There are many elements of the uprisings that are currently swelling across historic Palestine that may be easy or convenient to ignore, but one of the key characteristics that cannot be overlooked is the fact that they are initiated, led and maintained by the youth –whether in Jerusalem or within Israeli borders.
On the first day of Ramadan this year, 13 April, only young Jerusalemites were demonstrating outside Damascus Gate against the Israeli police’s closure of the plaza. For 13 continuous days, they staged a non-violent protest that eventually culminated in the reopening of the plaza.
In the past week, in cities and towns across historic Palestine, the protestors were also young, mostly liberal and very determined. In Jerusalem itself, they showed very little fear and acted with a great degree of courage and daring. In towns inside historic Palestine, they acted with responsibility and vigilance; their objective was to monitor the movement of right-wing Israeli mobs and block their attempts to attack Palestinians and their properties.
