The Old City Shops Are Reeling after Weeks of Closure Due to War

After October 7, nothing remained the same in the Old City of Jerusalem. No Palestinian peasant women in their hand-embroidered thobes sit on the ground, displaying vegetables and fruits for sale in front of Damascus Gate; the vendors do not loudly call out their goods as they once did; and the movement of worshippers and buyers is not what it was before the war.

In the Khan al-Zeit market, many Palestinian shop owners were determined to open their shops despite the scarcity of passersby and the almost complete absence of purchasing activity. When questioned, many merchants say, “We open our doors as an affirmation of our bond and resilience in the Old City, nothing more.”

In the center of this market, shop owner Riad Idais sells spices, oils, and medicinal herbs.

He spoke to Jerusalem Story about the Israeli measures that impede the access of merchants and customers to the markets of the Old City. “The Israeli soldiers stationed at the gates of the Old City, especially Damascus Gate, are stopping Jerusalemites, checking their identities, searching them in a humiliating manner, and sometimes arresting them in an attempt to discourage them from heading to the Old City markets.”1

“In the first two weeks of the war,” Riad observed, “entering the Old City was considered a miracle for merchants and an impossible mission for shoppers. Later, the measures began to ease or intensify intermittently and randomly.”

Purchasing activity remained scarce in some markets and nonexistent in others, especially in light of the restrictions on the access of worshippers to al-Aqsa Mosque, who typically boost the markets.

“Palestinian citizens of Israel used to visit Jerusalem three times a week to pray at al-Aqsa Mosque, which stopped in light of the mosque’s closure to worshippers since the beginning of the war, in addition to the lack of tourists, who used to visit my shop to buy medicinal herbs and local soap. This caused a 90 percent drop in customers.”

So why does he open his shop despite the difficulty of access and the lack of business? Riad said, “we are standing our ground. We are accustomed to setbacks because the Old City is usually affected by everything that happens, but we persist because we are certain that it will regain life again and rise from the rubble.”

Not far from Riad is Othman Jaafar, owner of the most famous sweets shop in the Old City, Jaafar Sweets, which his grandfather opened in 1951. This man takes pride in his business, which has been run by four generations of his family, and their insistence on keeping it open despite the wars and challenging security events that Jerusalem has experienced.

Othman maintains that his income has dropped by 70 percent since October 7 and that making a living has become a daily dilemma in light of the occupation soldiers’ aggressive behavior, which does not differentiate between the elderly, women, youths, and children.2 However, he is determined to open his shop and prepare the most delicious types of oriental sweets, especially knafeh.

The predicament of these two merchants is similar to that of approximately 1,000 merchants seeking to revive the Old City and revitalize it by keeping its markets open. According to the Secretary of the Arab Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jerusalem, Hijazi al-Rishq, the Old City has 1,372 commercial stores. From 1967 up to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, 312 of these stores have closed due to the tightening constraints on merchants, and arbitrary measures such as taxes, fines, and others. By the beginning of 2023, as many as 352 shops, an increase of 17 percent, had closed.3 And this is all before October 7, 2023.

Among the most affected commercial establishments since the start of the current war are the 462 shops associated with the tourism industry, and specifically antiques and souvenir shops. They make up 34 percent of the total shops in the Old City, al-Rishq, and they cannot open their doors at all due to the absence of tourists, which has become a reality days after the outbreak of war and the closure of Ben Gurion International Airport.

In a tour organized by al-Rishq of the Old City markets, which he described as “miserable and painful,” he said he was surprised that since October 7, all segments of merchants were affected by the war, and the recession was not limited to the shops that depend on tourism.

Al-Rishq confirmed that 34 percent of the shops were completely affected and had to close, while 57 percent were significantly impacted. Stores selling groceries, meat, poultry, and daily necessities for the residents of the Old City—about 9 percent of the total—were mildly affected, he said.

Al-Rishq attributes the current state of decline in the markets to several factors, including the closure of the military checkpoints leading to Jerusalem, especially Qalandiya, al-Za‘ayim, and Shu‘fat refugee camp at times, and the tightening of crossing procedures at other times, which have greatly reduced the number of Jerusalemites entering to the Old City.

The temperament of the Israeli soldiers and police stationed at the gates of the Old City adds an unpredictable element to the list of obstacles preventing access. Some merchants have had to present electricity bills and other identification documents to police guarding the entrances in order to prove that they have shops inside the Old City souk, but even that is not always sufficient, and they are often denied permission to enter.

Humiliating and aggressive searches of mobile phones and bags coupled with questioning of young men has led many to avoid heading to the Old City or even approaching its entrances. This has significantly impacted purchasing activity and traffic to al-Aqsa Mosque.

Since the outbreak of the recent war, the 664 businesses within the ancient walls of the Old City suffered, but those in the commercial square surrounding the Old City have also been adversely impacted. This square consists of six streets: al-Musrara, ‘Amr ibn al-‘As, al-Zahra, al-Rashid, Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, and Sultan Suleiman. Business owners on these streets complain of their inability to meet financial obligations due to the operational expenses of their businesses and the sharp decline of income.