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Mohammed Liftawi sits in his chair in Jerusalem’s Old City, waiting for something to happen.
He runs two shops, which are filled with clothes, bedding, jewellery, souvenirs and jewellery, and has not sold anything for many days.
The tourists who should be flocking to these streets are not here.
Mohammed Liftawi (R), who runs two shops, believes another war is imminent
We are just a short walk from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, one of Christendom’s most important sites, and the Jaffa Gate, one of the main entrances to the city’s historic sites and shops.
But it is quiet. Peace from worry.
‘I think there will be another war.’
“Jerusalem is so empty.”
he says, waving at the quiet street. “We don’t have any tourists; we don’t have anything. They’ve fled because of the war.”
After surviving the Covid lockdown, his business is now facing another downturn. And now Mohammed fears another blow.
I ask, do they think there will be another war? “To be honest, from what I’ve heard, yes, I think so. I think there will be another war. And nobody likes war.”
This may be true, but there are certainly some people who are more open-minded to war than others.
old city of jerusalem
‘Take off your head.’
At the Jaffa Gate, we meet 23-year-old Moshe Cohen, who is actually quite eager for military action in Iran to start as soon as possible.
“I hope it starts in a few days,” he tells me, smiling.
I ask why. “Because they give all the money to Gaza, to Hamas. Everything comes from them. It’s a lot of money, so you have to take your head off and make the world a better place.”
Moshe Cohen supports military action against Iran
So what if Americans decide not to attack Iran – should they? Israel goes alone? “Yes, we should. If they [the Americans] don’t want to, then we will have to go first.”
Along with him, his friend Bezalel also nods his head in agreement. They have no doubt at all that Iran is bound to be attacked.
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A drone view of Jerusalem. Photo: Reuters
In contrast, Khalil al-Daqaq freely admits that he does not know what is near.
His shop, a short distance from Holy Church, has been run by his family for decades. He first worked here as a child – he is now 67. Friendly, welcoming and happy to talk.
‘Some people are really scared.’
“Business is bad, but we’re surviving,” he tells me. “It could be worse. I’m a very optimistic person. In this country, you have to be.”
“It’s stressful here. Unpredictably. We don’t know what’s going to happen in the coming days or the next hour. Some people are really scared, but you know – whatever will happen, will happen.
“But people will always want to come here. When there is peace here, they will return. This is a sacred place for everyone. We are missing logical, sensible people here. For the leaders… we are just numbers for them.”
Khalil al-Daqaq says he is unsure what will happen
And that sense of fatalism is a line you hear regularly – a feeling that the future isn’t worth worrying about because it will happen soon enough.
We meet 21-year-old Yaakov Simcha, who has moved from New Jersey to study the Torah, Judaism’s most important text.
So I ask, what’s going to happen?
“I have no idea. I’m not nervous or anything. I believe in God, and I believe that what He wants will happen. And so, you know, I think His plan is going to work.”
He smiles at me. “Whatever happens, happens. That’s his plan. I’ll just sit back and continue my studies.”
