Violence affects daily life for Palestinians and Israelis

This article originally appeared on The Media Line.

S., the Palestinian events coordinator at one of Jerusalem’s fanciest hotels, speaks perfect Hebrew and has many Israeli Jewish friends. Every day after work, still dressed in his suit, he goes to the Aroma café on Hillel Street, where he orders cappuccino without foam and sits at his regular table. He often treats the three older men who have staked out the table next to him to coffee.

But everything changed for him last week, after two Palestinians shot and stabbed two Israelis to death on a bus in southern Jerusalem. Later that day dozens of Israeli extremists marched through the center of downtown Jerusalem chanting “death to the Arabs.” Dozens of police were on hand to secure the march.

One of the three older men approached one of the police officers and told him there is a suspicious Arab at the Aroma café.

“I looked around,” S. told The Media Line, on condition of anonymity. “And I was the only Arab there. This guy who went to the police has known me for years. I’ve bought him coffee dozens of times.”

S. quickly found himself surrounded by three policemen from the Israeli special police force called Yasam.

“I didn’t know whether to say anything or to keep quiet, whether to stand up or sit down,” he said, still visibly shaken days after the incident. “I really thought they might shoot me. I’ve never felt fear like this.”

In the end, the policemen told him to go back to his coffee. But S, who is from Beit Hanina, an upscale east Jerusalem neighborhood, says he has never felt fear like he does now. S. says that many of Jerusalem’s 300,000 Palestinian residents are living in fear, including his 14-year-old brother who stayed home from school for five days last week because he was too scared to go.

“All of the boys now tuck their shirts into their pants so that the police can see that they don’t have any weapons,” S. said. “My brother is heavy and he really didn’t want to do that, but we had to convince him.”

The tensions spilled over during a terrorist attack in the Beersheva bus station this week. After a Bedouin attacker shot and wounded an Israeli soldier, Israeli troops shot and seriously wounded an Eritrean asylum seeker, who they believed to be a second terrorist. As he was lying on the ground, passersby kicked him and threw chairs at him. He later died of his wounds.

Israel announced it would investigate the incident.

Israelis say they are walking around tense, fearful that any Palestinian in the street could suddenly take out a knife and stab them. Restaurants have once again hired security guards to check people entering, and many stay off the streets.

“The goal of terrorism is to create fear and this is being very effective,” Danny Brom, the Director of Herzog Israel Center for Treatment for Psychotrauma told The Media Line. “People are going out much less and constantly thinking about what it is OK to do, and what is not OK. They are trying to create rules but it is very hard because you just don’t know what could happen.”

Brom said that these days when he passes a Palestinian on the street, he finds himself looking at the man’s hands to make sure he is not carrying a knife. Stores have run out of pepper spray, and gun sales are also up. A discount website called Bigdeal offered pepper spray with quick delivery “for times like these.”

Several Israeli cities have voted to ban all Arab workers in schools during school hours. The Rami Levi supermarket chain, where many Palestinians shop, has stopped selling knives.

Businesses, especially in Jerusalem, are suffering, as many Israelis stick closer to home. At the same time, Israelis report an uptick in politeness, with less honking at cars, and more patient drivers. Some Jerusalem eateries have posted signs offering free coffee and food to police officers on duty. Instructors of krav maga, an Israeli defensive martial art, are also offering free classes.

“Of course people are more polite,” Dudi Ravivo, who works at a convenience store in the center of downtown Jerusalem. “Whenever there is trouble, people unite. It’s always like that.”