OLD CITY, EAST JERUSALEM — Jihad Hammad sat on a white, plastic chair outside his father’s antiques shop in Jerusalem’s Old City. To his left, four Israeli police officers manned metal barricades blocking the street. To his right, another checkpoint restricted movement even more a few meters down the road.
“They told us to close, but we stayed open. Why should we close? In every area there is a checkpoint. All the areas are closed. But we never close [the shop],” the 19-year-old told Al-Monitor, as groups of right-wing Israelis moved seamlessly through the two roadblocks and in front of the shop.