Published: 13 March 2020
Last updated: 4 March 2024
JERUSALEM - IN JUST A FEW WEEKS, coronavirus has done what more than half a century of Israeli annexation and declarations failed to do: given Palestinian east and Jewish west Jerusalem a common denominator.
The disease has emerged as a common enemy for both of these warring peoples used to contesting the future of the metropolis they each cherish. Now, on both the east and west sides of the holy city, there is fear of contagion and wariness of the massive economic damage the virus is causing and has yet to cause.
But the more economically vulnerable east seems harder hit materially and spiritually. Neighbouring Bethlehem has become the epicenter for the virus in the Palestinian self-rule areas. An east Jerusalem bus driver caught the virus from Greek tourists and is hospitalised in serious condition.
On the east side, a morose fatalism is setting in while on the west side, which marked Purim Tuesday night, there is upset and concern but also a determination to project confidence. School closures are common on the east side and Israeli officials are rumoured to be contemplating them for the west and all of Israel as well.
Israel and the Palestinian Authority must cooperate. Everyone must look at the other as a human being. Everyone must help each other.
With foreign tourists all but disappearing, vendors in the old city's Christian quarter, near Jaffa Gate had few to whom to sell their wares, including menorahs, kippas, spices and T-shirts emblazoned with combat planes and the words: "America don't worry, Israel is behind you."
Mohammed Morar, a 24-year-old storekeeper, called out to some of the only tourists: "Excuse me, how can I get your money? Give me a chance to rip you off!" They laughed. But asked about coronavirus, he turned serious, saying it had prompted a 95 percent drop in sales.
He noted that the bus driver had caught it from tourists and explained that he disinfects his hands and face with Mediskin alcohol gel. "I still shake hands with the tourists, but afterwards I use the gel. Everyone is using it," he said.
Still, he added, he is not afraid. "Why be afraid? There are a lot of reasons to die if god wants you to die. If I don't die from the virus, I can die from a traffic accident. It's a virus. It's nothing. And it's not a very hard virus."
In the heart of West Jerusalem, at Café Hillel across the street from police headquarters in the Russian Compound, beautician Huguet Perlime, 26, said she is also taking precautions while carrying out her job of doing nails and waxing. "I put on gloves, I wear a mask. For each client I put on a new mask. The clients like it. They prefer it like that."
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Perlime, who immigrated from France six years ago, said she is not afraid. "I feel very safe here."
At nearby Café Bastet, the owner, Klil Lifshitz, 28, said some of her employees had been in the two-week quarantine that is mandatory for Israelis returning from abroad. "There are almost no tourists but our numbers are not down hugely because we have a local crowd. Still, it's a noticeable change." she said.
As she served up a foamy Palestinian Taybeh IPA (Indian Pale Ale) beer, she turned to the nationwide economic implications of the virus. "The lack of tourism is hurting everything. Hotels are letting off employees. People who supply food and beverage are impacted. It's a whole negative chain."
Why be afraid? There are a lot of reasons to die if god wants you to die. If I don't die from the virus, I can die from a traffic accident. It's a virus. It's nothing. And it's not a very hard virus.
Asked whether the Netanyahu government is handling the crisis well, Lifshitz replied: "I don't have the faintest idea of how to deal with a plague." She stressed that she intends to keep the café running.
At Jaffa Gate's Versavee Bistro, chef Raed Bitar, 31, said the economic damage is particularly grave because it comes during what is normally high season, the run up to Easter. "We're trying to stay open unless the government closes everything like Italy," he said.
The overall atmosphere in East Jerusalem is bad, he added. "There's a lot of people who can't look at each other, who don't want to talk and shake hands. It's terrible."
He has been keeping his three children home from school. "It's hard to explain it to them. I just say, 'you can stay home and play' I try to get them to study, to read something."
There have been previous tough times such as during Israel-Gaza wars and the second intifada, he said. But the current situation seems especially bleak, he added. "We are {getting} the worse each day. Each day we are going down."
Such lamentation could not be heard on Tuesday night as thousands of young Israelis celebrated the Purim holiday in and around West Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda market. The crowds lacked tourists and was smaller than last year.
After midnight, about 100 people danced ebulliently in the BeerBazaar pub adjoining the market to the strains of Queen's song Don't Stop Me Now. One of them, Fred Cherrick, was dressed in a Purim costume of a white coat and mask with a huge overturned mug of Corona beer as a hat.
"I see sick people every day," said Cherrick, 36, an immigrant from Chicago who works as a volunteer medic for the ambulance service United Hatzolah. "If there is a suspicion of someone with corona we follow the regulations. But usually people just call and say I'm not feeling well. How am I supposed to know if it's corona or a cold?"
Cherrick is concerned about the economic fallout of the crisis but predicted that Israel would weather the storm. "Israel is used to challenges and we stand up to them," he said.
Back in the old city, carpet store owner Malik Qaissi, 42, called on Palestinians and Israelis to confront the virus together. "Israel and the Palestinian Authority must cooperate," he said. "The virus doesn't look if you are black or white, Moslem, Christian or Jewish. Everyone must look at the other as a human being. Everyone must help each other."
READ MORE
Coronavirus oblivious to Israeli, Palestinian borders (Al-Monitor)
The necessity of cooperating against the novel coronavirus should encourage Israeli and Palestinian authorities to also work together on day-to-day issues, such as water and air pollution
Israeli security officials dread having to handle a Gaza coronavirus outbreak (Haaretz)
COVID-19 erupting in the Hamas-controlled, Israeli-blockaded enclave is seen by the defence establishment as a 'God-help-us' scenario
Photo: Left, East Jerusalem street vendor (Ben Lynfield); right, Orthodox Jew at Western Wall (EPA)
