Mixed Reaction in Arab Village to Seminary Shooting

JABEL MUKABER – When news broke that a terrorist entered a yeshiva and went on a shooting spree, residents of this East Jerusalem Arab village never imagined that he would have come from Jabel Mukaber. Then when his parents heard that their son was identified as the shooter, they assumed his ID card was stolen and recovered at the scene.
 
It couldn’t be him. Alaa Abu Dheim, 25, was, as residents of the village put it, quiet, wealthy, educated, a religious Moslem and was in the process of building a home for his future bride. He was set to be married this summer.
 
“He wasn’t without hope,” one resident said, noting that most terror attacks are excused as being carried out by uneducated and poor residents of towns in the Palestinian territories.
 
Jabel Mukaber, by contrast, is a friendly, sprawling village of 10,000 on the eastern slopes of Jerusalem. It shares a road with the Jewish neighborhood of Armon Hanatsiv. Most residents have Israeli identity cards if not Israeli passports, work among Jews and have freedom of movement within Israel. The village is famous for being non-threatening compared to other predominantly Moslem neighborhoods in East Jerusalem.
 
This attack, which left eight yeshiva students dead, cast the village in a new light. If these residents already enjoy freedom of movement as opposed to the typical Palestinian terrorist, what’s to stop more of them from attacking Israelis more often and with relative ease?
 
Residents of Jabel Mukaber know this as well. Police presence has increased, partly to protect Jabel Mukaber from Jewish protesters, but also to deter more potential terrorists. Many residents, in a culture where few secrets survive, said it is still unknown whether Dheim acted alone or was sent out by a terrorist group. Jabel Mukaber residents generally support the ostensibly “moderate” Fatah movement, led by western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, if they bother with politics at all.
 
One man said that few in the village condone the attack, but they won’t say that in public. “In the privacy of their own rooms they are against it,” he told Israel Today. “It’s nothing to be proud of.”
 
A supermarket clerk said the attack does not represent the mood in Jabel Mukaber: “This is a one-time thing. No one expected this and no one else would do something like this.”
 
But despite these reassurances, the veneer is beginning to wear thin. Several residents, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of both Israeli and Palestinian retribution, showed a flagging tolerance for the Jewish state and confusion regarding their status and loyalties. “In the end, we are all Palestinians,” said one man.
 
“We are against all attacks, but because of the trouble in Gaza there is pressure and a reaction. It’s the situation: if there is war in Gaza or the settlements, it influences us. Some people keep these pressures inside and then they explode,” said a taxi driver. “It is expensive and difficult to obtain building permits; we barely make ends meet each month. And you ask why he went crazy and killed?”
 
Jabel Mukaber borders Jewish neighborhoods just beyond the Hill of Evil Counsel, where the UN has its offices and Judas is believed to have negotiated the betrayal of Jesus. Residents used to say it doesn’t matter what government they are under as long as they have their land, but now some are itching to give the Palestinian Authority a shot, tired, they say, of being non-citizens in Israel and discrimination in everything from employment opportunities to receiving city permits.
 
“The problem with East Jerusalem is that we don’t know who is taking care of us, Israel or the Palestinian Authority,” said a computer technician. “We need some hope. I want my children to grow up in safety.”
 
This area of Jerusalem would likely be debated in negotiations over dividing the city. Israel would prefer Jerusalem with a strong Jewish majority, but it appears that the village will remain under Israeli control because under Palestinian rule it could pose a terror threat to nearby Jewish neighborhoods. The security barrier keeps most of the village on the Israeli side, with the exception a small enclave, Sheikh Saad.
 
Also, a Jewish neighborhood with 395 luxury apartments is under construction near the entrance to the village; nearly 100 have already been completed. The development, Nof Zion, is targeting wealthy, religious American Jews. Arab residents grumble about the development smack in the middle of their land.
 
Meanwhile, the town is abuzz with speculation over whether Israel will destroy the terrorist’s house as it used to do in the Palestinian territories. That, some say, will push residents toward a radicalism they haven’t yet displayed.