JERUSALEM — Tucked away in the alleys of the Old City, many Palestinian merchants are taking hits to their businesses as a result of the recent unrest in Jerusalem. Due to the attacks on police and civilians, as well as demonstrations by both Jews and Arabs in the area, police presence in the Old City is extremely high. Sometimes roads and entrance gates are closed, and police checkpoints are a common sight.
The Israeli police view such measures as necessary given the copious number of violent attacks in such a short period of time. Palestinian merchants, on the other hand, believe the restriction on the freedom of movement and fear among tourists are hurting their businesses. They estimate that their sales have dropped significantly — by more than half in some cases — since violence began in mid-September. At an already volatile time, this is breeding discontent among the city’s Palestinian merchant class, who blame the Israeli police for the economic downturn.
Commentators have speculated on whether recent demonstrations and attacks against Israeli targets by Palestinians constitute a third intifada, but certainly some sort of escalation is already underway. And Jerusalem is not immune to the uptake in violence. On Oct. 10, two stabbings occurred here. At around 11 a.m., a Palestinian teen knifed two Israelis walking near the Old City. That afternoon and a few blocks away, another Palestinian knifed Israeli policemen at Damascus Gate. The perpetrators were shot to death at the scene in both instances. The Israeli policemen and the two Israeli civilians survived with varying degrees of injuries. Moreover, the hashtag “the intifada has started” is currently trending on Twitter. The stirrings of a new intifada reminiscent of the early 2000s definitely exist.
The road and entrance gate closures that have ensued the violence are taking a toll on the city’s economy, according to merchants in and around the Muslim Quarter. “There is no freedom of movement, so of course there is less business; it’s down 90%,” Wajdi Reshek, a grocer near Damascus Gate, told Al-Monitor. The first knife attack Oct. 10 occurred just outside his store and resulted in the Israeli police blocking off the area for several hours. At one point, civilians marched toward the crime scene throwing rocks, while the police used smoke grenades.
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