Kalandiya heats up

Last Thursday night’s riot looked like a post-apocalyptic battle.

By SETH J. FRANTZMAN
The riots centered on Kalandiya, with smaller clashes in Isawiya. (photo credit: SETH J. FRANTZMAN)
The riots centered on Kalandiya, with smaller clashes in Isawiya.
(photo credit: SETH J. FRANTZMAN)
There is something surreal about Palestinian protests.
The well-armed Palestinian Authority police who lumber around in central Ramallah were nowhere to be seen as more than 10,000 people crowded the main road to Kalandiya – the central checkpoint into Jerusalem from Ramallah – on Thursday of last week.
Laylat al-Qadr is traditionally a holy night during Ramadan and has been the scene of mass protests and clashes in the past, both in the West Bank and in other hot spots of conflict, such as Kashmir.
Police in Jerusalem began cordoning off the Old City early in the afternoon and put up tape to prevent traffic entering Sheikh Jarrah and other points in east Jerusalem.
Men were restricted entry to the capital as fear of clashes mounted throughout the day.
Later photos showed that some men near Al-Aksa Mosque had fought with police.
The city has been tense since the July 4 funeral of Muhammad Abu Khdeir, a Palestinian teenager allegedly killed by Jewish extremists, but the rioting has been in selective areas, such as Shuafat. On that Thursday, however, it centered on Kalandiya, with smaller clashes in Isawiya, which abuts the Jewish neighborhood of French Hill and the Hebrew University.
The news of the protest had spread on social media the week before. More than 21,000 were invited to the July 24 event – which was labeled “Protest 48” in reference to the 1948 war – and people passed out leaflets about the Gaza war, shouting, “Palestinian genocide!” With over 700 dead in Gaza by then, many West Bank and Jerusalem Palestinians felt it was important to show solidarity. There has been quiet criticism of PA President Mahmoud Abbas for not speaking out on Gaza.
“Look at the police standing around, doing nothing,” said one woman driving past a Palestinian police checkpoint. “We have to show Gaza we care.”
Although some commentators, such as Khaled Diab, an Egyptian-born writer who lives in Jerusalem, termed the Thursday event “one of the largest rallies in recent memory,” other attendees were more nuanced.
“We’ve seen clashes like this before when I was growing up,” said one girl, who gave her name as Majd.
INITIALLY PROTESTERS marching toward Kalandiya encountered a large contingent of Israeli police. A standoff ensued, with some throwing rocks at police and others using slingshots with marbles. Muhammad al- Araj, 19, was killed in the early evening.
According to Israel Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, 29 officers were lightly wounded.
By 10 p.m., a massive crowd had formed. Tires stockpiled earlier sent black smoke into the sky.
It looked like a post-apocalyptic battle: Young men, faces wrapped in shirts, keffiyehs and balaclavas, arms covered in dirt and sweat and smudged with black tar, took up positions behind metal pylons, rocks and anything else they could find. From time to time, they would rush back to gather stones, demolishing parts of a hillside, ripping off parts of a rock wall that abuts the main road. Women chanted slogans and encouraged the “shabab” (youth).
A few blocks away, I saw men emerging with the sweet smell of gasoline. They were making Molotov cocktails.
At around midnight, the rat-tat-tat of gunfire rang out, and a momentary fear swept the crowd. Some began to run; others shouted, “Allahu akhbar!” Bystanders explained that there was a rumor that a Palestinian had fired at police. Subsequent statements by the Israel Police confirmed that they believed Palestinians had used live fire.
At the same time, a massive rank of ambulances formed just behind the front row of the clashes.
As Palestinians pulled out their wounded colleagues, the latter were rushed to Red Crescent workers who took them away speedily to Ramallah. By 2 a.m., I had counted more than 100 ambulances coming and going throughout the evening. Later reports said 287 Palestinians had been treated for wounds, mostly from rubber bullets, although some claimed to have been shot by live rounds.
A second protester, Majd Sufyan, was reported killed in the clashes at some point.
The massive crowd attending the protest was mixed. Some old men in suits with trimmed mustaches looked on; Europeans and Americans watched with ill-fitting keffiyehs. Many women participated, a few with niqabs covering their faces, but many without any head scarves. Some women even went up to the front of the clashes and, in the billowing, black smoke, peered around on the ground with smart phones to find marbles for the men with slingshots.
It was a surreal scene. In the air above, the stun grenades reverberated. Men were carted off with bloody arms and legs. And there the women crouched, looking along the wet pavement as if for a dropped contact lens.
By Friday, another five Palestinians had been killed in the West Bank – including two in Hebron, one in Beit Umar and another at Huwara – bringing the “Day of Rage” death toll to seven. Some commentators posted photo albums of the chaos with the caption “Third intifada.”
But by Saturday, with the end of Ramadan approaching, things seemed to have quieted down.