A complex situation prevails in Israel. The developments that took place in Jerusalem have expanded and turned into military operations.
Regarding the prevailing situation, the «Arevelk» website had a conversation with a member of the ADL of Jerusalem, Nshan Balyan.
Below, we present to the attention of the readers of «Ramgavar Mamoul» an excerpt from the interview conducted with Nshan Balyan.
– What caused the unrest in the «Sheikh Jarrah» district of Jerusalem; what are the reasons?
The «Sheikh Jarrah» district is located in East Jerusalem and is considered the Arab side. Ninety percent of the district’s residents are Arabs, and the Jews gradually want to enter that district so that this division of Jerusalem is removed. In other words, so that there is no Arab side and Jewish side. The Jews’ plan is to bring all of Jerusalem under their control, so that later, when there is talk of peace, they can say that many Jews also live in the eastern part.
During the war of 1948, thousands of Arab families fled and came to settle on the eastern side of Jerusalem, taking over the homes abandoned by the Jews. Jews had previously lived there, but when they lost the eastern part, they moved to West Jerusalem. It is not clear to whom these homes primarily belonged, whether they were the Jews’, or whether they were simply tenants of the Arabs, who were the true owners, and since the history is not clear, these problems arose. The Jews settling there forged documents to prove that these homes belong to them, and in 2008-2009, emptying a few homes, they placed Jewish residents there, that is, entirely new residents, simply to have a reason to enter the Arab side, and they continued to forge documents in order to remove the 25 families remaining there, and they appealed to the court. The Supreme Court was to issue a decision, but postponed it for the present situation, and this postponement caused additional tension. The Jews absolutely want to empty these homes of the Arab families who have been there for years. The situation escalated and all of this coincided with the religious ceremonies of the «Ramadan» month. Thousands of Palestinians arrived at the «Al-Aqsa» mosque and the situation became greatly complicated. There were clashes and injuries were recorded, and after all this, the «Hamas» militants stationed in «Gaza» entered the «game» and began raining rockets toward the Israeli towns surrounding Gaza.
– In your opinion, will the military operation launched against Gaza expand and last long? What consequences will it have?
I do not think these clashes will last long, because both sides do not want to start a war; the Jews cannot start a major operation in Gaza, at least not now, because «Hamas» operates like «Hezbollah». They are in underground cellars, sheltered and well protected. They are armed with modern means and all kinds of long-range rockets. If the Jews decide to enter Gaza, they can win, but they would suffer hundreds of casualties, for which they are not ready.
In any case, this is the Middle East and at any time war can break out, and then it is not ruled out that in the case of a major war, even Lebanon and Iran would be drawn in
