What is going on in the head of a young Arab rioter engaged in the “silent intifada” of terror attacks against Jews in Jerusalem? That’s the question AFP apparently sought to answer in a series of interviews with Arab terrorists in the capital city.
Hisham, a fourteen-year-old rioter born around the start of the Second Intifada, “dreams of a new uprising” according to the news source. Ironically, it has been noted Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas recently echoed calls for that 2000 intifada by encouraging terror using the Temple Mount as a trigger.
“All the young people go in and out of prison on a regular basis,” revealed Hisham, speaking about the rampant lawlessness and violence permeating the Arab population of Jerusalem. There are roughly 230,000 Arabs in the eastern part of Jerusalem, and around 200,000 Jews.
Hisham recently was recently in jail for a week, his first and likely not last arrest, for his part in the violent riots attacking police in the capital.
But jail time is not enough to stop the Arab rioters, AFP found.
Mohammed (20) told them after his recent four month stint behind bars for his role in the violence that he would not be stopped from returning to terrorism.
“It’s an intifada, there are no peaceful solutions”
“There’s no peace in Jerusalem. It’s an intifada,” Mohammed declared. “I’m ready to go back and confront the Israeli soldiers. I can’t bear seeing settlers on the (Al-Aqsa) mosque compound, when Muslims aren’t allowed in.”
The rioter apparently was incorrectly referring to the closure of the Temple Mount on Thursday, which in fact applied to both Jews and Muslims following the assassination attempt on Temple Mount activist Yehuda Glick. However, Muslims reportedly were let on the site where they promptly proceeded to riot, something that has become an epidemic at the site.
Police folded to international pressure on Thursday night and let the site reopen on Friday – for Muslims only – but only for men over the age of 50 and all women. Meanwhile Jews have been forbidden from praying at the site by the Jordanian Waqf (Islamic trust) which still enjoys de facto control of the Mount.
Backing Mohammed’s assessment was Salah, a 23-year-old resident of the Issawiya neighborhood that has been a hotbed of terrorism.
Salah does “not believe in dialogue or peaceful solutions.” He further said “Israel wants to kick Palestinians out of Jerusalem. It’s a religious, demographic conflict and they attack houses and now Al-Aqsa.”
Despite the clear statement from the street that there are no “peaceful solutions,” US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday called for a return to peace talks after his last attempt was torpedoed by the Palestinian Authority (PA) in April, and went on to demand Israel open access to the Temple Mount for Muslims.
