Jerusalem is experiencing difficult days. Recent months have witnessed growing friction between Palestinians and the Israeli security forces, more disturbances of the peace, especially in the Temple Mount area, and an effort to attack Jews, most recently through car attacks and stabbings. Concurrently, there is increased friction between those Jews seeking – sometimes provocatively – to realize the right to visit and/or pray at the Temple Mount, and Palestinians who view these efforts as a threat to the status quo. However, the vast majority of Palestinians in Jerusalem oppose the violence and clearly prefer to maximize the advantages of Israeli residency peacefully; it is not coincidental that the number of people involved in the protests and violence is a few hundred only. Nevertheless, the city is rife with tension and the seething atmosphere threatens to boil over.
