Mahmoud Muna runs one of Jerusalem’s finest bookshops, catering to everyone. He identifies as a Palestinian from Jerusalem and favors a unitary state based on democracy and equal rights. He sees people like himself as potential models for a different kind of integrated state.
But now, he said, there is an unusually high level of “tension, anxiety, anger, confusion and fear that has grown among Palestinians, and I feel it myself.”
The police presence has been increased in and around East Jerusalem, and Mr. Muna himself has been stopped twice for checks in the past five days, always moments that can produce friction. “Being past 40 helps you keep your cool,” he said.
Are Palestinians in Israel in a bind? He paused, then said, “We are always in between.”
Friends who go to work in West Jerusalem tell him that “everyone is stressed and angry, but everyone is pretending or putting on a face.” People say banalities like “it’s crazy” or “it’s difficult” or “I can’t understand it,” Mr. Muna said, adding, “This is so you don’t have to say your opinion, but to say nothing is also not acceptable.”
Moments like this one are clarifying, too, he said: “It is a good time to see things we don’t normally see,” like the absence of acquaintances who have been called up as reservists to the army.
