{"id":1774,"date":"2021-05-12T11:36:18","date_gmt":"2021-05-12T12:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/?p=1774"},"modified":"2021-05-12T11:36:18","modified_gmt":"2021-05-12T12:36:18","slug":"sheikh-jarrah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/2021\/05\/12\/sheikh-jarrah\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheikh Jarrah"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since the 6th<\/sup> of May this year, Israel has experienced the worst violence it has seen in years. It began between Palestinian protesters and Israeli settlers and police over a planned Israeli Supreme Court decision regarding what would have been forced evictions of Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, East Jerusalem. The violence has coincided with the holidays of Laylat al-Qadr and Jerusalem Day, the former being an Islamic holy day and the latter being an Israeli holiday. Jerusalem Day is opposed by left-wing Israelis and Palestinians. It is marked by the \u2018Dance of the Flags\u2019 through the streets of Jerusalem to the Western Wall and has often provoked violent clashes. This year was exceptional in terms of the escalation of violence, escalating at Al-Aqsa Mosque. Israel currently faces an uncertain future, shown in its astrology and in the current events.<\/span><\/p>\n

The current violence in Israel is taking place in the final ten days of Ramadan, considered the holiest days of the period. Ramadan this year runs from April 12th<\/sup> to May 12th<\/sup>. The violence began in Sheikh Jarrah on the evening of the 6th<\/sup>, aggravated by a group of Israeli settlers<\/a><\/span> who had set up an awning across the street from Palestinians celebrating the nightly break of fasting. The Israeli settlers were joined at one point by Itamar Ben-Gvir, the leader of a far-right Israeli party known for violence against Palestinians. There were no serious injuries then, but 7 people were arrested. Ben-Gvir instigated the violence:<\/span><\/p>\n

Itamar Ben-Gvir\u2026said that the houses belonged to Jews and told police to “open fire”<\/a><\/span> on protesters. Agence France-Presse reported that Israeli settlers had been seen in Sheikh Jarrah openly carrying assault rifles and revolvers leading up to the clashes. Previous clashes had begun following the Israeli government’s closure of the Damascus Gate<\/a><\/span>, a popular place for Muslims to gather during Ramadan, and when the Israeli government imposed a 10,000-person limit on people praying at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Palestinian protesters were also frustrated with President of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas’s decision to postpone the 2021 Palestinian legislative election, believing he had done so to avoid political defeat for his party Fatah.<\/span><\/p>\n

The settlers were there seeking to claim properties from Palestinian families who were set to be evicted by an Israeli Supreme Court decree on the 10th<\/sup> of May. The decision has since been pushed back until June 8th<\/sup> to allow a cooling of hostilities. The area of Sheikh Jarrah has been contested for centuries<\/a><\/span>. Currently, since the 1967 war, the area under dispute has been given ownership to a right-wing settler group by Israeli courts, but the area has been a site for Palestinian refugees, who are seen as squatters by the settlers. The struggle there is seen as emblematic of the Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation. The current violence needs to be seen in a wider context, though. There is a timeline of events in recent weeks that has a bearing on the bigger picture for Israel and the region. Then we will have a look at Israel\u2019s astrology. The timeline of larger events runs thus:<\/span><\/p>\n