In every country at warthere are places, Acre It is one of them, where the conflict is barely palpable. Violence underlies the silence, in the absences in commonly bustling streets. It is expressed in the closed doors of dozens of establishments or in the tense passing of the day when rival sides in another territory make an effort to speak to each other with forced kindness. Acre, a city Mediterranean coastal in the north of Israel, has known violence. Does 75 yearsthree quarters of his Palestinian population Muslim and Christian majority were forced to flee in the midst of the creation of the State of Israel. Now, with 32% Arab-Israeli citizens, the squares of Acre are full of messages of coexistence, harmony and peace.
“Nothing happens here, Jews and Arabs live together without any problem,” he explains Mustafa, at the foot of its premises located in a gazebo that is now empty. This fisherman, a native of the city, insists that, since the beginning of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, “everything is very calm.” But it hasn’t always been like this. During the latest Israeli offensive on Gaza in 2021, Acre was the scene of the rupture of the illusion. In several mixed cities, celebrated by a supposed coexistence between Jews and Israelis of Palestinian originthe spell of decades of supposed coexistence. Groups of radicals from both sides attacked each other, causing some deaths and extensive damage to premises and homes. Suddenly, the neighbors were seen as the enemy who killed their Gazan brothers, and, on the other hand, the neighbors were the ones who supported Hamas terrorism.
This time it is being different. In Israel, the descendants of the native Palestinians who decided to stay after the various waves of expulsion are now the 20% of the country’s population. Some prefer to be called Arab-Israelis, while others do not trust the Israel project and feel closer to their fellow Palestinians in the West Bank busy or locked Gaza Strip. Experts call them Palestinians from Israel or Palestinians of ’48 in reference to the borders prior to the creation of the Hebrew State. In recent years, the marginalization of this community and the lack of attention from the authorities have further alienated them from their fellow Jews. Therefore, when conflict breaks out on Israel’s bordersthere is a fear that it will also happen within them.
“They don’t let us talk”
In front of one of the oldest ports on the planet, that of his hometown, Ayam He hesitates to speak. But once she starts, not even tears stop her. “The only thing that has changed about the riots that occurred in Acre during the last war on Gaza is that they no longer let us speak, we cannot express our opinion“, she says at the doors of the nursing home where she works. In the background, the news of Al Jazeera They inform them about the last hour of a conflict that, although it seems that this time it has not reached their homes, vibrates in their own bodies. “How are we supposed to live if we see our population being massacred?” He explains to this newspaper, fighting against crying. “It’s very difficult, very difficult,” she repeats.
For a few moments, he gets lost in the memory of his grandmother, who was forced to live as a refugee in Jordan. “You know, my grandmother died with key to your house hanging by the neck, I thought it would come back…”, he recalls. “Why do we Palestinians have to suffer this if we are also human beings“?” she asks, indignant. She does not dare to raise her voice too much, because she is aware of the consequences. In recent weeks, the Israeli authorities have arrested dozens of Palestinians, including those with Israeli citizenship, for sharing and liking posts that supported Gaza. They have also banned demonstrations in support of the Palestinians.
Patrols
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A part of the citizens of these mixed cities, such as Haifa either Tayibe, have created patrols to prevent the clashes that took place in 2021 from happening again. He trauma is great because that day something broke. “What people in the world could live seeing how they are killing their children“Ayam asks in reference to the more than 2,000 minors who have been killed in Gaza by Israeli bombings during the last two weeks, according to the balance sheet of the Ministry of Health of the Palestinian enclave. “But this is not just today, this violence , be it one way or another, always is present in our lives“, denounces this social educator. In recent years, the country’s shift to the right has placed the Arab community in the category of second class citizens.
“All the young boys are suspected of supporting Hamas, I’m afraid to speak Arabic down the street,” he confesses Shahd Shahbari, a young woman from Nazareth residing in Haifa. “I’m terrified of leaving the house, because many of the right-wing extremists They are calling for the execution of the Arabs,” he tells this newspaper. Two peoples forced to coexist end up falling into mutual distrust. When some on the other side attack, the blame seems to belong to everyone. “But we are the original population of the place,” says Ayam, very excited. “The Jews around us are always fighting, because some come from Morocco and others from Russia, but we, the Palestinian people, we are one“We don’t have discussions,” he points out, forcefully hitting the ancient stones of the streets of Acre.