Is Jerusalem Heading For Another Intifada?

Ugly blocks of reinforced concrete are the new feature on Jerusalem's streets, deployed in the night, with no indication of how long they will remain in place.

In Arab neighbourhoods in the east, they are restricting roads, allowing security forces to establish vehicle checkpoints and block traffic in an instant.

At bus and tram stops in the west, they act as barriers to prevent cars being driven into bystanders - the new mode of attack being adopted by Palestinians, used twice already to deadly effect.

In the midst of clashes and security crackdowns, it has galvanised the debate about whether this is the start of a third intifada - another uprising by Palestinians against Israel's occupation.

Video: Car Ramming At Tram Stop

There is little doubt this is the worst violence in more than a decade, but for those who lived through the first intifada in the late '80s and early '90s, and the second which began in 2000, this new wave of Jerusalem unrest appears to be of a different character.

Dr Mahdi Abdul Hadi, director of the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs, says the city is now "full of chaos", but this is a spontaneous outburst of anger, rather than something more organised.

"The concept of intifada means leadership, strategy, political programme, funding, networking and building up a relationship between groups, which we don't have now. What we have is consensus by the youth of Jerusalem, defending their holy site, defending their property," said Dr Abdul Hadi.

"We are prisoners under Israeli military occupation: they attack us, they kill us, they arrest us, they deport us, they close our neighbourhoods - what you witness is an Israeli iron fist crushing the Palestinians on a daily basis. Along this line you find independent, individual, unexpected reaction by the youth defending their rights and their beliefs."

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David Tsur, an Israeli MP, was commander of the Israeli border police during the second intifada. He, too, believes there are key differences between that and the current situation.

"The exact definition (of an intifada) is not so important…We've faced much more severe terrorism than we're seeing now, but there is no such thing as 100% security - if someone comes with a knife or a car, they can obviously attack others," said Mr Tsur.

He cited the collapse of negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, and the mishandling of the issue of Jewish access to the Haram al Sharif, or Temple Mount, by right-wing groups, as contributory factors.

However, Mr Tsur also accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of attempting to exploit the sensitivity of the holy site for political opportunism.

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Gallery: Jerusalem Unrest Sparks Fears Of New Uprising

Israeli security forces have clashed with Palestinian youths in Jerusalem

The unrest comes after Israeli police killed Muataz Hijazi, who was suspected of shooting Israeli right-wing activist Yehuda Glick