COMMENTARY: For Jerusalem’s Police, Jews Defending Palestinians Are Human ‘Garbage’

June 3rd, 2017

Awake Goy

The Jerusalem municipality annually authorizes a march through the Old City’s Muslim Quarter, shutting it down for the protection of its residents. These Jerusalemites are forced to sacrifice a half day’s revenue, which many of them sorely need, while marchers punctuate their songs with chants like “Death to Arabs!”, “Mohammed was a pig!”, “Burn the villages!”, and “Burn the mosques!” Residents are locked into or out of their homes for the duration while marchers bang on the metal shutters of their closed storefronts, often causing damage that they must repair at their own cost. Even if such a march proceeds peacefully, it would be still be experienced by Palestinians as a form of violence.

The Muslim Quarter was never part of biblical Jerusalem but was included by Suleiman the Magnificent’s 16th-century expansion of the walls. It has no religious or historical significance for Jews looking to connect with antiquity. The march could easily proceed around to enter the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall to celebrate its liberation. Life in the Muslim Quarter would continue apace. Shopkeepers might even benefit from increased revenue due to the traffic. But instead, they are closed down for their own safety.

This closure is justified by a tacit acknowledgment that the marchers are a threat to the residents. In order to protect them from what might very well escalate into a pogrom (a term I do not employ lightly), they are penalized, their neighborhood sealed off, and incarcerated inside their homes, while others, many of whom don’t live in this city or even in this country, can celebrate the city’s putative unification and liberation.

This year, I joined a handful of (much younger) activists who attempted to block Damascus Gate. My motivation was rather simple. When my neighbors are threatened, humiliated, and violated in their homes, I am not at liberty to sit quietly, or later go to some government office and register a complaint. The reasons for this are both historical and familial.

So after years of shaking my head in disapproval, as legal and popular petitions perennially failed to alter the route, I resolved to act. This is, after all, the city that I love more than any other. More importantly, it is the city in which I am raising my three children.

Screenshot of Ori Weisberg being led away from the Damascus Gate; the police office has pushed his arm behind his back almost up to his shoulder. Jerusalem, 24 May 2017

‘I couldn’t tell if my shoulder was still in its socket’: Ori Weisberg led from the Damascus Gate; the police office pushed his arm behind his back almost up to his shoulder. Jerusalem, 24 May 2017 Ori Weisberg

Most of those who march in West Jerusalem, the Jewish Quarter, and the Kotel plaza mean no harm. And there is nothing wrong with celebrating victory. But there is a tricky ethical issue here. I see the residents of the Muslim Quarter as my neighbors, but those who insist on marching there relate to them as enemies.

Unfortunately, they forget one of the most profound challenges traditionally ascribed to King Solomon, the man transformed a hilltop fortress into an internationally renowned capital: “At the fall of your enemy, do not rejoice; at his stumbling, do not gladden your heart” (Prov. 24:17). It may be possible to celebrate one’s victory without celebrating an opponent’s defeat, but shutting down your enemies’ neighborhood and businesses, incarcerating them in their homes, and damaging their storefronts while calling for their deaths and the burning of their holy places is not the way to do so.

I made contact with a group of activists. Their numbers made it clear that we would not succeed in altering the route, but only in demonstrating opposition and solidarity. Beforehand, I spoke with Palestinian merchants who relayed stories of past marches. Some looked depressed, apprehensive, and resigned. But many spoke openly and in appreciation. When asked why I was trying, given that we couldn’t stop it, I said that I could not offer myself as a neighbor if I didn’t. He extended his hand to me.

In the days prior, people had tried to dissuade me. They claimed that confrontation would make us look as extreme as the marchers, the flip-side of a false equivalence. Better to support the alternative events around the city. But my neighbors were under assault. I could not go elsewhere and sing pretty songs. I felt morally obligated to join them in defense of their homes, even if success was dubious.

As the marchers approached, we linked arms. They began to push and we sat down, bracing. Most of my fellow protesters began to chant against the “occupation”. Though I agree with them, what I was doing was more basic and immediate. I was there to protect my neighbors from harm, from insult. There is broad opposition to the march going through the Muslim Quarter, even among the Jewish Israeli population, cutting across political and religious affiliations. I know many religious Zionists who think this a hillul hashem, a desecration of God’s Name. Some live in places you might not expect, like Efrat and Ariel on the West Bank. And yet, we could barely muster 30 people to make a stand.

Protesters at the Flag March on Jerusalem Day, May 24, 2017.