The Albaik café at Damascus Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem is the complete opposite of the modern cafes and well-known chains that can be found in other parts of the capital. In the well-known establishment, you'll find wooden chairs and a paper menu hanging on the wall, nothing fancy. Everything is simple here, just like it's always been.
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The owner, Ezz Rajabi, grinds the coffee beans on the spot, and the smell is addictive. "Businesses have not yet recovered," he says, lamenting the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on vendor shops in the area as well as the more recent rise in the cost of living.
"Everything is expensive, and people can't find work," another resident of the Old City says in despair, stressing that he cannot make a living for his wife and young daughter. "The pressure on us is great. The economic situation is extremely bad, we are already living on the edge. Even a hundred shekels have no value today.
They also fear that a possible security escalation or terror attack in the Old City might drive customers away altogether, and tensions on the Temple Mount are a constant concern too.
"If there are problems in the street, the vendors will have to stay at home, and everything will be closed," Rajabi says. "People will stop coming, they will be afraid, and the business owners will have no work. Now the situation is normal, but the events from there may affect us, the city will be emptied."
He also expressed hope that the upcoming holidays will be quiet and that no riots on the Al Aqsa compound will erupt.
Majed, who owns a cracker and sweets store in the Old City said, "Al Aqsa has always been a red line for us. The Jews have their places and we Muslims have ours. Those who carry out terror attacks are lone perpetrators."
A different perspective emerged in another conversation, this time with 16-year-old Ahmed, from the Shuafat refugee camp. "We, the young people of Jerusalem, will not be silent and will not allow the settlers to enter Al-Aqsa. We need to protect it and will not allow them to defile it," he says defiantly. Am Abed, a resident of Al 'Eizariya, a Palestinian town in the West Bank, shares a similar view.
"The Jews entering the compound is a provocation. We cannot stand idly by as they attack the mosque. We need to act," she said, stressing her disappointment with the leadership of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
"He is not helping us. Did he talk to his people? No. The people are really unhappy with him. He says two words and does nothing," she said expressing not just her personal feelings, but the general atmosphere among the Palestinian public.
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