In Jerusalem, on the other hand, protesters face off directly with Israeli police. Because the city lacks organized Palestinian groups, the security services have been unable to penetrate them with collaborators. Instead Israel has been caught off guard by unpredictable attacks as individual Palestinians reach their own breaking point.
By refusing to recognize any Palestinian national claims in Jerusalem, Mr Netanyahu has forced the population to recast the conflict in religious terms. Unable to identify politically with either Fatah or Hamas, Jerusalem's Palestinians have found powerful consolation in a religious struggle to counter the mounting threats to Al Aqsa.
From this perspective, Mr Netanyahu's efforts to undermine Mr Abbas and the PA appear self-destructive. Without them, the West Bank will go the way of Jerusalem -- an ever more unmanageable colonial conflict heading towards religious conflagration.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
1
