The town of Issawiya in Jerusalem is known among its residents as “Little Gaza,” as it constitutes one of the most important strongholds of resistance against the Israeli occupation. Despite the occupation’s ongoing attempts to extinguish the spirit of defiance in it, Issawiya remains able to demonstrate increasing popular resistance with every escalation, which has made it a target for the policy of collective punishment that the occupation imposes on it day after day.

A symbol of resistance

Member of the National and Civil Action Committee in Jerusalem, Ahmad Al-Safadi, explained that the occupation's targeting of the town of Al-Issawiya is not new and did not begin with the recent aggression on the Gaza Strip. Rather, the town has been a symbol of resistance to the occupation for many years.

He added, “Al-Issawiya has always been known as ‘Little Gaza’, and has been subjected to multiple punitive policies by the occupation, including the demolition of homes, the imposition of fines on citizens and shops, the targeting of the town’s youth, and the assassination of a number of its young men.”

For his part, activist Muhammad Abu Al-Hummus, a member of the Follow-up Committee in the town of Al-Issawiya, confirmed that the occupation is dealing with Al-Issawiya in an exceptional manner due to the speed and extent of its residents’ interaction with events and field developments throughout Palestine.

Abu Al-Hummus pointed out that since the events of “Al-Aqsa Flood,” Al-Issawiya has presented two martyrs and hundreds of prisoners and detainees in support of Gaza.

Abu Al-Hummus explained that Al-Issawiya was constantly present in popular activities, strikes and confrontations with the occupation throughout more than 300 days of war on the Gaza Strip, referring to the comprehensive strike that swept the town after the assassination of the head of the political bureau of Hamas, the martyr Ismail Haniyeh, and it also witnessed previous strikes in response to the crimes and massacres of the occupation in Gaza.

He added, "However, the occupation did not stop its aggression against the town even after the strike ended, as it continued to raid homes and shops and impose taxes on the residents, and its forces confiscated Palestinian goods coming from the West Bank."

brutality and oppression

The occupation is practicing brutal methods of suppression against the people of Issawiya, using wastewater, sound bombs and tear gas, which causes suffocation among the citizens.

Al-Safadi stated that an elderly woman was martyred due to the heavy firing of gas bombs at residents’ homes, while many children from Issawiya are still detained in the occupation’s prisons.

The occupation resorts to sending written threatening messages to the residents of Issawiya, warning of upcoming attacks in an attempt to subjugate them, according to Al-Safadi, who considered this part of the policy of collective punishment that the occupation is pursuing against the town, which also includes closing the town’s entrances with cement blocks to strangle it economically.

Ghetto and training ground for the occupation

Abu Al-Hummus pointed out that Issawiya has become a “ghetto” surrounded by settlements on all sides. The occupation also uses the open lands in the town as training grounds for its military forces, including reserve forces and special forces.

Abu Al-Hummus believes that this is due to the town’s ongoing resistance, in addition to the absence of any settlements or occupation centers inside it, which has turned it into a training ground for the occupation forces to practice their repressive methods.

Steadfastness and steadfastness

Despite all the occupation's attempts to break the will of the residents of Issawiya and subjugate their consciousness, the town remained steadfast and maintained its resistance.

Al-Safadi stresses that Issawiya, along with the town of Silwan and the Shuafat camp, stands tall in the confrontation with the occupation, and remains a town of resistance despite all the challenges, as it was and still is a symbol of confrontation, stressing that Issawiya will always remain “Little Gaza” in the heart of Jerusalem.