Tensions Mount

JOURNAL # 15 - wi'am's OSAMA
Osama is a Christian in the best sense of the word. He is devout, he serves his community, he is generous, and he believes in non-violence. He tells us he has hope, and I realize he has more hope than I do.  At the same time, he said, "We are tired. We are sick of the occupation. Israel is creating more apartheid, and in the short run there will be more 'domestic problems.'"  Osama thinks that changes will happen soon due to social media, which raises awareness which leads to action.  He derives hope from the BDS movement, from articles he is reading , from Jewish prophetic voices, and a belief that this cannot last forever - that the Wall will fall.  I asked what will be left of Palestine when the Wall finally falls.
 "Nothing."  Settlements have become the "normal". They have the land and water and power. Palestinian villages are not the normal anymore..  These conditions plus the dead economy are creating a vice grip of tensions.  Women take it out on their children. Men take it out on their wives and children. Fights break out over nothing. Everyone is in debt and can't afford to pay back their loans. Osama himself sometimes works 20 hours in a day, not just at Wi'am, (a Christion NGO serving the poor) so he can so he can keep ahead of the bills. But it means he's never home.  In addition, there is a brain drain as five thousand Palestinian students study abroad every year and only 20% of them return home. This is a brain drain.
On the question of whether there will be a Third Intifada, Osama and most people I talk to say no - at least not a violent one.  But Israel may be trying to provoke one by allowing Jewish presence on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the third most holy site in Islam.  Osama thinks this behavour will cause some fare-ups of violent resistance and transform the conflict into a Jewish-Muslim conflict "which is very dangerous."   The Knesset is about to pass a new law making it legal for Jews to be on the Al-Aqsa compound.  Then the Israeli army will be able officially to arrest anyone who resists this presence. Faced with detention, the resistance will weaken.
 I ask what will happen once Jews have free access to the Al-Aqsa. Osama thinks they are moving toward  building a synagogue in one corner of the of the compound's garden.  Jews have been pressing for this to happen since 1929, but the British Mandate government gave authority over the mosque to a Muslim entity called the Waqf, and, by agreement with Israel,  Jordan now controls the Waqf.  The Knessets' new law will essentially negate that authority.
There is no doubt that Israel is playing with fire by the way it is handling the Al-Aqsa Mosque and compound. The only question is, how much will the fire consume?