counted about 150 projectiles fired from Gaza, a military statement said. Ninety-eight landed in Israel, 18 were intercepted and the others fell short. Many nights brought Israeli airstrikes in response. |
| “One possibility is that the fire stops, and the quiet continues,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said Thursday night at an Independence Day event at the seaside residence of the United States ambassador. “Otherwise, the fire will continue, and then reinforced troops in southern Israel will use force.” | “One possibility is that the fire stops, and the quiet continues,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said Thursday night at an Independence Day event at the seaside residence of the United States ambassador. “Otherwise, the fire will continue, and then reinforced troops in southern Israel will use force.” |
| Local news organizations reported Friday that Israel had given leaders of Hamas, the militant movement that dominates Gaza, 48 hours to stop the rockets or risk a major military operation. Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas official, told reporters in Gaza on Friday that contacts were underway to restore the cease-fire that ended eight days of cross-border violence in November 2012. | Local news organizations reported Friday that Israel had given leaders of Hamas, the militant movement that dominates Gaza, 48 hours to stop the rockets or risk a major military operation. Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas official, told reporters in Gaza on Friday that contacts were underway to restore the cease-fire that ended eight days of cross-border violence in November 2012. |
| “Calm would be answered with calm,” Mr. Masri said during a demonstration by hundreds of Hamas supporters protesting what they called Israeli aggression against Palestinians. | “Calm would be answered with calm,” Mr. Masri said during a demonstration by hundreds of Hamas supporters protesting what they called Israeli aggression against Palestinians. |
| The recent days have been among the most tense between Israelis and Palestinians in a decade, with hate-filled social-media campaigns, street battles with security forces and rampant rumors all reflecting the intense debate about whether the long-running conflict has sunk to new depths. Many saw Muhammad’s funeral as a potential flash point, particularly because it came on the first Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a point on the calendar often punctuated here by clashes. | The recent days have been among the most tense between Israelis and Palestinians in a decade, with hate-filled social-media campaigns, street battles with security forces and rampant rumors all reflecting the intense debate about whether the long-running conflict has sunk to new depths. Many saw Muhammad’s funeral as a potential flash point, particularly because it came on the first Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a point on the calendar often punctuated here by clashes. |
| The Israeli police also braced for violence in the West Bank and Jerusalem’s Old City, where men under 50 were barred from attending prayers at the Al Aqsa compound, but there were no major incidents. | The Israeli police also braced for violence in the West Bank and Jerusalem’s Old City, where men under 50 were barred from attending prayers at the Al Aqsa compound, but there were no major incidents. |
| Micky Rosenfeld, an Israeli police spokesman, said the investigation was still continuing Friday into whether Muhammad’s brutal murder — his burned body was left in the Jerusalem Forest — was in fact an act of vengeance or some other type of crime. The victim’s relatives said investigators had pressed them on whether it might have been a family dispute. | Micky Rosenfeld, an Israeli police spokesman, said the investigation was still continuing Friday into whether Muhammad’s brutal murder — his burned body was left in the Jerusalem Forest — was in fact an act of vengeance or some other type of crime. The victim’s relatives said investigators had pressed them on whether it might have been a family dispute. |
| But in Shuafat, there was no doubt. A huge banner with a photo of Muhammad wearing a shy smile and a sleek haircut called him “the martyr of the dawn.” Talk of conspiracy and cover-up was rife in the mourning tent, where a blue tarpaulin was strung with a portrait of Muhammad with big brown eyes beneath a baseball cap. | But in Shuafat, there was no doubt. A huge banner with a photo of Muhammad wearing a shy smile and a sleek haircut called him “the martyr of the dawn.” Talk of conspiracy and cover-up was rife in the mourning tent, where a blue tarpaulin was strung with a portrait of Muhammad with big brown eyes beneath a baseball cap. |
| “The police know very well that those who killed my son were Jews, and they have their pictures” from security cameras, the boy’s father, Hussein Abu Khdeir, 48, said Friday morning. “It is clear from their faces that they were Jews.” | “The police know very well that those who killed my son were Jews, and they have their pictures” from security cameras, the boy’s father, Hussein Abu Khdeir, 48, said Friday morning. “It is clear from their faces that they were Jews.” |
| On Tuesday, the three dead Israeli teenagers, Naftali Fraenkel and Gilad Shaar, both 16, and Eyal Yifrach, 19, were wrapped in Israeli flags and buried side by side, eulogized by Israel’s prime minister, president and chief rabbis. There were no speeches at Muhammad’s funeral Friday, where dignitaries included the grand mufti of Jerusalem; Ahmad Tibi, a Palestinian member of the Israeli Parliament; and Mustafa Barghouti, a leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization. | On Tuesday, the three dead Israeli teenagers, Naftali Fraenkel and Gilad Shaar, both 16, and Eyal Yifrach, 19, were wrapped in Israeli flags and buried side by side, eulogized by Israel’s prime minister, president and chief rabbis. There were no speeches at Muhammad’s funeral Friday, where dignitaries included the grand mufti of Jerusalem; Ahmad Tibi, a Palestinian member of the Israeli Parliament; and Mustafa Barghouti, a leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization. |
| Mr. Tibi, who lives nearby and knows Muhammad’s family, drew a sharp contrast between Israel’s intense three-week search for the kidnappers of the three yeshivas and the authorities’ actions since Wednesday’s attack. | Mr. Tibi, who lives nearby and knows Muhammad’s family, drew a sharp contrast between Israel’s intense three-week search for the kidnappers of the three yeshivas and the authorities’ actions since Wednesday’s attack. |
| “It’s an ordinary message that the life of Jewish Israelis is much more valuable than the life of others, especially Palestinians,” Mr. Tibi said in an interview. “This is a double standard, both moral and political, and it’s part of the anger in the street here, about what the Israelis are doing to our lives.” | “It’s an ordinary message that the life of Jewish Israelis is much more valuable than the life of others, especially Palestinians,” Mr. Tibi said in an interview. “This is a double standard, both moral and political, and it’s part of the anger in the street here, about what the Israelis are doing to our lives.” |
| The body, wrapped in a Palestinian flag, arrived about 2:30 p.m. and was greeted with firecrackers, whistling and calls of Allahu akbar, God is great. After a family visit inside the mosque and a brief prayer outside, the crowd carried Muhammad in an open-topped green wooden box down the main road, past the Israeli police line at Shuafat’s edge and finally to the cemetery. There, automatic rifle fire into the air marked the burial in a grave not far from a relative, Amjad, who had been fatally shot outside the old city at age 33 by a Jewish Israeli five years ago. | The body, wrapped in a Palestinian flag, arrived about 2:30 p.m. and was greeted with firecrackers, whistling and calls of Allahu akbar, God is great. After a family visit inside the mosque and a brief prayer outside, the crowd carried Muhammad in an open-topped green wooden box down the main road, past the Israeli police line at Shuafat’s edge and finally to the cemetery. There, automatic rifle fire into the air marked the burial in a grave not far from a relative, Amjad, who had been fatally shot outside the old city at age 33 by a Jewish Israeli five years ago. |
| Afterward, some youths hurled stones at Israeli forces, who responded with tear gas. | Afterward, some youths hurled stones at Israeli forces, who responded with tear gas. |
| Earlier, the throngs had chanted an old Hamas slogan and sung a fighting song from Fatah, the more moderate faction that dominates the P.L.O. “The gun lives on,” they said. “To Jerusalem we are going, martyrs in millions.” There were calls for suicide bombings, a third intifada, or uprising, a revenge attack in the Jewish settlement of Gilo, in South Jerusalem. | Earlier, the throngs had chanted an old Hamas slogan and sung a fighting song from Fatah, the more moderate faction that dominates the P.L.O. “The gun lives on,” they said. “To Jerusalem we are going, martyrs in millions.” There were calls for suicide bombings, a third intifada, or uprising, a revenge attack in the Jewish settlement of Gilo, in South Jerusalem. |
| After a while, a voice came on a loudspeaker and urged the youth to sing national songs instead of war anthems. There was one — “Oh, Palestine! Palestine lived on” — then the tone quickly turned. “Explode the skull of the Zionist,” came the next chant. | After a while, a voice came on a loudspeaker and urged the youth to sing national songs instead of war anthems. There was one — “Oh, Palestine! Palestine lived on” — then the tone quickly turned. “Explode the skull of the Zionist,” came the next chant. |
| The family asked that only Palestinian flags accompany the coffin, but a few people flew the black-and-white banners of Islamic Jihad. “We are 100 factions, and we cannot fight,” warned a voice over a loudspeaker. “We should respect the martyr and respect each other.” | The family asked that only Palestinian flags accompany the coffin, but a few people flew the black-and-white banners of Islamic Jihad. “We are 100 factions, and we cannot fight,” warned a voice over a loudspeaker. “We should respect the martyr and respect each other.” |
| Amid all the politics, there was also a father yearning for a son taken too soon. | Amid all the politics, there was also a father yearning for a son taken too soon. |
| “I don’t feel life inside me,” Hussein Abu Khdeir said. “Nothing in life is good anymore.” | “I don’t feel life inside me,” Hussein Abu Khdeir said. “Nothing in life is good anymore.” |