While Arab media covered the celebrations in the streets of the West Bank for the release of Palestinian prisoners—children and women—during the temporary truce, reporters in Jerusalem covered the same event from a completely different angle. Despite the fact that Jerusalem had the most significant share of released prisoners, children, and women, what the media covered during that period revolved around the desperate attempts by the occupation to prevent any manifestations of celebration for the freedom of prisoners in Jerusalem in particular.
Scenes of armed occupation soldiers gathered as if in a major military operation caused astonishment and mockery, their sole purpose to prevent the simple family joy and happiness of releasing a child or a woman from their family from imprisonment.
The occupation prevented Jerusalem schools from accepting students released in this deal, barring them from continuing their education, in what seems to be a vengeful act for their release from prison despite the wishes of the occupation government.
This scene—although odd in contrast to the atmosphere that prevailed in the West Bank regions in general—did not surprise those who know the nature of the Jerusalem issue and how the occupation deals with it.
Any careful observer of the events knows that the war—although its most violent and harshest military and human chapters take place in the Gaza Strip—the deep ideological conflict at its core unfolds in Jerusalem.
The overall war revolves around the slogan "holy sites" in Jerusalem, and the Palestinian resistance named its operation on October 7th "Deluge of Al-Aqsa." Israel understands this equation and, therefore, ensures that the chapters of war, in its political and social form, revolve particularly around Jerusalem.
This was clearly reflected in many of the actions taken by Israel in Jerusalem since the beginning of the war. The occupation forces arrested a large number of influential Jerusalemites, demolished or announced the intention to demolish several homes, including thirty homes in Silwan alone, some belonging to known Jerusalem figures like Sheikh Ekrima Sabri. Influential Jerusalem personalities, such as Sheikh Najeh Bakirat, the deputy director of the Jerusalem Waqf Department, have been brought to trial without clear charges.
Regarding the released prisoners, the matter did not stop at preventing celebrations for the freedom of female Jerusalemite prisoners and children from Israeli prisons, but also extended to prohibiting Jerusalem schools from accepting students released in this deal, preventing them from continuing their education, apparently as a punitive act.
The same applies to the strict blockade on Al-Aqsa Mosque since the beginning of the war, as well as the restrictions on Jerusalemites' freedom of movement within their city, especially preventing them from reaching the Old City if they live outside it. This confirms that the occupation sees its battle in Jerusalem as no less fierce than its battle in Gaza.
When the Palestinian factions declared their goals from operation "Deluge of Al-Aqsa," they made stopping the Israeli aggressions on Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem the top priority, followed by freeing all Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and lifting the siege off the Gaza Strip. By doing so, they raised the flag of battle in Jerusalem before Gaza, putting the occupation government in an unenviable pressured position.
When it comes to the prisoners and the siege, both the Israeli right and left agree on the possibility of reaching an agreement. Nowadays, the entire world—not just Israel—nearly unanimously agrees on the necessity of lifting the siege on the Gaza Strip after seeing that the result of this blockade did not lead to the outcomes Israel intended, but instead exploded in the face of the occupation government on October 7th.
However, for the case of Jerusalem, the situation is entirely different, as it is largely a matter of Israeli consensus, with any loss in the Jerusalem file considered a failure and surrender in the war. When it involves the holy sites and actions by the extremist Zionist trend in Al-Aqsa Mosque, Netanyahu personally sees it as a personal issue, striving to maintain his extremist base which forms the backbone of his current government.
Based on this, it was not surprising that the released Jerusalemites in the recent truce deal were treated with extreme violence. Nor is it unusual to see the desperate attempts by the occupation to prevent the Islamic solidarity around Al-Aqsa Mosque every Friday, where Muslims are prevented from showing their numerical strength in Jerusalem from the heart of Al-Aqsa Mosque, as previously done, to avoid any picture of an Islamic or Palestinian victory there.
For Muslims, Al-Aqsa Mosque is the most significant point of full agreement and consensus which also represents the consensus on the issue of Jerusalem.
This means that the Palestinian, Arab, and Islamic sides must work to show their strength through breaking the strict blockade on Al-Aqsa Mosque, which for Muslims in general, and Palestinians in particular, is the most prominent and powerful symbol in the Jerusalem issue.
Hence, it is crucial to exploit the Israeli disagreement on the issue of provoking Muslims in Al-Aqsa Mosque by extreme Temple groups and the religious Zionist movement, to deepen this rift and affirm its validity by increasing Palestinian public pressure on the occupation in Al-Aqsa Mosque, in response to ongoing events.
Furthermore, Al-Aqsa Mosque should become the address for escalating popular opposition in all of Jerusalem, to prove correct the critic's view of the religious Zionist trend in Israel, which ultimately will force the occupation to retreat, even if slightly under pressure.
If the occupation does not achieve a victory image in Jerusalem and fails to prevent Muslims from showcasing their strength inside Jerusalem—through Al-Aqsa Mosque—then it will have declared its failure in the only file in which Israelis are unanimous in not tolerating failure, and that is Jerusalem.
