Jerusalem does not come to rest: The third attack within two weeks shocked the city, every day there will be protests. Yet Israel afraid to speak of “Intifada”. But the uprising has probably already begun.

Again, the perpetrator was a Palestinian from East Jerusalem. He used his car as a weapon and raced on Wednesday in a crowd, with the intention to kill. One person was killed, at least 13 were injured. Several are still in mortal danger.

It is the third Wednesday in a row, at which there was an attack in Jerusalem. Last week, a radical rabbi was shot down. The week before, two people died in a car attack. Several were injured.
Jerusalem is at the center of a riot. The series of attacks is part of a development that began in the summer and the city increasingly shaken. The intensity of conflict increases, and the number of protesters increases.

For four months there is almost daily clashes between young men from East Jerusalem and Israeli police. Although hundreds were arrested by them, no end is yet discernible. This Wednesday morning, the Temple Mount has been suspended – again. Last Thursday the site had been cordoned off for the first time in years, because riots were feared.

Violence in Jerusalem:Many Palestinians fear for East Jerusalem

The car attacks, the assassination, the protests – is always on Jerusalem, the eastern part of the city, which belongs to the Palestinians under international law and should be capital of Palestine. But for years the Palestinians have to watch as the Israeli settlements grow in the eastern part of the city. From the West Bank, East Jerusalem is cut off by an Israeli separation barrier, which the economy of East Jerusalem can suffer.

The show stopper objectives, what it is about the assassins: The auto-attacks were crowds at stops the Jerusalem tram near the invisible “Green Line” that divides Jerusalem into East and West. The tram connects the West with the Jewish settlements in the East. Many Palestinians, the web is perceived as an attempt to deprive them of the east of the city.

In the attack on Rabbi Yehuda Glick fundamentalist, which is still in the hospital, there was a similar background: Glick is in Israel and Palestine, known primarily as a political activist. His stated goal is to expand the access of Jews to the Temple Mount. Palestinians interpret this as an attempt to take away the mountain that belongs to both Jews and Muslims to the holy places.

Violence in Jerusalem:The third intifada might have already begun

The Temple Mount is like no other place for the dispute between Israelis and Palestinians to the same piece of land. The sanctuary is located in the eastern part of Jerusalem, so the area that is occupied by Israel since 1967.

In 2000 triggered the visit of the ex-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon – then opposition leader – with an escort of over 1,000 Israeli police the second intifada. Sharon said at the time, the Temple Mount will remain forever under Israeli control.

Now does the word “intifada”, Arabic for uprising, the rounds again. For the Israelis, the second Intifada is connected to a five-year trauma, with the memory of violence, terror, chaos and thousands of deaths. Therefore, it is not surprising that many previously shy away from the notion of a third Intifada yet.

This also means: Only in retrospect you will be able to determine whether the last months of the beginning of such escalation were or not. The third intifada may have already begun. You would probably look different than the previous ones: bombings as in the past are hard to imagine in today’s improved security situation of Israel. Remains to be seen whether the young Palestinians in East Jerusalem to maintain their protests more months. Israel police could have more staying power.

Israeli journalists speak a few exceptions, rather supposedly neutral from a “silent Intifada” for what has been developing since June. But now, after the third stop and growing protests, the question arises, what it still should be quiet.

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