"WITH AL AQSA PROTESTS, A POPULAR MASS MOVEMENT IS AGAIN TAKING THE LEAD IN PALESTINIAN RESISTANCE" - Jesse Rosenfeld

IT WAS SUPPOSED to be a moment of celebration and reflection for one of those too-rare occurrences in the Mideast — popular protests by Palestinians had stymied the imposition of a new facet of Israel’s 50-year-long occupation. Instead, even after Israel backed down on the changes it had imposed at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, the situation in Jerusalem continued to spiral into familiar scenes of security forces chasing scrambling demonstrators.